Visitors Welcome

We meet in the Dodington Lodge Hotel every 1st & 3rd Tuesday evening at 6:30pm for Dinner, every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 12:45pm for lunch, and if there's a 5th Tuesday, we meet at 7:00am for Breakfast. Visitors are welcome.

The History of Whitchurch Rotary Club

The Founding | Wartime | After 1945 | The 21st Century | Club Organisation

The 21st Century
The 21st Century saw continued participation in club and inter-club bowls, ten-pin, snooker, golf, cricket, darts, table tennis and croquet and the ever victorious quiz team.

In recent years assistance has been given to two doctors with strong local connections engaged in missionary type medical work in Africa. Aqua boxes - sourced via the Wirksworth (Derby) club -provide drinking water from a polluted source, - regularly sent to stricken areas of the world, including a recent supply to Bangladesh and Goa. Water Pump Aid with local Rotarians staging 'famine lunches' and organising 'Festive Famine' appeals and street collections to raise money for this worthwhile relief work. Educational books, medical equipment,old spectacles and tools graded and repaired for use overseas. Funding provided for Eye Camps and Cleft Palate operations and an orphanage in India, wells and hospital equipment for an African community known to a Whitchurch Rotarian, for the supplying of prosthetic limbs to Jaipur. Past. Presdt. Tom Kelly's cycling and long distance trekking raised funds for Sight Savers International, Send a Cow to Africa, Macmillan Nurses, Pump Aid, the Jubilee Sailing Trust. Tom has been in the Sudan for four months on a voluntary basis, teaching English, and in February 2006 doing a similar stint in Tanzania. Since 1999 till summer 2007, Tom Kelly in nine outings has raised nearly £ 30,000 through Rotary and business contact sponsorship. In 2007 he trekked 186 mile Pembrokeshire coastline raising over £ 3,000 for the Children of Chernobyl Trust. Past Presdt. John Roberts celebrated a significant birthday in October, 2001, by scaling three British peaks to aid an orphanage in Mexico, with Tom Kelly following a more extended cycle trip from Lands End to John o' Groats to celebrate his 65th by raising £ 3000 for Water Pump Aid. Since 2006 Whitchurch Rotarians have supported Rowan Pritchard-Jones, son of PP David P.-J., who organises cleft palate operational trips to India. A memorable oompah evening concluded David P.J.'s year and raised over £1,000 for this valuable work.
2008 saw three more Whitchurch Rotarians being admitted to the Paul Harris Fellowship: Don Pearce, Peter Williams and Tom Kelly.

Cricket
In the district competition Whitchurch were undefeated seasons 2003 to 2006, but the actual trophy was only found in 2006, when Whitchurch were crowned Champions, - actually receiving the trophy on 16 January, 2007. Further confusion resulted in no competition in 2007. Over these seasons Don Pearce skippered sides comprising David Ryder, Tom Rylands, Campbell Mackellar, Ray Hatton, David Williams, Sam Eccleston, Graham Parker, Rob Mansfield, Greg Watson. In the 2006 final v Audley Whitchurch scored 252 for the loss of 2 wickets with their opponents on the same score but losing 4 wickets !

Tree of Light Since 1999, Whitchurch Rotarians have also promoted the 'Tree of Light' to which donations are made in memory of a loved one or cause. This has yielded substantial funds for the local Hospice, in particular, and other Rotary assisted charities, averaging about £ 1200 annually. A Book of Remembrance is kept in the Heritage Centre - prime movers Past Presdts. Peter Williams and John Mitchell
He that taketh away giveth back. In 2006 a Tax Rebate boosted funds by some £760. Our thanks to John Mitchell who negotiated his way through this minefield to persuade the IR that they owed us some money

Christmas Quiz Book
In 2003 David Ryder produced his first Christmas Quiz book raising substantial funds and this continued to 2006.

The Quiz Team won the district trophy three times in four years, skippered by Mike Arnold plus Wynford Collins, Nick Williams and Bill Carmichael, with a 2nd team being fielded. Others on the bench have been David Ryder, David Williams and David Hewitt.

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