President David Wymer 2024 - 25

It is now June 2024 and I have a feeling of déjà vu! In June 2019, I was President Elect awaiting the thrust of glory of becoming President. Little did I know that a pandemic would chop me off at the knees in the late winter 2020, leaving me to view meetings on a mobile phone and having to make my own lunch on a Thursday. My thanks go to the then new President Elect, Jenni, for officiating for the last months of my year as my expertise in zoom was insufficient for me to exercise control.

So, here I am, the first male in Clitheroe Rotary to have the same job twice as President.

Rotary is essentially a service organisation. Money raising is not necessarily a main aim, but it is this which generates most publicity. Our coverage locally is excellent on the page and on social media. With coverage of the annual bonfire, golf day, Santa’s Sleigh, Ribble Valley ride and others, we help the Clitheroe Advertiser and Castle View fills their pages. Money raising therefore keeps our profile high and this helps us recruit new members and helpers.

 One ongoing project is the collection of unwanted spectacles. These can be dropped off in our collection bin at the entrance to the Rose & Crown Hotel, Clitheroe, from noon each day. These are then repurposed by International Aid Trust. We also hope to reintroduce the collection of unwanted tools and sewing machines, for ‘Tools for Self Reliance’ in the near future. These are then shipped to Africa to help locals set up businesses such as tailoring and carpenters and mechanics.

 The more members and helpers we have, the more we can serve the community. We Marshall local events such as Last Night of the Proms and the food festival. We are the “go to” organisation that groups turn to for help in stewarding and we are always there for one off (I hope!) events such as Covid vaccinations marshalling, and film production marshalling as seen for the filming of “The Greatest Days”. When you see the complexities of making a film, you realise why so many credits are displayed at the end. By the way, were we in the credits??

 My mind goes back to the first tranche of Covid vaccinations. Ladies over ninety came along in their finery, having hardly been out of the houses for six months or more. Their eagerness and happiness at being released for an hour or so will live with me until I’m in my nineties, at least.

 Volunteers are the lifeblood of our society and I fear that the urge to volunteer is diminishing. As people get older there seems to be fewer willing to replace them. It is therefore a target of mine to set up a volunteer site for people to enrol to and to give details of what interests them. This database will stretch out beyond Rotary and will incorporate other bodies so that volunteers can interchange according to their talents or preferences. I know that there is already a local authority volunteer organisation. I intend to work alongside it and try to up its profile. Time will tell!

Much of our Rotary life is social. We have a meeting every Thursday, nearly, at the Rose and Crown, These lunches generally have a speaker, some from charities hoping for our assistance and some who just have something interesting to say. Every fifth Thursday, we have an evening event and this year we have been to a garden nursery for a talk and a feed, and a Chinese Restaurant totally structureless and therefore enjoyable in a different way.

We have a birthday party, known as Charter Night, our only posh dressed up do, at a restaurant and we have a President’s Night. I can’t tell about this yet as I’ve not thought about what to do!

I hope that you have found my rambling interesting. If you think you would like to know more, you are welcome to attend our Thursday meetings and all you need to do is to contact us and we will welcome you. Equally, if you think that you could a stint of volunteering, please contact us. You need not become a Rotary member!

Finally, best wishes to our retiring President Robert for his sterling efforts over that last twelve months. Also, welcome to the rank of President Elect, Phil Naylor!

My best wishes to you all!

 David Wymer