Rotary Clubs in the Thames Valley Rotary District raised together almost £637k towards local food banks

Members of the Rotary Club of Thame and District have continued to work with other Rotary clubs in the Thames Valley in an initiative to support the funding of local food banks, like other Rotary Club members across the UK. 

With the current COVID-19 lockdown since March 2020, Rotary club members have not met physically for dinner. A former Rotary Thames Valley District Governor, Joy Arnott, had the idea to grab this opportunity and recommend donating the unspent dinner money towards local food banks. Thame & District Rotarians responded overwhelmingly to this initiative by raising over £3,195 between March 2020 and June 2021. The grand total raised by the 50 or so Rotary Clubs in the Thames Valley between March 2020 and June 2021 was … drum roll … £636,983. 

Howard Webb, Thame Rotary former President, was delighted by this achievement and said: “All our Rotary members are very proud to know that their continuing donations to the local food banks are being used to such good effect.”

10 new members joined Phoenix Community Club - offspring of Thame Rotary - since the start of the pandemic

During the time of the pandemic, Rotary Club of Thame & District and Phoenix Community Club members have continued supporting the local community, have been meeting safely online and have been welcoming 10 new members since March 2020. Two people from Thame - who attended the Rotary Unplugged online event in January - joined the Phoenix Community Club later last month. The clubs’ doors are largely open to welcome new volunteer members. 

To find out more about the Rotary Club of Thame & District or Phoenix Community Club or how to join, please visit www.thame.rotary1090.org or www.facebook.com/thamerotary or www.facebook.com/phoenixcommunityclubthame or www.instagram.com/thame.rotary or www.instagram.com/phoenixcommunityclub