More than a century of ‘service before self’ by city club
WELCOME to the latest Rotary column, still with the backdrop of Ukraine and its proud people where our thoughts and prayers remain.
This month, we feature a profile of one of our clubs.
Portsmouth and Southsea Rotary Club, the oldest Rotary Club in the area, celebrated its centenary in 2016. That’s 106 years of ‘service before self’ both locally and internationally.
It is the only Portsmouth club that has a professionally-run Housing Association, started in 1969 with four buildings spread across the city and providing an excellent service to older people in housing need.
Our projects fall roughly under three headings: local, international and fundraising, although they often cross over.
The club meets on Tuesdays at the Royal Maritime Club, Queens Street: 1st Tuesday is lunch, 2nd is Zoom, 3rd is dinner, 4th is free and if there is a 5th in the month, that’s for family and friends. Visitors are very welcome to attend any meeting.
During lockdowns it was hard, as for many organisations, to find ways to volunteer, support and contribute.
We managed to do this on both a club and individual level by supporting local food banks, volunteering at vaccination centres or shopping for the housebound.
Coming out of lockdown, there has been plenty for President Caroline Gwatkin to do to ensure continuation of ongoing projects and initiating new ones.
This year we started working with Action Asylum at The Hub and Sustrans (for sustainable transport) by finding, collecting and repairing bicycles to donate for those who find the cost of public transport unaffordable.
This incredible project, run by Anita David, has the effect of changing people’s lives by giving them the opportunity to work or volunteer further from home.
Our Youth and Community Services committee has continued its close association with the Rotary Youth competitions.
Portsmouth High School kindly hosted the first two exciting rounds of Youth Speaks, where teams of pupils from local schools demonstrated their outstanding public speaking skills, such an essential skill for young people choosing their career paths.
With the terrible situation in the Ukraine, we are supporting those still in-country with Shelter Boxes and refugees here facing accommodation difficulties.
Rotary is an international organisation and as such our International Committee is close to our hearts.
Examples, all in co-operation with Rotary clubs from each country, include an award-winning river cleaning project in Brazil; a global grant literacy project in the Philippines; a sand dam project in Kenya promoting irrigation for farms/orchards and drinkable water, and in Nepal a tool library for agricultural communities.
All of these projects help with healthcare, nutrition, employment and education
P&S Rotary Club is growing, with enthusiastic new members bringing new ideas, new skills and challenging projects. Look out for news of Young Photographer competitions in local schools, specialised speakers at our dinners and a Garden Party community event on June 12 at Harrison House, Stamshaw Road, PO2 8PG.
Please feel free to contact https://www.rotary-ribi. org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=671 or https:// www.facebook.com/PortsmouthandSouthseaRotary/.
If you’d like details of other clubs nearer to your community, please contact Rotary district officers Ray Drake at raydrake@talktalk.net or Ken Ebbens at kenebbens@aol.com.