Our Club Report 2024-25 for the Annual General Meeting

This Rotary year has been one of mixed fortunes for the Rotary Club of Bury St Edmunds.

 The loss of several members due to personal circumstances and the loss of 3 Honorary members through death is very sad for us all. In the Spring, we had to consider the possibility of changing the venue for our meetings and we found ourselves ‘nomadic for a few weeks.

However, we have much to celebrate as can be seen below and are grateful for the support of one new member.

Our social activities were varied, including the Summer Buffet, the Christmas Dinner and the Past Rotarians Dinner – all excellent and enjoyable events.

Our external fundraising activities brought in money for distribution to people in our community and globally where the need was greatest. (Details in Community and international reports to Business Meetings). The Golf Day at the Bury St Edmunds Golf Club, in conjunction with the Bury St Edmunds Abbey Rotary Club, and the Christmas Collections at supermarkets in the town enabled the Club to be seen by the general public as active and concerned for others – ‘Service Above Self’. Our part in the Abbey Club’s On-Line Auction also raised welcome funds.

The Swimarathon continues to raise the profile of the Club and gives local charities a platform for raising their own funds within an organised event, which is always fun as well as financially successful. Some new charities joined us this year: in all 22 teams swam for 17 different charities. A team representative was invited to join the young people at the ‘Awards Evening’ at the Cathedral to receive a certificate on behalf of the team.

Our internal fundraising activities included assembling a Rotary Swimarathon team which raised a large sum for the small local charity ‘Ipswich Epilepsy Support Group’. As a club, we donated our meeting fines to the work of ‘Lendwithcare’, a microfinance charity which helps small entrepreneurs in developing countries to start up or grow their business. A number of Club members also signed up to ‘Easyfundraising’, which means that a small discount on their on-line spending is donated to the Club.

Our concern for young people has been demonstrated by the distribution of ‘Dictionaries for Life’ in one or two selected Primary Schools in the locality, where children were delighted by the offer of a book, which was theirs to keep. Senior Schools/Colleges participated in our Public Speaking competition and those with Sixth Forms each nominated one of their 6^th formers to receive a Rotary ‘Service Above Self’ Award. This was presented at an informal buffet evening at the Cathedral Refectory. Our Club was represented on Zoom at the Rotary Foundation Scholars Welcome Evening in Cambridge.