Happy 120th Birthday Rotary!

Mole valley's 100+ Rotary  members gathered at Federation  House in Leatherhead recently to celebrate  the 120th anniversary of the  foundation of the Rotary  organisation in February 1905.

That’s when Paul Harris, a 36-year-old  attorney from Chicago, convened a  meeting with three of his business  associates to form a group of  businessmen from a variety of  professions, with the aim of  supporting their local community.  

And so the Rotary Club Of Chicago was born.

Within a matter of months, the  club performed one of its first acts  of community service, working with  local civic organisations to install  public toilets around the city to help  improve sanitation.   

120 years later, Rotary  'International is one of the largest  voluntary service organisations in  the world, with around 1.4 million  members, male and female, of all  ages, in more than 35,000 clubs  across almost 200 countries,  working to support their  communities, locally, nationally and  internationally.    

Throughout Male Valley, there are  more than 100 Rotary members  within four clubs - Ashtead,  Bookham Horsley, Dorking and  Leatherhead - who meet regularly  to arrange a huge variety Of social,  community and fundraising  activities raising between them  over £IOO,OOO each year for a wide  variety of local, national and  international charities and worthy  causes, as well as organising events  to enable other local charities and  voluntary organisations to raise  awareness and funds far their own  activities.    

The special guest speaker at this  year's annual gathering of the four  Mole Valley clubs was Daniel Sykes,  Cyber Protect Officer from Surrey &  Sussex Police's South East Cyber  Crime Unit, who gave an excellent  presentation about cybercrime and  how to (hopefully!) prevent it.  TO find out more about Rotary, or  for details of your local club, please  visit www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/history  or through the contact us' links on this website.