It's exactly 1 year to the day, that I was inducted as the newest member of the Rotary Club of Grantham.
As I'm now a very proud member of the Rotary Global History Fellowship http://www.rotaryhistoryfellowship.org/ (and by the way if anyone out there in the North and Midlands of the UK would like to join up with us I'm also now the board member for Zone 17), I've delved into the club archives and dusted off my induction video above.
Just days after my induction I was able to attend and take part in my first ever Rotary Swimarathon. Over that long weekend in early February, I experienced first hand the incredible power of charity fundraising events to bring communities together, the amazing commitment of the whole club to supporting everyone, and the feeling of enormous satisfaction that I'd joined a group of people who really could make a difference.
Following on from swimarathon, I've had a brilliant range of opportunities to get involved with the club serving on the membership committee sharing my ideas on using social media to bring in new people, taking on the role of deputy chair of the new generations committee, and getting stuck into all the varied activities within the club from assisting with interviewing practice in schools to taking part in fundraising events.
I've fitted all that and much more into my life on the road as an IT consultant. Because the wonderful thing about the social media world as I discovered when I joined up with the Rotary Social Networking Fellowship, is that the Rotary fellowship you get within the clubs, is something you can connect in with all around the world. So on those nights away from my family in dreary hotel rooms , there were always people out there willing to share our event ideas and plans.
Through those friendships, that sense of pride in belonging, I was offered the opportunity to join the Rotary Global History fellowship and was deeply honoured to be asked by its founder and CEO Jack Selway. I simply can't thank him enough along with so many of the senior team in the fellowship who since December have helped once again lift our event to new levels by actively encouraging and promoting our event and club participation
I could never have imagined when I first tentatively set up a facebook page, added a few friends and contacts, how Rotary and the Rotary Global Swimarathon event would open up an entirely global community of active, inspiring and just brilliant friends.
To make a difference in our local communities, to make a difference in the wider world - it's something we all aspire to. Well one year in I can say it loud and proud - the family of Rotary have made my dreams come true and gone beyond even my wildest expectations.
Here we are today - with a month to go - and with 3 new signups again today including a 2nd entry in Canada from the Rotary Club of Toronto Earslcourt, and 2 new entries in the UK from Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray and the Rotary Club of Yate taking the RIBI entries to 25 the sheer scale of the event is really beginning to sink in. We now have 59 clubs officially registered and with definite interest from an Interact and even a Earlyact (9-12 year olds) club in Pakistan to take part along with another Rotary club there, every day we are writing a new page of history.
We're still gathering in the event details from around the globe , but suffice to say that preliminary calculations suggest that we will have at least 12,000 SWIMMERS taking part and raise in excess of £90,000!
Finally I'd like to share with you our very first attempt at a video to promote the event , presented by our very own swimarathon chairman and all round human dynamo Roger Graves. As an RGHF fellow I definitely do know that Rotary day is 23rd February , but our event falling on the nearest Saturday to that 107th year of history will be an incredible way to round off our Thanks for Life week.
I've only been a Rotarian for 1 of those 107 years, but one thing is for sure,
I want to be a Rotarian for the rest of my days!!
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