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Members of Downham Market Rotary gathered on the evening of 10 August 2026 to mark the annual Presidential Handover.

The Club expressed its sincere thanks to Howard Phillips for his dedication and leadership during his year as President. In his address, Howard reflected positively on his time in office, paying tribute to the hard work and support of fellow members across a wide range of projects. He emphasised that it is the members themselves who make Downham Market Rotary such a special and successful club.

During the ceremony, Howard formally handed over the President's chain to George Morton, wishing him every success for the year ahead.

Accepting the role, George thanked members for their confidence in him and said he would do his utmost to lead the club over the coming year, continuing to bring energy, enthusiasm and new life to its activities.

The Club extends its very best wishes to George as he begins his Presidential year. His appointment is particularly significant as he becomes the first ever Scottish President in the 69-year history of Downham Market Rotary, a milestone that adds an extra sense of occasion to this year's handover.

Members look forward to supporting George throughout the year ahead and continuing the club's tradition of service, friendship and commitment to the local community.

Charity Quiz Night

Our next 'Charity Quiz' is scheduled for Friday 9th October at the Conservative Club in Bridge Street, Downham Market.  See the 'Coming Events' page for full details. 

Book early - we normally run out of places quickly!

On Sunday 24th May, the opening weekend of the Downham Festival Week, we ran the 'French Café in the Clock Room and outside terrace of the Town Hall.  What a fantastic, and hectic, few hours that was with people dropping by to enjoy croissant and other French delicacies plus the odd cheeky glass of wine.  We so enjoyed supporting the Festival and especially being able to make a decent donation to our charity funds from the takings.

Annual Charity Golf Day - 2026

Sixty Golfers turn up to support Tapping House

On Friday 15th May 2026, 60 golfers arrived at Ryston Park Golf Club, Downham Market to play in our Charity Golf Day with all profits on the day going to Tapping House Hospice.

Following hearty breakfast of bacon rolls, fifteen teams of four players, teed off in a shotgun start on the Ryston Park’s new, improved and recently opened tees (for the uninitiated a “shotgun start” in golf is a way of starting a tournament where all groups begin playing at the same time, but from different holes around the course).

After hours of intense competition all golfers and support staff sat down to a sumptuous buffet and the chance to regret the missed putts, the wayward drives and other dodgy shots.  The Winning Team with 89 stableford points was Stow Cricket Club represented by Mark Skipper, George, Dan, and Jamie Cook (again for the uninitiated In golf, Stableford points are a scoring system where players earn points based on their score on each hole relative to par, instead of simply counting total strokes).

Everyone agreed a wonderful day of fun and golf made this Rotary Club Charity outing an occasion to remember.  Our thanks goes to Ryston Park Golf Club for donating their course for the event,  The good news?   We’ll do it all again next year!  Look out for announcements.

For more information contact us by email: downhammarketrotary@hotmail.co.uk

Tapping House Donation

Our Christmas collections at Tesco and Morrison in Downham, plus the donations made at our car-parking for Heritage Day and the amount made at our super Burns Night Supper (see below) enabled us to donate £1,700 to Tapping House, Norfolk Hospice.

Foodbank - continued support

A message from Yvonne said: "Thank you so much for your wonderful donation and for your continued support of our Foodbank. Kind contributions like yours enable us to keep providing food to people in crisis and supporting the most vulnerable members of our community when they need it most".

Annual Burns Supper - 2026

Well that was riotously good fun!  Our Burns Supper celebrations went with a bang on Monday 26th January.  Over 80 guests sat down to an excellent meal preceded by the haggis being piped in by our splendid piper.  We had singers, Scottish dancers, plenty of entertainment, and best of all raised around £650 for Tapping House, Norfolk Hospice.  Our own pet Scot - George Morton - laid on a splendid and varied entertainment programme.  Most of us didn't stop 'buzzing' until well gone midnight!

The picture below is Duncan explaining what a Scot wears under his kilt and amid great hilarity he went on to demonstrate!  No, it wasn't what we expected but it caused much mirth.

Tony Firrell - Third Paul Harris Award

Charity Quiz Night

Charity Quiz night Winner Sharon Burbridge, the happy winner of our £100 raffle at our recent charity fund-raising quiz on 9th May!  Keep your eye out for the next quiz date announcement.  

