Membership

Well, today there are lots of phone apps to help people find new friends, but there is still one of the biggest social networks ever invented; Rotary International, founded in 1905.

In 1905, before mass communication was a thing, you went to work and gradually picked up some business acquaintances. But even then it was unusual to visit different premises unless you had
specific business there.

On 23rd February 1905 in Chicago USA, a lawyer, Paul Harris, held a meeting with 3 other men at one of their offices. This became a regular weekly meeting and initially they rotated subsequent
meetings at each other offices. The members called this gathering ‘Rotary’....... 

Other people got to hear about this and within a year the Rotary Club, as it came to be known, moved to a regular single meeting place. See the Founding Years

In October 1907 amongst the first of its projects the Rotary Club of Chicago campaigned with others to provide public toilets to improve sanitation in the city.

The first Rotary Club in Europe was Dublin which first met on 22nd February 1911. Rotary International launched its campaign to eradicate Polio in 1985. Women were admitted as full members from 1989.

Today Rotary is open to everyone age 18 or over who wants to give back to their communities. We are community and business leaders who listen to our communities and draw up action plans to help deal with the challenges we all face. 

There are membership fees (usually around £10 per month) and DBS checks are required when Rotary interacts with children or vulnerable adults.

Many Clubs are based on a locale but there are also online Clubs and Clubs related to particular causes (the environment or human rights for example). In North West England and North Wales there are 72 Rotary Clubs including one, The Passport Club, which usually meets online. Clubs meet at various times from breakfast, lunch or early evening. Some enjoy a meal together whilst some meet for drinks. Some are very formal and others are very relaxed.

We understand that it can be daunting to walk into a Rotary meeting where you don’t know anybody and it’s not guaranteed that every club you visit is right for you, so we have a team of volunteers who will happily talk to potential members at outdoor events. 
 

There is a Rotary Club for everyone.

Rotary in North Wales and North West England is the Northern half of Wales including the Mid Wales towns of Newtown, Welshpool, Machynlleth and Llanidloes, plus Chester, the Wirral, north and western Cheshire, Merseyside and West Lancashire.

Our Rotary District has 1377 members, compared to its population of around 1.7 million people. Rotary wants to meet more people and Rotary wants more people to join us in helping communities.

Enquire now about your nearest Rotary group or to find out more.