95th Charter

Sutton Rotary celebrates 95 years serving the community

The Rotary Club of Sutton in Ashfield celebrated its 95^th anniversary on Tuesday October 7^th at its annual Rotary Charter night at The Hostess Restaurant, Sookholme,

President Geoff Snare welcomed over 70 guests, including fellow Rotarians from 11 different Rotary Clubs as well as the Rotary District Governor and the President of Sutton Inner Wheel. The guest speaker for the evening was Professor Catherine Mason, HM Senior Coroner for Leicester City & South Leicestershire and former Captain in the Royal Army.

After a sumptuous three course dinner, Rotary District Governor Peter Hurst gave the toast to Rotary International. This was followed by President Geoff Snare outlining his plans for the Rotary year ahead and proposing the toast to visitors and guests.

Professor Mason then gave an inspiring and entertaining talk on her career from nursing at Kingsmill hospital, through a tour of duty in Afghanistan as a captain with the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, followed by qualification as a solicitor, then deputy coroner and finally senior coroner. She then went on to explain the role of a coroner, providing an insight into her day-to-day working life, as well as her involvement in a number of inquests into deaths of UK citizens overseas, including the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 shot down in eastern Ukraine.

Finally, President Geoff Snare thanked Professor Mason for her excellent talk, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers and offering a donation of £250 to Professor Mason’s chosen charity, Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance.