It has been another busy year for the Rotary Club of Westbury. We have emerged from the curse of Covid. During the locked down periods we used Zoom for our regular meetings, although not as good as face-to-face meetings it kept us in touch with each other remarkably well.
In July we had a change of leadership. Our outgoing President, Julian Sandoe, handed over the reins to the new President Jon Street.
In the past 12 months we have been very active in both the Westbury Community and raising money for international events.
We have planted crocuses around Westbury to reflect Rotary’s work in eradicating Polio worldwide, held the annual Imber Ultra Marathon race on conjunction with Avon Valley Runners, taken kids from 2 Westbury schools to Longleat for a lovely day out with the Kids Out charity, supported the Youth Adventure Trust in Wiltshire, assisted the Leigh Park Community Centre, organised the annual schools Carol Concert in All Saints’ Church, dished out mulled wine and mince pies to all and sundry on the Christmas Lights Illumination ceremony, supported the Town Council in their litter picking enterprises, held a Gin and Rum online tasting evening (saves any trouble with drink driving!) and many other worthwhile events.
We have also ben fundraising outside Morrisons in aid of the Ukrainian war survivors; monies raised went to Rotary in Ukraine thus eliminating any 3rd parties and ensuring all the funds are used correctly.
All this and changed our regular meeting venue to the Full Moon at Rudge which is where we held our Christmas Dinner night.
We are looking forward to the coming year with as much enthusiasm as the last. A St Georges Dinner is planned for April,
We have regular fortnightly meetings at the Full Moon and have interesting talks from local people, one such talk concerned a charitable organisation helping education in India and we have a speaker coming soon to describe her adventures as a ranger in South Africa.
We also have Skittles teams, one in the Westbury League and another competing in the Rotary District knockout competition, we were runners up in 2022.
Our President is also aiming to climb Snowdon to raise funds for charity…but more of that later.
New members who wish to be part of Rotary are always welcome to enquire. We have a membership from a wide range of professions and backgrounds. Prospective members are always welcomed by the existing members and we all feel that becoming a Rotarian has enhanced our lives immensely.
We have a website with contact details and a Facebook page. Enquiries can be made direct to [email protected] or [email protected]
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