New Rotary Year 2009/10

 It is a great honour for me to be elected as the President of the Rotary Club of Brewood and District, and to be able to represent the members of the club at a local, District and National level. The Club is a relatively young club, with a constantly increasing membership. We pride ourselves as being a community club, as opposed to being a large fundraising club, and it is my intention to carry on this tradition of focusing our efforts locally.

Although there are many events in the year that could be mentioned, there are two annual events that our club hosts and is very proud of. The annual V-Festival at Weston Park takes place in August, there are many tens of thousands of tents left on site by the festival revellers, and a few years ago a small number of club Rotarians started to go “tent collecting” after the event. This has now grown to over 200 people from various organisations collecting tents for charitable causes, led and organised by our club. The tents are sent to all areas of the world following natural disasters, and each year the effort is the equivalent of over £100,000 in value. It is also of course, a way of recycling the tents; we are doing our bit for the environment. This event is growing every year, and we are still only collecting a relatively small quantity, our International committee lead the organisation of the event.

 Xmas is a special time for the club. At the beginning of December we organise the Xmas Lights switch on in the centre of Brewood. This is a great event held in the centre of the village and is always very well attended by the residents. It was first organised by a small number of Rotarians, which now involves many non-Rotarians in addition to the club members who give great support to this annual community event. During December we organise the annual Santa sleigh, which is designed not only as a fundraising event, but also as an event that the young children of the village always look forward to.

Rotary is a very rewarding worldwide charitable organisation to be involved with. It is not for everybody, it does involve a small time commitment, but the personal satisfaction is tremendous. 

Keith Gater  (Club President)