If you'd like to take part please call 07517 665462 or email: downhammarketrotary@hotmail.co.uk

Charity Collection

A heart felt thank you to everybody who stopped by and donated to our collections at Morrisons and Tesco on the 6th, 7th, and 14th December.  Your generosity is much apreciated and will help us to continue to support some of the local good causes you will find on our Good Causes page.

New Club Meeting Location

From the start of 2025 we are changing our regular meeting venue to Ryston Park Golf Club where guests are always very welcome to join us at any time - our meetings calendar can be found on the Club Meetings page.  Please contact us in advance if you'd like to come to one of our meetings as we have to pre-order our food.  Contact details can be found on our Contact Us page on this website.

Shoebox collections

250 more relief 'shoeboxes' successfully filled and dispatched to Eastern Europe.  The Shoebox scheme is a nationwide Rotary initiative and provides gifts from household goods to children's presents for those in most need in the more deprived areas of Europe.  Huge thanks to the pupils of Denver C of E Primary School and to the parishioners of Denver Parish Church as well as to many other individuals who filled boxes.

Please Contact Us if you would like to fill a box.

Technology Tournament

Another successful Technology Challenge was mounted at Denver Church of England Primary in November.  The project was for the pupils to design and build a model bridge to enable wildlife to transit over a road or public footway between two part of a nature reserve.  The structure had to be able to support a certain weight, had to be high enough (to scale!) for people to walk under it, had to withstand gale-force winds (courtesy of an office fan!), and had to 'fit' in with the environment.  The pupils had to use the materials presented to them.  The whole project was approached with great enthusiam and it was extremely difficult to come to a decision on the winners with so many successful structures presented for judging.

Shoebox collections / delivery

110 filled Rotary Shoeboxes full of practical items for those in desperate need in Moldova and Romania were delivered to the warehouse in Peterborough ready for onward carriage.  If you would like to fill a/some Shoeboxes please contact the club (see the 'Contact us' page).

Uniform donation

The power of Rotary ably demonstrated!  Downham Preparatory School recently closed and our club was approached by a parent asking if we could find a home for around 100 uniforms and sets of sports kit.  Because we are part of an international organisation we were able to establish contact with our friends at Cambridge Sawston Rotary who have an ongoing project (the Bantaba Project) in The Gambia, West Africa.  The uniforms and sports kit were duly washed and ironed and packed for shipping and are now on their way to a school where the parents and pupils are economically deprived but highly intent on improving their lives through self-help and education.

Playpark support

President's Night

We held our President's Night celebrations at the Masonic Hall and enjoyed an excellent meal, good company, and a brilliant and witty talk by Ian Graham about his time living in Kalifi, Kenya where he was also a member of the local Rotary club.

Pictured from the left Jane Graham, President Jackie Westrop, Ian Graham, Hillary and Andy Roberts

Charity Quiz Night

Closely following on from the Golf Day on the following Friday (17th May) was one of our regular fun quizzes held at the Conservative Club in Bridge Street.  You could almost hear the brain cogs whirring as 80 doughty participants put their thinking caps on to try and win the main cash prize of £150+  Another successful event helping us to help those in need locally.  See the 'good causes' page to see who we've helped.

Annual Charity Golf Day - 2024

On the 13th May we held our annual charity fund-raising golf day at Ryston Park Golf Club.  The weather blessed us with brilliant sunshine and over 30 participants took part in the closely fought competition.  

Charity Collection Marie Curie

Well Downham you did it again!!! £562.59 is what you put in our collection boxes at Morrisons on the 8th and 9th of March for Marie Curie, you are a brilliant lot, Thank you.

Technology Tournament

Our latest senior Technology Tournament was held at hosts Downham Market Academy on Wednesday 14th February.  Visit our 'youth projects' page for information.

Annual Burns Supper - 2023

A fantastic Burns Night evening marvelously organised and present by Rotarian George Morton was held at Ryston golf club on Monday 22nd January.  Some 60 guests enjoyed the festivities and had a very jolly evening.  Thank you George!

Shoebox Shipments

The latest shipment of over 200 Rotary Shoeboxes containing gifts for all ages are on their way to those in need in Romania, Ukraine and Moldova.  This batch was donated by Denver Church and School, QE Hospital (King's Lynn) consultants plus a private donation from Hunstanton.  Picture shows us delivering to the Peterborough warehouse collecting point.

