Club Assembly

18 June 2026: Club Assembly

In her capacity as the incoming President, Anne Moriaty set our her vision for our Club in 2026-27 at today’s Club Assembly. She was previously our President in 2018-19, the last Rotary year before the Covid epidemic. She reminded us how we had adapted to change then and explained the changes she wished our Club to adopt next year.

Having visited all the Clubs in our District when she was District Governor, she was aware the each Club had its own way of “doing Rotary”. She felt that, since Rotary was avowedly a secular and non-political organisation, our Club should reflect this by dropping the Grace and the Loyal Toast during our weekly meetings. She did not intend to wear the President’s chain of office regularly at meetings, partly because she found it uncomfortable. Traditions she would continue at meetings were the use of the Club bell and the Rotary Toast at the end of meetings.

She wants our Club to continue the things that it is good at, such as:

• the twice-yearly jumble sales;
• the Summer Party and Panto Visits for Senior Citizens; and
• organising the annual local heat of the Rotary Young Musician competition.

Anne hopes to have a fund-raising project for End Polio Now next year. We will also continue to support the Rotary Foundation, particularly by encouraging members to pay a voluntary contribution at the same time as their annual subscription.

The main occasion coming up in Anne’s Presidential year is, of course, the centenary of Rotary in Chelmsford. We will have a valuable opprotunity to work together with the other Chelmsford Clubs to organise celebratory events and promote Rotary.