Rotary Club of Thatcham & District

About us

About Thatcham and District Rotary

We support Local, National, and International charities, by involving ourselves in fundraising projects, and other not-for-profit organisations whilst having fun and making new friends.

The purpose of our website is to introduce ourselves as to who we are, what we do, and provide information on our forthcoming events.

We hope you find it informative and will encourage you to support our various events.

If you like what you see, and what we do, (view our Flyer) you may be interested in helping, or even joining us? If so and would like more information, please use the contact link at the bottom of the page

Santa Fun Run 2024

The People of Thatcham showed how resilent they are, turning out the morning following storm Darragh and in still windy conditions, all determined to have fun, and they did.

A BIG THANK YOU to all the runners, and their supporters, for making this a successful and enjoyable event. (Well we hope you enjoyed it!)

We must also mention the team at Kennet Radio who managed to set themselves up and entertain the runners and supporters before and after the run. Well Done and Thank You.

West Berks Food Bank the main benficiary of this years run also managed to set up a make shift stall and ran a competition of the "fastest" parcel packer.

We are still collecting information but here are some photos of the start and first two past the finish, and a link to this years album (about 150 photos!!)

Finally here is a video of the start, courtesy of Rob Donnelly
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Youth Speaks 2024-25

Youth Speaks is a debating competition with teams of three consisting of a chairman, a speaker in favour of a selected topic, and a speaker against. Each team has a set time to make their presentations and points are awarded for delivery and content with deductions made for running over or under the allotted time.

This years local round recently took place at the Arlington Arts Centre and included teams from , Kennet, Trinity, and Downe House Schools. There are two competions, Intermediate age section and Seniors. The winners of this round of the competition were Trinity for the Intermediate section and Downe House for the Seniors. The judges agreed the standard this year was exceptionally high. Well done all the Teams. The winning teams will go on to compete in the next round which is the District final, and we wish them the very best of luck.

Our thanks go to Horsey Lightly Newbury Solicitors for sponsoring the event, and of course the judges Dianne Wilkinson (Chair), Debs Browning, and Claire Hodges.

Trinity Intermediate Team Downe House Senior Team

Judges

Did you know 24th Oct was World Polio Day.

Find out more on End Polio Now Campaign.

Recent Event - Duck Race 1st Sep, a family event for all -

The Annual Duck Race has become a much loved tradition. Thank you for all your support and for making this such a wonderful event, we made just over £4,000 that will go to our selected charities, the main beneficary being Bridge for Young People.

These events do not just happen and could not take place without support so would like to say a big thank you to:

HCA Business Support Services who for the second year were our main sponsor.
Kennet Radio for providing the pre race entertainment and commentry
Newbury Canoe Club for marshalling the ducks and making sure we didnt lose any on the way.
The Rowbarge Inn for all their assistance.
Camp Hobson who for some years now have stored the ducks between races

Our thanks also to Thatcham Photograhic Club who this year at very short notice arranged for two of their members to capture some photos of the event which can be found along with the list of winners on the Duck Race Page.

Car Show 2024.

What a wonderful day it was. The day started a bit dull and damp but that did not deter both vehicle owners or visitors to turn up in high numbers

We had a vast variety of vehicles: - cars some vintage, and some not so old but enthusiastically modified. There were motorcycles and trikes, and a number of larger exhibits. Don't take our word for it take a look at the album of the day. (Album)

A big thank you to all that exhibited and those that came to view. Hope to see you next year.

Last but not least: -

Golf GTi - Best of Show Winner: - Judged as best preserved vehicle. Owned from new, nothing added, nothing replaced, and in emaculate condition.

Quiz Night Fri 14th Jun

Our quiz night held at Hermitage Village Hall was an enjoyable event and a great success. Many thanks to all the teams that supported the night which was in aid of the charity Time to Talk (West Berks) click link to learn about the good work they do. Amount raised was about £900.

Fund Raising Update

Our fund raising events in the last Rotary Year (Jul 23 - Jun 24) have enabled us to donate over £13,200 to various charity organisations and good causes, visit our Charity Support Page for more details.

So a big THANK YOU to all our supporters - 2023/24

HELP WANTED - If you like what we do, we are always looking for help, perhaps you would like to assist as a Friend of Rotary (or even join us), if you are interested and would like more information, please use the contact link at the bottom of the page.

A Magazine is produced every 2 months.

Click on image to access content and view all the previous editions.

Meetings & Venue

Where and when:

We meet on Wednesdays at

(Lunch times 2nd Weds of Month and Twilight 4th Weds. IMPORTANT Currently not all meetings are held at The West Grange Hotel. Contact Secretary for details.) Cox Lane
Bath Road
Newbury
RG7 5UP 01635 273074
W3W: ///submerged.rainbow.crisis

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Rotary News

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.