How to join West of Scotland Rotary
As we move on to a more normal life, many people are taking stock of what they’ve learnt about themselves, their priorities and their quality of life during the Covid-19 global pandemic.
This last year-and-a-half has highlighted how much we all need each other, that we need to help those more vulnerable in our society and that we need to make the world a better place for everyone and for our future.
Service above Self
Young and old men and women who volunteer with Rotary in the West of Scotland went into action to help fight the effects of lockdown; they will never stop.
That is Rotary’s mantra – Service above Self. Rotary International is one of the world’s leading volunteer, membership and humanitarian service organisations.
When lockdown was imposed in Scotland on March 23 members of the 46 Rotary clubs from Campbeltown to Oban, Bothwell, Ayr, Rothesay, East Kilbride to Erskine and many others in-between did what Rotarians have done for more than 116 years: they walked towards the crisis to help tackle it.
What needs done post-lockdown and how you can help
Charities have lost millions of pounds of funding due to cancellation of live fundraising events and closing of charity shops. The funding that Rotary clubs in the West of Scotland has donated, especially to smaller local charities, has been a lifeline to them. Your local charity needs fundraising ideas and campaigners to help them recover.
Your local environment can be improved for the whole community with litter picks, beach cleans and work on community gardens teaching children where their food comes from.
Local lives can be saved with Heartstart training and defibrillators sponsored and placed in local communities.
Making the world’s population healthier to make the population able to resist future variants. This includes health and hygiene education and a major campaign eradicating Polio.
Supplying food parcels and healthy meals can help reduce poverty and ensure our local communities become healthier.
Providing community activities and a social hub can help to improve the mental health of our communities and support each other, helping isolated people know that someone cares about them.
Extraordinary efforts
Action has led to Rotary members – ordinary men and women who do extraordinary things – supporting foodbanks and delivering food parcels and, where foodbanks didn’t exist, they started them. When personal protection equipment was in short supply Rotarians started making and supplying it.
When pensioners and vulnerable people needed their medication, it was often Rotarians who collected it and delivered it. When money ran out to pay for food supplies for those in isolation, guess who ran fundraisers to pay the bills? Rotary did, because they took action.
Supporting your community
Over the last year Rotary has supported more than 600 organisations in the West of Scotland alone raising more than £40,000. Support has been given to groups like Mental Health Foundation, The Salvation Army, Youth Projects, Pensioners Friendship groups, Family Foodshare Groups, Police Scotland Youth Volunteers, Alzheimer groups ,Community Action Network, Food Parcel groups, Combat Stress, mothers and toddlers groups, Age Concern, CHAS, Autism and Asperger’s, and Talking Newspapers. The list could go on just as the action of Rotary members will go on to help local individuals and communities and international communities.
That’s the situation in our local area in the West of Scotland.
The action that Rotary takes does not and never will stop to help our local communities.
Do you want to play your part?
We need many more volunteers to help Rotary make a difference to their communities. Volunteering is one of the best things you can do for yourself as well as others. It can help you gain confidence, meet people, be part of a group, learn new skills, broaden your experience, make a difference to others’ lives and help you have fun.
Register here for a webinar on Friday June 18 at 6.30pm to hear more about how you can grow with Rotary.
As a humanitarian organisation we have seven areas of focus: supporting the environment; peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
Rotary is not a religious or political organisation. It is a completely diverse gathering of people who want to take action to help those in need.
If you would like to be part of the action – come and join us, build a stronger, better society in the West of Scotland. You will grow and the world will thank you for your help.
Learn more from our Facebook Page or email us at [email protected]