First of all Rotarians come from all walks of life, from both genders and all races and religions and all ages. There are over 1.2
million men and women around the world who are proud to call
themselves Rotarians. Rotary is not political and its not attached to any
religion. That's why it's present on all the continents of the world and in most
of the countries of the world, in fact more than 160 countries.
Rotary clubs meet once every week. At our club the
meeting normally takes the form of a short get together in the bar of the hotel
where we meet to have a quick drink and catch up
with our fellow Rotarians before going into the dining room for a meal.
Seating in our club is not formal. We have a couple of large round tables
and apart from the fact that the President, Secretary and speaker sit together
everyone else sits where they like. The meal is a social affair, there are
a few announcements at the beginning and end of the meal. After a short
break the evening carries on to either a speaker, committee meetings or a full
club business meeting. At around ten o'clock its all over for the night.
But going to meetings is not what being a Rotarian is all about.... its about
doing things for the community and for your club and having some fun along the
way.
The "doing" can be painting a classroom, rattling
a can on a street corner in the freezing cold, filling disaster boxes, running a
coconut shy at a fete or going to Africa to rebuild a hospital or using your
professional skills to help the community, the limit is what you want to do and
the time you wish to put in. Rotary is summed up by its motto - "Service
above Self". Going to meetings is about building the fellowship with the
other members of the club - as a club we can do so much more than as a group of
individuals. See the page entitled What Rotary Does for a look at what Rotary does around the globe.
Rotary is over a hundred years old. Rotary
in Caterham started over 75 years ago. Our club is 20 years old.
Men and women over the generations have found a way of helping the community and
building a great fellowship with their fellow Rotarians. Why don't you
come along and find out why over one million people in the world want to belong
to Rotary - contact us - it may be the best thing you've done in quite a while.