Charity Quiz Night

What a fun evening.  80 contestants took part in our quiz on November 3rd.  A great light-hearted evening greatly enjoyed by all, and the icing on the cake - we raised nearly £600 enabling us to continue our support for local charities.  Watch our website for news of our next quiz in Spring 2024 - you need to book early to ensure you get a place!

President's Night

A great time had by all at our President's night at the Masonic Hall in Downham Market to honour our retiring (at the end of the Rotary year in June) Martin Chilvers.  Our Rotary District Governor Ian Elliott thanked Martin for his leadership over the past year and our guest, Andy Moore, gave an enthusiastic and fantastic talk on RAF Downham Market.  If you belong to any organisation you should get Andy along to speak. You will not be disappointed! 

Presidential Handover

Immediate Past President Martin Chilvers hands over the Club Presidency to Jackie Westrop for the Rotary year 1st July 2023 to 30th June 2024

Downham Market Carnival Day

Youth Service Award Certificate

The club was delighted to receive a Youth Service Award certificate for the work we do on the Technology Challenge events with local schools.  Our president, Martin Chilvers, received the certificate from Assistant District Governor Andy Roberts.

Charity Collection Marie Curie

Time to don the silly hats again, step up, and do our bit for the community.  Thank you all so much good people of Downham - on Saturday 4th and Saturday 11th March we raised a total of £598 for Marie Curie.

Rotary Long Service Awards

Our President, Martin Chilvers (background) presented long service certificates to four of our members at our 65th birthday BBQ.  Front row from the left: George Bell, Tony Fulford, Tony Firrell and John Allflatt.

Presentation of painting of Castle Hotel

On the same evening as above President Martin presented a painting by a local artist of the Castle Hotel, for many years our meeting venue, to the retiring owners Howard and Helen Fradley.

Parkrun Support

The club supported the Downham Parkrun on the 5th March and donated a trolley to help the organisatiuon and running of the day.

Charity Raffle Winners

The Downham couple who are the lucky winners of our John Deere ride-on tractor raffle being presented with the tractor by Rotarian John Rice.  Somebody's grandchild got a nice surprise for Christmas!

Christmas Gift Boxes

Nearly 300 gift boxes delivered to the depot in Peterborough on the way to Romania where children living way below the poverty line will get a nice Christmas present.  Thanks to Denver Church, Denver and Runcton Holme Schools, and to many individuals for helping to brighten the lives of people who may never have received a gift in their lives.  For more information visit rotaryshoebox.org

Downham Market Christmas Light switch on

We had great fun at the Christmas Light-up fair on the Town Square. Thank you to everyone who took part in our fun and games. Every penny raised helps us to help others in need.

Eradicating Polio

Well done Mr Bird from Southery for winning our Halloween Hamper raffle at Denver Fireworks on Saturday 30th October.  What a great evening and thanks to all of you who purchased raffle tickets or donated money.  This will go towards the campaign to eradicate polio.  Bill Gates, through the Gates Foundation, donates an additional £2 for every £1 we at Rotary can raise helping us to achieve the end of polio in our world.  We're nearly there!

Charity Quiz Night

A terrific evening had by all present last Friday (22nd October) at the first of our quiz nights. 80 people attended and made the evening a roaring success and raising over £400 for charitable purposes.  Well done to you all.

Presidential Handover

Meet our President for the Rotary year 1^st July 2021 to 30^th June 2022 – Kay Lincoln. Kay has been a member for several years and has shown her expertise at running several major charity fund raising events. Her top wish – to see more young people showing an interest in joining us as we do our best to help those in need both locally and internationally.

Tony Fulford's 90th birthday celebrations

Our recent meeting at the Conservative Club was the same day as Tony Fulford's 90th birthday.  Tony has served as a Rotarian for 47 years!  Three years with Letchworth Garden City Rotary and 44 years at Downham.  Here he is with our President, Kay Lincoln, after the presentation of the all important cake.

Foodbank - Continued support

At our Zoom meeting on the 12th July, our members approved the continuation of our financial support for the Downham Market Foodbank until the end of 2021.

Norfolk Blood Bike donation

In recognition of the extra workload for the wonderful Blood Bike volunteers due to the Covid emergency we are making a £500 donation made up of £300 from Downham Rotary and £200 from a member donation.

Swan Project donation

We are delighted to have been able to make a £500 donation to the Swan Youth Project to help them with their valuable activities in the youth field in Downham Market.  Visit www.swanyouthproject.orgto found out how you can help.

