The Foundation of our Efforts!

Our first meeting of February 2026 was a celebration of Rotary's own charity, The Rotary Foundation (TRF).

And it was fitting that on such a night one of our most dedicated and longest serving Rotarians was presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship.

Mary Pike is ever present at Swanage and Rotary events, and if she's not knitting or making jams and marmalades, she's organising District events, helping to fill shoeboxes for needy children in Eastern Europe or serving teas to members of the public.

Mary is also a major donor to TRF, having donated more than the equivalent of $10,000 cumulatively over the years. Many congratulations Mary.

Also present on the night was Nick Vaughan, our District's Rotary Foundation Coordinator, who spoke to us on TRF, clarifying and demystifying what it is and explaining what we could all do to increase the funds that would be available to clubs for future projects. Swanage and Purbeck Rotary have always been great supporters of TRF, regularly appearing at the top of the league tables of club donations in our District, but there's always the opportunity to do more and Nick's talk was a timely reminder to all of us, whether we've been in Rotary for a long time or only joined more recently.

The final surprise of the night was an award to Swanage & Purbeck member and current District Governor Elect Steve Parsons, who received a Paul Harris Society chevron from Nick for pledging a minimum of $1,000 per annum to TRF.