Rotary Club of Southend on Sea was chartered in 1921, after launching as a provisional club in 1920 consisting of leading lights in the borough from civic life and business, mostly recruited by the vicar of St Marys church, before Rotary in Essex existed. In fact we were the first club in East Anglia and the 32nd in Britain. It started as a luncheon club with members largely funded by their employers for networking, whilst fundraising and carrying out projects too. Eventually it decided to meet in afternoons. Many years ago, when businesses stopped allowing long lunches on expenses, it changed to its present worker-friendly format of evening dinners. In 2019 this was changed to coffee evenings in a church hall and in 2022 we reintroduced early dinners for those who have not had a chance to eat before meetings.
We are non political and non religious, although we have members of various politics and religions, and we are mostly not businessmen, actually we are a mixture of retired and employed folk, from a mechanic through shopkeepers to NHS staff, and 38% of us are female and 24% are ethic minorities. We are also an assortment of people, some of whom always thought Rotary is not for them, combined with experienced Rotarians and two children of past presidents of other clubs and one child of a past district governor of Rotary in Essex. Our honorary members include a district governor, past district governor, two assistant governors, with friendly relations with other clubs up and down the country.
The Rotary Club helps those in need by fundraising for charities and support in areas of community service.
Enquirers can ask for Club President David Porter on 07960 972916.
