2026 District Project Fair

Rotary District 1285 (NW England and Isle of Man) Projects Fair – Report 

Congleton Town Hall 

13 June 2026

In response to requests from many members of this District, the International Committee, led by Manoj Agarwal, organised the second  Projects Fair on June 13th at the iconic  Town Hall in Congleton. The purpose of the Fair  was to showcase both local, regional, national  and international projects in order that clubs might consider supporting these or becoming involved in some way.

Inspiring work is being done in all the Rotary Areas of Focus, and by introducing members to these charities in a face-to-face manner, they were able to make informed decisions about supporting them either with Global Grants, District awards or by some other means.

14 Charities displayed their work and also presented a short talk outlining that work.

We heard from charities which focussed on the  early detection of disease across a range of physical and mental health including:

Prevent Breast Cancer, Cardiac Risk in the Young, Global Sight Solutions, Unzip the

Silence, KidsCan (Cancer Research in Children) and Rotary Jaipur Limb (which drew gasps from the audience to see a young boy actually running after being fitted with his first artificial leg). 

We also heard about: 

The borehole project in Ghana – focussing on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

 The  mpowerment of women in Kenya.

 Disaster Aid, promoting peace and conflict resolution.

 The Million Meal Miracle, addressing childhood hunger and poverty worldwide, thus enabling basic education and development of growth; 

Pedal Power, a community cycling group which aims to keep the community active and healthy.

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Martin Mere which is addressing the important issue of environmental protection. 

We were delighted to have students from the Sharples school who spoke passionately about an environmental project they are involved in, and how setting up an Interact club in their school has helped them achieve a sense of pride and purpose and provided an opportunity for growth and development. These are our future Rotarians! 

We were honoured to welcome a presenter who came all the way from India to talk to us about Blind Football in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.

Hearing from all these presenters was a truly humbling experience, and we hope that the event has achieved its purpose. 

The District International Service Committee