Our club
Our community and charity work falls in to the following areas:
Community Services Committee continues to support a number of local charities and other organisations including the following:
- Fernheath Play
- Life Education Wessex
- Town Centre Youth Project
- CODA Music Trust
- Leukaemia Busters
- Autism Wessex
- Mosaic
- Honeypot
- Wide Horizons
- Wessex Heartbeat
- Diverse Abilities
- Help and Care
- Alzheimer’s Society
- Dorset Mind
- Bournemouth Blind Society
- Diverse Abilities – Langside School
We will consider any new requests for financial aid either directly or via a Club member (but only for organisations, not individuals).
We will continue to help in other Clubs’ or organisations’ fund raising efforts by, for example, providing teams for quizzes, helping out at events, marshalling runs/bike rides etc. Also help with the operational aspects of organisations, for example, listening to children reading in schools.
We are also looking at getting involved in some ‘community type’ events such as Stoke Awareness Days, PSA testing for Prostate Cancer and Blood Pressure Testing, and also providing Community facilities such as more defibrilators in the town centre, toilet direction and distance signs in the town centre and resting seats on the steep paths leading from the Pierhead Square.
International Committee
International Committee directs its focus to supporting third world communities when natural disasters occur, particularly those countries that do not have a welfare system. We provide funds for deliveries of fresh water, food, shelter for survival and sanitation support. Along with emergency boxes of toiletries, toys, educational and tradeaid items. Charities include Shelter Box, Water Aid, Mary’s Meals. We have responded with funds via Rotary International for the recent conflict in Europe.
Eradication of polio is part of our remit along with creating educational opportunities to enhance and expand young person’s knowledge in diverse cultures.
We continue to raise funds and spread the baton of friendship with ongoing projects :
- Weekly lunch raffle.
- Annual March Hunger Lunch.
- Christmas raffle.
- International Student Lunch.
- Street collections.
- Since 2018, our Centenary, we have ventured into the realms of publishing raising funds globally. “Time Travel with Rotary Club Bournemouth” print and digital format, and the Platinum Jubilee edition “Cooking Up A Story Recipe Book”.
- In April 2021 during national lockdown, the “Walk A Mile A Day For 30 Days” was set up, for solo walkers to source sponsorship to walk a mile a day for 30 days and donate to RCB. This is now an annual event.
Foundation Committee
Foundation Committee supports Rotary Foundation, Rotary’s own humanitarian and educational charity. The Committee’s aims during the forthcoming year are as follows :
1) We will continue to keep the Club up to date on the continuing battle against Polio and encourage the Club to donate to the fund as in previous years,
2) We will work with International Committee and Community and Vocational Committee in connection with any proposals they have for seeking Global or District Grants.
3) We shall ensure all necessary attendance at District Foundation Seminars, feeding back relevant information to the Club.
4) We shall encourage the Club to continue to maintain (and hopefully increase) financial contributions to Foundation.
5) We shall look for the opportunity for fund-raising activities for Foundation but consider that this more effectively done on a Group basis with other local Clubs.
Youth Service Committee
Youth Service Committee supports a number of activities designed to help to encourage children and young people develop their skills, self esteem and enjoy themselves in the process. Our aim is to build on our successes with schools in their engagement with Rotary competitions, e.g. Young Chef, Young Musician, Young Photographer, Young Writer and the Technology Tournament. We will continue to support the funding of young people in Rotary support weekends, e.g. Young Carers and Young Leadership Award (RYLA). We will look for ways to diversify our support for children and young people, especially working in partnership with the local authority and charitable organisations.
Membership Committee
Membership Committee – Recent years have been dedicated to setting up our new Evening group to encourage new members who would not be able to attend our Monday lunchtime meetings. The Evening group is now up and running.
Many of our new members have applied to join us through the website and the majority of the Evening members also. However, when a prospective new member applies to join our Rotary Club via the web site it generally means that he/she usually knows no existing member. In these circumstances, a period of attendance is necessary in order to get to know the prospective member and vice versa.
Social Committee
Social Committee currently currently has plans for a quiz night and much more on the way.
Centenary Book
Time Travel with Bournemouth Rotary
The Club’s Centenary book (available in Paperback and Kindle editions)
In our Centenary year, 2018, the following article appeared in the Dorset Magazine:
"The Rotary Club that broke the mould"
See the Dorset Magazine article
about our Club in its Centenary year