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. 

You can follow us on Instagram at @thatcham_rotary 

Or on Facebook from the link at the bottom of this page. 

Quiz Night Oct 25

View "Happening Soon" link on this page for details of our next fundraising Event

Quiz Night at Hermitage Hall Fri 10th Oct

 The winning duck numbers: - 

• First Place - 4671
• Second Place - 2048
• Third Place - 4338

We took quite a few photos of the event and placed in an Album (Click on link).

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 £3,500 that will go to our selected charities, the main beneficary being Swings and Smiles.

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 third year were our main sponsor.
• Kennet Radio for providing the pre race entertainment and commentary
• Newbury Canoe Club for marshalling the ducks and making sure we didn't 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
• Wasing Estates, Woolhampton PC, and Thatcham Town Council for agreeing and assisting with preparation of addional parking area.

     and of course all our supporters.

Go to Event Details page to read report of the day. 

What a wonderful day with both vehicle owners and visitors arriving in high numbers making it a successful family event.

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 who exhibited and those that came to view. Hope to see you at our next event - Duck Race 7th Sep 25.

Last but not least: -

Congratulations to owners of the Chysler Newport and the Austin Metropolitan for receiving the judges Best in Show. and Reserve Best in Show Awards. The judges theme this year was Originality and Quality. 

June 25

We seldom report on individuals activities on our website but thought this report was more than worthy as it shows the fellowship of Rotary that is not always evident.

On June 6th, our newest members, Simon and Terri Negus, had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Chattanooga (Downtown) branch while on holiday. They received a warm welcome and enjoyed a fantastic buffet lunch, which drew a crowd of over 200 attendees—approximately 150 members from the branch’s 350-strong membership and around 50 guests.

During their visit, Simon and Terri (the couple on the right) exchanged branch pendants with Chattanooga (Downtown) President Doug Thompson and Past Rotary International President John Germ (2016/17).

The highlight of the meeting was a presentation from Chattanooga City Mayor Tim Kelly, a fellow Rotarian. He shared his vision for making Chattanooga the best city in the USA and discussed several important local developments.

Simon and Terri found it fascinating and inspiring to experience the unique characteristics of different meetings and to connect with fellow Rotarians from around the world, and would encourage all Rotarians to visit other branches during their travels, especially internationally. 

There is always a warm welcome when visiting other clubs but the first time is always a little anxious, so well done Terri and Simon for embracing the opportunity so soon after joining.

Crocuses In Bloom. (Mar-Apr)

Have you spotted the purple crocuses at West Berks Community Hospital, Bluecoat School, Thatcham Memorial, and A4 traffic lights with Henwick Lane, over 2000 in all. Planted before the COVID years to support the Rotary End Polio Campaign. Further Details.

Meeting Speaker - January

We do not often report on our meeting speakers but thought this is worthy of a mention as it was such a good evening. Thats not say others are not!.

Thomas Forester, Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip TV Star, talked about his early years and how he became an auctioneer and specialist in jewellery. Members had been invited to bring along items they wished to know more about and even valued, there were quite a number and he managed to cover every item. It was a great evening and money raised for Thomas's SAS Auction house supported charity Swings and Smiles.

Thank You Thomas, for an enjoyable, and entertaining evening

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 
 40c9fdff-75c8-4e11-8f92-7b78c7a88552.MP4

Youth Speaks 2024-25