Rotary - An Overview of Who we are and What we do.
Founded
in 1905 by Paul Harris in Chicago, Rotary is the largest service
organisation of business and professional people in the world with
some 1.2 million members, operating in over 162 countries. In Great
Britain and Ireland there are 60,000 members in 1819 clubs
helping those in need and working towards world understanding and peace.
In
the last year more than £15 million was raised by Rotarians in the
British Isles for charitable causes, in addition to Rotarians' time in
support of community projects at a local, national and international
level. The Rotary Foundation, Rotary's corporate charity, is
dedicated to furthering international understanding, goodwill, and peace
and gives more than £30 million every year to educational and
humanitarian programmes. Rotary runs the biggest non-government
scholarship scheme in the world.
Community
service
is the traditional and well-known face of Rotary. It covers
help and advice to the aged, the infirm, young people and all those in
need, either 
directly
or through local charitable organizations. In general Rotary encourages
clubs to focus community projects on fighting hunger, environmental
concerns, illiteracy, drug abuse prevention, childhood immunisation, and
helping the young and the elderly. However each year the officers' change
and the new leaders have the discretion to identify causes they wish to
support in their year of office.
continued...
On
the international scene Rotary sponsors a wide range of programmes
such as: Preserve Planet Earth which focuses on critical ecological
issues; Youth Exchange, an international exchange programme for school
children; and the Rotary Volunteers programme which matches individual
Rotarian volunteers with community projects world-wide.
The
Rotary Foundation provides humanitarian grants to improve the quality of
life throughout the world. In addition, it supports international
exchanges of students and teachers as well as business and professional
people to further international understanding and friendly relations. The
Ambassadorial Scholarships Programme is the world's largest privately
funded international scholarships programme. Currently in Great Britain
and Ireland there are 165 scholars at Universities, on scholarships
totaling $3.6 million.
One
of the most successful projects supported by the Rotary Foundation,
working with UNICEF and World Health Organisation, is the international
Polio Eradication programme. Rotarians in Great Britain and Ireland have
raised more than £9 million for this project. World-wide by the year 2005
Rotarians will have contributed $425 million.
The name 'Rotary' was derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices. The Paul Harris Fellows programme was established in memory of the Founder to recognise substantial contributions to the Rotary Foundation's programmes. Notable Paul Harris Fellows include: HRH Prince Charles, HRH The Princess Royal; HRH the Duchess of Kent; Rt. Hon Tony Blair MP, Luciano Pavarotti; Sir Anthony Hopkins; Sir Edward Heath MP; Baroness Thatcher and Baroness Chalker.