The Rotary Club of Wareham was chartered in 1972 and is very much a fun loving club made up of male and female members, with the common theme of friendship and providing service to the local community and wider support to Rotary International initiatives worldwide, such as Shelter Boxes and the eradication of polio.
We meet at the Springfield Country Hotel in Wareham, where we can catch up with friends, and meet visitors and guests who are always made most welcome by the membership.
Together we can make a difference.
Further information on the club can be found on various pages on this website, but if you wish to contact the club click on "Contact" at the bottom of this page and someone will get back to you as soon as they can.
For further information on Rotary see What is Rotary and 12 Reasons to join Rotary.
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Wareham Rotary Carol Collections
Route & Dates December 2025
Mon 15th December – Northmoor (1) 6pm-8pm, from Sherford Drive
Tues 16th December – Northmoor (2) 6pm-8pm, from Willow Way,
plus Forest Edge and Gore Hill
Wed 17th December – Wool (1) 6pm-8pm, start at Purbeck Gate
Thurs (daytime) 18th December – Outside Sainsbury’s Wareham
9am – 1pm
Thurs 18th December – 6pm-8pm, Wareham town, start at Westgate
Fri (daytime) 19th December - Outside Sainsbury’s Wareham
9am – 1pm
Fri 19th December – Wool(2) 6pm-8pm – Start at Chalk Pit Lane
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Proceeds from the Open Gardens have been donated to Dementia Friendly Purbeck. For more photos of the Open Gardens afternoon see - photos

We're delighted to announce that we sold 216 tickets to our Wareham Rotary Open Gardens event this year(146 sold last year)
All proceeds from our event were again donated to Dementia Friendly Purbeck. This evening Ann Popperwell from Wareham Rotary presented a cheque for £2,700.00 to Mike Bonfield, Chairman & Mo Andrews, Treasurer of Dementia Friendly Purbeck in Ann's garden. Dementia Friendly Purbeck is working to recruit another Admiral Nurse and Mike said he was overwhelmed by the response and Dementia Friendly was well on their way to reaching their target for an additional nurse.
Ann Popperwell thanked The Priory Hotel and all those who opened their beautiful gardens for us, plus everyone who supported our event by buying a ticket!
Also of course those that helped on the day with stewarding, selling tickets, baking cakes and serving refreshments and added we could not have done this without you, a great team event!
If you would like to open your garden for us in June 2026, please let us know.
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Wareham Rotary had their usual stall at Wareham Carnival with a variety of children's games. We saw lots of happy children. A good result!

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Ann Popperwell, President of Wareham Rotary, presented a cheque for £250.00 to Purbeck Sounds Community Radio Station based in Commercial Road Swanage.
Maxine Sims presenter and fellow Rotary member received the cheque on behalf of Purbeck Sounds.
Maxine was delighted to receive the cheque and thanked Ann for the generous donation from Wareham Rotary.
Maxine said the generous donation would help fund much needed equipment to facilitate live recording of community events .
Purbeck sounds is a community radio station which is proud to support the local community.
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Wareham Rotary held their annual Daffodil Party on Saturday 1st March this year. It was a great success with over 90 local people enjoying an afternoon of bingo, afternoon tea and musical entertainment from Karl Lattimer.
See Daffodil Party 2025 for more photos.
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A big thank you to all those who donated tools and sewing machines. These have now been delivered to "Tools for Self-Reliance" at Netley Marsh to be refurbished and packaged into sets ready for sending to Africa.
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Wareham Rotary and Wareham Lions presented a cheque for £1,000 to Not Just Sundaes on 18th December 2024 as the proceeds from their recent joint Barn Dance.

Rotary Open Gardens 2024 cheque for £2,000 presented to Dementia Friendly Purbeck.
Sara's Rotary Pimms on the Patio 2024 cheque for £540 presented to Dementia Friendly Purbeck.
Calendar of Events - Autumn 2025
Saturday 1st - Toyah concert at The Purbeck School
4th - Meal out at 29029 Indian restaurant
18th - Bring an object with a story
Friday 28th - Michael Portillo at The Purbeck School
December
2nd - Business Meeting
Saturday 6th - Christmas Party for Children with Additional Needs
9th - Rotary Club Christmas Party at The Springfield Hotel
15th to 19th - Carol Collections
MERRY CHRISTMAS
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Each box costs £590 and is tailored for the weather conditions the people are likely to encounter, so each delivery of boxes is unique and meets the needs of up to 10 people, offering a tent for shelter, blankets/ground mats, cooking pots, a water purifier, a solar lamp, tools and even items to keep children occupied.
The tents are sturdy and have been used for years in some parts of the world after previous disasters. Last year shelterboxes were sent to the Rotary Clubs in Turkey and Syria to house those in need in light of the emergency following the series of earthquakes.
To contact the Rotary Club of Wareham (Contact: Ann on 07870 775119)

Wareham Rotary makes regular donations to Shelterbox as well as public collections in response to particular disasters (eg. Ukraine war, Morocco earthquake and Libya flooding).
We meet on Tuesdays at 1915,
(We meet most Tuesday evenings.) Springfield Country HotelBe 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.