Welcome.
Thank you for visiting the website of the Rotary Club of Telford Centre.
Please read on and look around our site to see we are about and what we do.
Rotary clubs have a simple but vital mission; to bring together business and professional people and provide humanitarian services locally and internationally.
Are you are interested in joining friendly group of men and women of all ages who volunteer some of their spare time to help others?
Are you are interested in helping others locally or nationally or internationally?
Do you want to make a difference and make new friends?
If the answer to any of the above is YES then Rotary could be for you. it would be our pleasure to welcome you.
We take part in various charitable activities and organise and run fundraising projects for the benefit of others. The rewards are enormous and you can really make a difference to the lives of other.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE?
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT A MEMBER OF THE MEMBERSHIP TEAM
With no obligation why not come along and have a chat!
We enjoy a one course meal served to us in an upstairs room at The Pheasant Inn, prior to our meetings. We gather in the main bar from 6.00 pm onwards. See 'Meetings & Venue' section below for where and when meetings are held.
Please contact Chris Mackrell if you would like to join us to discuss what we do.
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Our History
The Rotary Club of Telford Centre was chartered in 1992 on the initiative of Wellington Rotary Club.
Wellington, one of the older clubs in England,
founded way back in 1929, set out to establish a brand new Rotary Club which
would reflect the modern ethos of the then still 'New Town' image of
Telford and it was very much with this in mind that Telford Centre Club
was set up.
From the beginning Telford Centre reflected the
latest thinking in the Rotary movement, it was initiated as a breakfast club
and a concerted effort was made to introduce female Rotarians
– something quite unusual for Rotary at the time. From the
earliest days women Rotarians have contributed greatly to the success
of the Club and a number of have served as Club President with
all making a huge contribution to the Club’s continued success.
At its Charter Night in 1992 (a new Rotary
Club is 'chartered' when it is formally accepted as part of the Rotary
movement) the club got off to a flying start, with its 33 new
Rotarians receiving the good wishes of clubs from across the
District especially from Wellington Club, which presented the new
club with much of its Rotary Regalia.
Rotary is largely about its members joining
together in fellowship to be of service to the community, and from the
start Telford Centre Rotarians engaged enthusiastically in a broad
range of Rotary activities to assist the community locally,
nationally and internationally.
For many years the Club took part in a key local
Rotary fund raising event, the Christmas collection at Telford Centre,
involving Rotarians getting out with collection tins and appealing to
local people for cash, generally on behalf of local charities. In the
1990’s this appeal was highly successful, and many tens of thousands
of pounds were raised.
In recent years the emphasis for the Christmas
Appeal has moved away from the traditional collection to the Tree of Light fund
raising initiative. This involves local Rotarians providing a very
personal opportunity for people to remember loved ones at Christmas
time and has been enormously successful. The Rotary “Tree of
Light” project regularly raises approximately £40,000 for local
charities and celebrated its 25th year or operation in 2020.
Telford Centre Rotary Club has been at the
forefront of the Tree of Light initiative, indeed for a number of years it
was led by a Telford Centre Club Rotarian. The Club is immensely
proud of its involvement in the project, and of how it has enabled us to
give significant help to charities such as the Severn Hospice, Hope House, Air Ambulance, Blood Bikes and smaller local charities.
Over the years the Club has also been active in
Rotary projects at National and International level, both by fund raising
and by direct personal participation of individual Rotarians. Many of
the fund-raising efforts of course have the added benefit of
providing great entertainment for the Rotarians involved, as witness the
Club President of the time getting soaked whilst on a “Water
Ride” at Drayton Manor Park when taking local disadvantaged children
on a “Kids Out” day.
Of course, Rotary like any other organisation
which wishes to thrive, must constantly be prepared to adjust to changing
circumstances. Over the years since its inception Telford Centre has
shown itself very willing to adapt. For example, some time ago it
became clear that the most favoured time for meetings was no longer
at breakfast time but instead as people left work, in the early evening. Accordingly,
our weekly meetings now take place at “twilight” (6.30pm) so that Members can
come along immediately after work, contribute to meetings, and still be
home at a reasonable time in the evenings.
The Club then met weekly at The Ramada Hotel for many years but again, in response to requests to adapt following the Coronavirus in 2020 the Club currently holds its regular Tuesday meetings at The Pheasant Inn at Admaston but now only on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month.
We meet on Tuesdays at 18:30
(We meet twice per month: 1st Tuesday - Business 3rd Tuesday - Social) The Pheasant,Be part of a global network of volunteers, trying to make the world a better place. Please also see the 'links & news' page for information from the local district and live feeds from Rotary International and Rotary International in GB&I.