Kibworth & Fleckney Rotary Club
Following our report on Rotary Young achievers on the front page of last month’s Chronicle, Aggie Wells, runner up in the National Young chef competition (part of the wider Rotary Young Citizen’s awards) came to our Rotary meeting at Kibworth Golf Club on Tuesday 29 April.
It gave the club members the opportunity to congratulate her on her outstanding achievement in the competition, and gave her, and her parents, the chance to thank the club and Rotary for the opportunity that the competition gave her and her fellow competitors. Aggie found it “an experience of a lifetime”, “so amazing but at the same time nerve racking”. She thanked John Addison and President Elaine Vandelli for accompanying her to two preliminary stages (district and cluster) of the competition, and then to the national final in Romford.
Both Aggie and her parents hadn’t really appreciated what Rotary was all about. Her father was impressed with how the young citizens’ competition “gave young people all over the country, in this day and age, this kind of exposure, and to do something special that made their families incredibly proud”. He also thanked the network of Rotarians who gave up their time to make it all happen.
Rotary has often been thought of as rather an exclusive club. Rotarians have perhaps often been regarded as male and elderly, rattling collection tins at Christmas!
However, there are now, since 1989, many lady Rotarians worldwide. Many younger Rotarians have now also discovered what Rotary really is and the opportunities it provides.
As the competition above describes, we also do far more than just collect money for worthy causes.
Rotary’s motto is “service above self”.
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
- FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
- SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
- THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
- FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
There is not enough space to outline all aspects of Rotary here, but the Kibworth & Fleckney Rotary Club invite anyone, who would like to hear more and meet club members, to attend our
Open Evening from 6.30pm –to around 9pm at Kibworth Golf Club on Tuesday 10 June.
We will provide a bite to eat, and the bar will be open. If you are interested in membership or you just want to come along and find out a bit more about Rotary, there will be no pressure and we’re a friendly crowd. To give us an idea of numbers please contact me to register your attendance.
Graham Thompson grahamapt@btinternet.com