Christmas Dinner Boxes

One of the 'Christmas Dinner in a Box's' that we helped the Food Bank to fund and deliver to those having hard times. 

Gift Boxes to Romania

Nearly 200 gift boxes on the truck and off to Romania!  Thanks to St Mary's Church in Denver, and Denver, Runcton Holme and Wormegay Primary Schools, plus, of course, our own members these boxes were packed with all sorts of items to be given to families who had probably never had a present in their lives.  

To learn more visit www.rotaryshoebox.org and if you would like to join in please email us

Foodbank financial support

We have lent more financial support to the local food bank to fulfil a desperate need of local people struggling to provide for their families over the Christmas period.

The purpose of this initiative is to support the 'Churches Together Christmas in a Box' scheme being coordinated by the Food Bank, whereby families identified as in need will literally receive that - a full complement of Christmas Dinner ingredients in a hamper.  

The hampers will be made up during the week leading up to Christmas and delivered immediately prior to the big day to ensure that the ingredients are fresh.

In the picture above is Alex Coates, front left, the Christmas in a Box coordinator, Howard Phillips front right and fellow Rotarians (left to right back) Bryan Bradley, Tony Firrell, Joe Flogdell and Roger Gee.

Polio 

If you were at school and/or university in the 1960s and 70s you will have had friends suffering from this scourge.  Thankfully it's long gone in the UK.  Rotary have been hard at work with the Bill Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation to rid the rest of the world of this horrible disease.  The great news is that Africa has now been declared free of wild polio!

Beirut Disaster Fund support

Downham Rotary have donated £500 to the Rotary Beirut disaster fund following the devastating explosion at Beirut Docks.  The ordinary people of the city were the main sufferers with homes destroyed and lives shattered.  The Rotary clubs in Lebanon are rallying round and helping to support survivors and their families.

Downham Market Academy iPads

Kay Lincoln, our President Elect, presented our donation of £500 to Downham Market Academy to help with the supply of iPads to pupils who might be finding it difficult to finance the hire charges.  Present were Kay (left), Mark Eastwood, Deputy Head (right) and two of the Academy's pupils.

Presidential Handover

For the Rotary year 1st July 2020 to 30th June 2021 our President is Howard Phillips, and President Elect is Kay Lincoln.

Norfolk Blood Bikes donation

Downham Market Rotary have raised £1,700 which has been donated to Norfolk Blood Bikes.  From the left is Shaun Button, Secretary of Downham Rotary, who was instrumental in pushing through the fund raising, Martin Calvert, a Blood Bikes volunteer, and Howard Phillips, Downham Rotary President 2020 -2021.  You can read more about the blood bikes at www.norfolkbloodbikes.org.uk 

Paul Harris Fellowship recognition

Downham Rotary is delighted to announce that Paul Harris Fellowship recognition has been made to two club members.  Shaun Button, who is currently Club Secretary, and Kay Lincoln who is President Elect, have received this recognition of their outstanding service to Downham Rotary and Rotary ideals.

Paul Harris Fellowships are named after our founder, who in 1905, instigated Rotary with three others.  This prestigious recognition is only given to those who have shown the Rotary ideal of 'Service above Self'.  Although not demanding, Rotary service does require a level of commitment to local and international good causes and to ensuring that our club is in a position to be able to offer help where it's needed.

Downham Market Methodist Church support

We are delighted to support the splendid volunteers at the Downham Market Methodist Church, who are providing a 'meals on wheels' service for those people unable to cook for themselves.

The 'socially distanced' volunteer heroes of Downham Methodist 'Meals on Wheels'

Charity Collection Marie Curie

We don't mind looking silly for a good cause!   While most of our Rotary work focuses on our own projects there are some really worthwhile charities that deserve support - one of these is Marie Curie.  Anybody who has been through the mill of terminally ill loved ones will know the value of Marie Curie and we are delighted to help raise money for them on occasion.  A big thank you to the good citizens of Downham Market who helped us collect over £550 on Thursday and Friday mornings of 12th and 13th March.

Brambles Animal Sanctuary Denver Donation

At this difficult time for our furry, feathered, and hairy friends we have made a donation to Brambles Animal Sanctuary in Denver - a really worthwhile local cause doing a splendid job without the backing of any major charity.