The Rotary
Club of Stokesley
received its Charter in 1980. Following our very first meeting
of 6 interested contacts in the first week in January 1980, the
fledgling group steadily grew under the tutorship of PDG Gordon
Wilson and Rotarian Leslie Martin (RC of Guisborough and Great
Ayton.)
Both the inaugural meeting and charter meeting were very well
attended by clubs in District 1030, and in September 1980 the
Rotary Club of Stokesley and District stood on its own feet with
32 new Rotarians, with an average age in the mid-40's.
Very quickly, the
new club established itself in the community of Stokesley and
nearby villages, with an annual Easter bookshop in the High Street,
which is now a regular event for all would be 'book-worms'.
Contact
was soon made with the local secondary school, and in addition
to Rotarians' 'job talks' at the school, a weekly mock 'job interviews'
schedule was agreed with the Careers and Guidance department
at the school. This schedule has continued uninterrupted ever
since, proving to be beneficial to the students and very rewarding
to those Rotarians able to take part.
The yearly September
Stokesley Agricultural Show has proved to be a good forum for
promoting Rotary within the community and further afield, and
most years have seen a Rotary stand at the Show.
Being geographically
at the southern end of the District has enabled the Rotary Club
of Stokesley and District to plan and successfully organise three
major events throughout the entire length of District 1030.
Firstly in 1983, a flotilla of small yachts sailed into every
port on the north-east coastline, from Hartlepool in the south,
to Berwick upon Tweed in the north - to share fellowship with
other Rotarians, and importantly, to raise funds for the then Ocean
Youth Club. These funds enabled 18 young people to participate
in an outward-bound style week's sailing experience in a big
ocean-going yacht.
Rotary International's
Polio Eradication Campaign to help remove the scourge of polio
from all children of the world, has been a huge challenge to
Rotarians worldwide. The Rotary Club of Stokesley and District
has twice walked the 140 plus miles from Berwick to Stokesley,
raising money for this very worthwhile campaign - in 1986 and
in 2003.
The
Rotary Foundation - Rotary's charity - has always been well supported
by the club, who have taken an active part in two of the very
successful educational programmes - Ambassadorial Scholars and
Group Study teams have been hosted regularly, and good candidates
are always being sought for interview to promote the aims and
objects of Rotary in other countries. The humanitarian programmes
of The Rotary Foundation have likewise been supported, with monies
going to eye-camps, boys' homes, hospital equipment, aqua-filters
etc in third world countries. This includes the Rotary Club of
Stokesley, entertaining children from Chernobyl, Russia, for the Chernobyl Lifeline Charity .
The Rotary Club
of Stokesley and District, now in its 28th. year since charter,
remains both enthusiastic and committed to supporting local and
international projects. Below are contestants in the North East
Disabled Games Javelin competition, July 2008
The Rotary Club is associated
with Stokesley, a small North Yorkshire market town on the River
Leven, with a population of about 5000. It is situated close
to the North Yorkshire Moors and National Park.
The nearest large
town is Middlesbrough, Cleveland. Northallerton, the
County town of North Yorkshire, is within 10 miles distance.
The east coast and
the north Sea is 15 miles away and local coastal towns are Hartlepool,
Redcar, Saltburn, Whitby and Scarborough.
The entry age to
Rotary is 21 years of age and open to business and professional
people, local community leaders and executives.
Because our membership
covers a wide range of ages from many different occupations,
the resulting fellowship is always interesting and lively. Our
aim as a Rotary Club, is to help others while enjoying ourselves
in the process.
Rotary is a truly
international organisation, over 100 years old. Today 1,2 million
Rotarians belong to some 31,000 Rotary Clubs in 166 countries.
We meet many of
these members when they join our meetings or when we, as group
or individually, visit Rotary Clubs or Rotary Conferences abroad.
From this interaction
we get a real feeling of community which helps promote one of
Rotary's main objectives - international understanding.
Membership of Rotary
provides a number of benefits including:-
