Who We Are
President 2010-11
Welcome to the Rotary Club of Abingdon Vesper’s web-site. My name is Diane Clarke and I am the President of Abingdon Vesper for the Rotary year 2010-11.
Rotary is a movement that was started in Chicago by two business men in 1905. It took on the motto of ‘Service above Self’ and became an organisation dedicated to helping those in need, to encourage the highest ideals in business and professional occupations and to work towards a better world understanding and peace.
Abingdon Vesper is part of Rotary International's District 1090. District 1090 covers Central Southern England, which includes Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and parts of Buckinghamshire and Middlesex.
The club is a group of active, enthusiastic men and women of all ages who are from different professional backgrounds. We all have a common interest in having the chance to put something back into the community, meet new people, achieve something positive with like-minded people, provide services to less fortunate people both locally and internationally, fellowship and last but not least have Fun!
There are a broad range of activities for members to get involved in through projects, including fundraising, services to the community as well as hands-on work in developing countries.
We meet on a Tuesday evening at 8pm at the Four Pillars Hotel, Abingdon. Each meeting provides an opportunity to listen to different speakers on a wide variety of subjects and discuss ways to serve others. Our Rotary Calendar shows what meetings are coming up. If you are interested in learning more about our Club and/or attending a meeting, please contact our President Elect Chris Le Fevre.
The Rotary Club of Abingdon Vesper is celebrating its 20th birthday in 2010. Our celebrations include a concert given by the Treorchy Voice Choir, a twinning weekend with our Rotarian friends in Breda, Netherlands and a Sports Dinner with Geoff Holt a quadriplegic yachtsman who sailed across the Atlantic.
An important annual event in Abingdon Vesper’s diary is Dragon Boat Day which takes place in May and is a family day out by the side of the River Thames. It is also a major fundraising event with around 30 Dragon Boat teams racing on the river. We look forward to our next Dragon Boat event, for which plans are already underway.
For four weeks during the summer months, we hire and skipper a barge to provide special days out for people with physical disabilities on the Kennet and Avon canal.
For many years we have been involved in international projects in Kenya and Uganda, working with local charities and Rotary Clubs. These have included providing basic farming tools and animals, building a village well, providing mosquito nets for a Ugandan hospital, training for doctors, working with street children in Kenya and more.
Abingdon Vesper is actively taking part in a ‘Thanks for Life’ project, a project involving the clubs and members of Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland, aimed at helping to eradicate polio throughout the world. A couple of club Rotarians went out to India in 2009 to assist with National Immunisation Day and it is hoped that this will be repeated again early next year.
I hope this short introduction has given you a sample of some of the projects and work that we do in Abingdon Vesper. On a lighter side, the Club organises a number of social events throughout the year to help fellowship and make Rotary fun.
Diane