Margaret

I ran my own Human Resources Consultancy so time is precious so why would I join Rotary?

Nearly 10 years ago I was at a Princes Trust function and met up again with a friend of mine, Primrose from IBM, we had sung together in the IBM choir.  Primrose and I had both moved to the Epsom area from Chiswick and Primrose and her husband Tom had joined Rotary and asked if I would like to come along to a meeting held at Cuddington Golf Club, which I did and thorough enjoyed it.  I had some views of Rotary in the past as purely boring business men meeting regularly for a meal and nothing else, how wrong I was.  It was a fun evening, great speaker, great bunch of fun people - and women can become Rotarians as well!!  Inner Wheel used to be the only avenue for women to be part of Rotary now we have both.  I had always been a person who had given to charity but now there was a group of people who were fun to be with and we could make more of an impact by doing practical and fund raising projects together.  The flexibility of whether you attend the evenings meetings or not was a bonus as well as other members still working or with young families.

Rotary is a worldwide organisation and has 1.4 million members, the benefit of having this large group of committed people means we can make a great difference to people’s lives.  Our Rotary International Fund Raising group have teamed up with the Bill Gates Foundation and our aim is to rid the world of Polio and for the last 30 years have nearly achieved it, we have gone from 120 countries now down to only 2 countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, we have eradicated polio from India, a major achievement.

Locally we have decorated a flat for a young man with learning difficulties, transformed a garden for a lady with severe disabilities, planted an allotment to grow food for the Foodbank and we have put in a new kitchen in Riding for the Disabled Epsom. We raise funds each year for local and international charities.

So you see this is why I joined Rotary, I have been a member for 13 years in April this year, they have become another family to me, we have fun, support great causes and help the local and international communities.  If you would like to help at any events, come and join in the fun, don’t hesitate to contact me.  Margaret Martin – martin.associates@btinternet.com or 07721 867035.