Paul Harris Fellowship Awards

A Paul Harris Fellowship is the highest award a Rotary Club can present to a worthy individual within or outside the international Rotary organisation. 

It is named after one of the four Founding Fathers of Rotary and recognises those who go 'above and beyond' serving their local/international community.

At the Ewell Rotary Christmas meal, our President Peter Heard was delighted to present Paul Harris Fellowship awards to Lynne Harvey and Olive Harrison. They are brilliant members of Ewell Rotary Club. To say they were surprised was an understatement!

Lynne Harvey

Each year Lynne does an amazing job managing the Ewell Rotary Christmas Collection. Starting in August, this complex fundraising event involves organising collectors, liaising with local charities, arranging drivers and of course, Father Christmas! Lynne reviews our routes and promotional materials ready for everything to begin on time. Everyone has busy lives and sometimes collectors are unable to attend; Lynne is always there stepping in to fill the gaps. It’s no wonder she’s always exhausted by the time the last collection is completed.

Lynne is also a great helper at the Community Allotment; watering, planting and doing whatever is needed. In addition, she has built up an excellent relationship with a lovely lady called Frances who is disabled and cannot leave her house.  Frances requested help from Rotary with her garden.  Lynne gets additional help when needed but most of the time, she organises new plants, plants them and takes care of the garden herself.  Frances is incredibly appreciative. Lynne is also one of the first to volunteer for new projects. Since July 2024, she has represented Community and Vocational Committee at the Board Meeting held monthly, where she contributes to discussions and is a very active member.

Olive Harrison

Every month Olive works tirelessly compiling our Club newsletter, asking club members for articles, pictures and ideas resulting in a very interesting read for everyone. This is by no means an easy task, but Olive always delivers the newsletter in a timely manner even whilst visiting her family in Spain!

Olive supports many of our projects. She steps in to help with the Christmas Collection when an extra pair of hands is needed. Liaising with St Mary’s Church, she arranged our stall at Ewell Yule, organising members to help run the stall that evening. Olive manages our annual Quiz Night, promoting and advertising, booking the venue and quiz masters. Alongside Rotary, Olive volunteers regularly at the Sunnybank Trust and has recently also been volunteering with local mental health charity, Love Me Love My Mind.