WHAT IS ROTARY?

Rotary is short for Rotary International – a worldwide association of local clubs for men and women in business or the professions who:

SERVICE ABOVE SELF is Rotary’s motto.

Rotary was founded in Chicago in 1905 by Paul Harris and now has over 1.2 million members in over 29,000 clubs in 170 countries and geographical regions. There are 1,800 clubs in Great Britain and Ireland with over 64,000 members. Rotary is totally non-political and non-sectarian – otherwise how could such an organisation be accepted in such a wide diversity of countries and cultures?

THE ROTARY CLUB & MEMBERSHIP

Each club operates independently. Membership is drawn from the business and professional community and is by invitation. To ensure the club is representative of the community, there can be a maximum of 5 active members from each profession or type of business. Until 2001, classification was much more complex and more restrictive. Over the last 20 years a number of clubs have introduced lady members and membership of all clubs should be open to men and women, but many clubs have yet to introduce their first lady member. Devorgilla currently has 7 lady members.

CLUB MEETINGS

Meetings are held weekly and active members are expected to attend as many meetings as possible (60% as a minimum guideline) unless holiday or unavoidable business or other commitments intervene. Most clubs meet for lunch or dinner and some newly formed clubs meet at breakfast time. Business at meetings often includes a talk on a subject of general interest by an outside speaker. Every Rotarian has the right to attend the meeting of any other club and Rotarians invite non-Rotarian guests to their own club meetings. Weekly meetings promote acquaintance and fellowship. Through this fellowship Rotarians find the inspiration to serve the community.Service to the community requires Rotarians to devote their time, energy and professional skills to particular projects. This often involves fundraising to provide charities with financial support but this is not a Rotary club’s first aim. The emphasis is on personal service.

AVENUES OF SERVICE

Community Service is the traditional and well-known face of Rotary and covers help and advice to the aged, the handicapped, the infirm, young people and all those in need, either directly or through local charitable organisations. Increasingly this also includes the initiation and support of projects which protect the environment.Vocational Service – as jobs are key elements in determining Rotary membership, Vocational Service draws on the ethical standards, experience and expertise involved in Rotarian’s jobs, and focuses them on the wider aspects of the world of work. Vocational projects support training and job development, provide mock interviews, encourage the development skills in employment and foster the highest standards in business and the professions.International Service is a programme designed to promote international goodwill. It includes the provision of emergency boxes, eye camps, vocational training schools, text books, tools, water filtration units and many other items in areas of need. It also involves Rotarians of Different race, creed and custom who when brought together in fellowship can play an important part in breaking down national prejudices and developing true international understanding.The Rotary Foundation, Rotary’s corporate charity is dedicated to the furtherance of international understanding, goodwill and peace. The fund provides grants and educational scholarships for young people from all parts of the world (but not Rotarians or their close relatives) to visit and study in other countries. The Foundation also set up the 3-H fund which sought to alleviate the problems of the disadvantaged throughout the world under the headings of Health, Hunger and Humanity. The projects supported under this programme were usually beyond the capability of a single club or group of clubs to support.The Foundation’s most ambitious project so far has been PolioPlus, a campaign to help the World Health Organisation and UNICEF immunise the world’s children against polio, measles, diptheria, whooping cough, tetanus and tuberculosis. The PolioPlus campaign started in 1988 and millions of pounds have been raised by Rotary worldwide and more than a billion children have been immunised. The results have been spectacular with the number of polio cases dropping by 99% from 1988 to 2000 and total eradication by 2005 (Rotary’s centenary year) being a very realistic target.

OBJECT OF ROTARY

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 by each Rotarian of his occupation as an opportunity to serve society.

THIRD: The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his 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.