NEW MEMBERS GUIDE, 2022.
-Rotary International (RI) Club No 19280. www.Rotary.org. Register to access information in all areas.
-Rotary Great Britain & Ireland (RGBI) Club No 3567. www.RotaryGBI.org.
-RIBI District No 1090. www.RotaryDistrict1090.org.
-Club Website. (Slough rotary.org.uk) This is an essential point of reference,particularly for the Club Calendar (where all activities are posted), Directory of Members, Duty Rotas, etc.
AttendanceResponsibilities
-Apologies for absence from the weekly members meeting must be made to the Reception Officer (currently Andreas Schneider, aschneider@e-work.co.uk.) by Monday 8.00 pm or pay the dining fee. If unable to meet Reception Duty responsibilities, organise a replacement and inform the Secretary. If unable to attend for more than four weeks, inform the Club Secretary.
Reception Duties
All duty officers to arrive by 6pm to welcome guests and visiting Rotarians.
Reception - The Lead Officer: Andreas will have emailed the attendance sheet to you, usually on the Wednesday before the meeting. Ensure your colleagues will be in attendance and know what is required. Record attendance on the attendance sheet; give the completed sheet to Peter White. There is now no dinner money to collect from mermbers. Members guests are debited to the member’s account. Collect fees from unannounced guests and hand to treasurer, who will settle the account with the venue.
Hand out and collect in name badges.
Grace:Invite visitors to sign the visitors book. Say Grace when asked by the President. Give a vote of thanks to a speaker.
Birthday Greetings (Lead Officer): Ensure bell, lectern and banners are placed appropriately or taken to other venues when needed. Welcome & host visitors; introduce them to President & meeting. Announce Birthday Greetings. Provide bottle of wine to be raffled.
Weekly ClubMeetings
-Business Meeting: Monthly Meeting where Treasurer and Council report any decisions, and questionsare invited from members.
-Committee Meetings: Are now conducted during Council meetings. - -
-Speaker Meeting. Guest speaker addresses the Club.
-Fellowship Meeting: In the absence of a speaker or Committee meeting, members may be left to converse among themselves or one might be invited to give a "myjob" talk.
-Friends & family are invited to attend any meeting with an interesting Speaker.
StatutoryMeetings
-Special General Meeting: Held usually in early December, subject to ten days written notice. Purpose, to receive and approve Clubs Accounts for previous Rotary Year, elect Club Officer's for following Rotary Year. The Vice President is confirmed (or otherwise) as President the following year.
-Annual General Meeting: held in April,subject to fourteen days written notice. Purpose to receive reports from the current Committee Chairmen on the year's activities, together with overall viewby current President of the year's activities. To elect ordinary Club members to serve on the following years Club Council and also re-confirm the existing honoury status of members and elect new honoury members.
-Club Assembly: Held in early June.Purpose, to receive the latest set of Club Accounts and agree the following years Club subscription levels. Council submits for voted approval their proposed programme of events together with the associated budget costings. Once approvedthe proposals become a Club commitment and subject to support from all members.
-Presidential Handover: Held at the end of June. Purpose the outgoing President hands over the chain of office to the incoming President and the new vice & 2nd Vice Presidents receive their medallions.
Club Council
-ClubCouncil acts as the Board of Directors of the Club. It consists of The President, Vice President, the Secretary, Treasurer & four ordinary elected Club members.
-The Council arrives at decisions on Club matters, & it also makes decisions on Club financial & administrative matters. Council Minutes are circulated toall Members.
-Council's decisions are also reported at Club Business Meetings, where Club members are invited to ask questions and comment upon them. Council's decisions can only formally be reversed if a duly notified extraordinary meeting is called and a quorum is present.
Committees& Functions
ØFoundation: Function, this is Rotary's Charity account, the Club contributes to RIBI & RI Foundation funds, against which Clubs make applications for various charity schemes all over the world.
Community, Vocational, International(VIC):
ØCommunity: Function to help physically when requested local charities, such as helping prepare "Talking Newspapers" for the blind, reviewing applications from local charities for donations.
ØVocational:Organising, Rotary's' "Youth Speaker" debating competition for local schools.
ØInternational; Function to support charity schemes where thought worthy all over the world. Support visiting Rotary students (Ambassadorial Scholars) when requested. Responding with contributions for international disasters, such as purchasing "Shelter Boxes" .
ØEvents
The function of this Committee is to create, organise and run events to raise monies with which the Club funds its charitable activities, all member of the Club are expected to participate and support these undertakings. Typical events are: The Slough Together Walk, Quiz Night, Film Night, and Easter Eggs.
ØClub Services Committee
This Committee is responsible for:
The Club's administration.
Marketing & Public Relations.
Presentation & updating of the Club's Website.
Recruitment of New Members.
Communications.
Inview of our reduced numbers, all these Committees are now part of Club Council
ØSocial Events
In addition to the regular committees the club members organise a number of additional social events. The following are a typical selection of events, some of which also raise funds for the club general or charity account
Summer;Cheese & wine party, President’s Night.
Autumn:"French Trip" Weekend coach trip to France, Belgium, proceeds go to Charity Account
Autumn:Firework Night
Winter:Christmas Dinner.
Spring: Burns Night, St Georges Day Dinner.
Twin Clubs: The club has had twinning arrangements with two other Rotary clubs for 40 years, Vierzon in France and Dothan, Alabama, USA. We meet socially every two years alternating between Slough and the twin town. The visits usually lastfor 4 days and are a grand opportunity to discover life in general and Rotary life in particular in another country. Due to our reduced numbers these visits are now dieing out.
District 1090
Rotaryin Great Britain is divided onto a number of Districts. Slough Rotary is in District 1090.
Instead of having a District President he/she is called a District Governor and serves for one year.
District 1090 covers parts of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey & Middlesex, and incorporates sixty three Clubs.
It is administered by District Council and members of the Districts Club's serveon the Council in the same manner as each of the Clubs. The Council meets once a quarter.
District 1090 is divided into a number of Zones, Slough is in Orange Zone.
Each zone is overseen by an Assistant Governor.
A District Conference is held yearly over a weekend, usually in the spring at a coastal venue. They also include a number of social events and are popular with Club members.
RIBI (RotaryInternational Great Britain & Ireland) – Now termed RGBI.
Headquarters at Alcester, Warwickshire
RIBI Council is structured as per District Councils.
RIBI elects a President; no other country in the world does so.
District Governors make up RIBI Council.
This is currently being restructed to minimse expenditure.
It holds a yearly Conference, usually in the spring, to which each Club can send delegates, and is open to all club members.
A Magazine ‘Rotary’ is published 6 times a year and sent to all members by email. Hard copies can be purchased too.
Rotary International
Rotary was created by an American named Paul Harris in 1905.
RI's Headquarters are in Evanston, Illinois, USA
In principle its administration is structured as District or grass root Clubs.
A Council of Legislation meets every three years to discuss changes in the rules etc. Each District sends a representative.
An international Conference is held yearly at different points of the globe, at which all club members (currently around 1.2 million) can attend.
The Rotary Foundation was established over 70 years ago, and has grown to such an extent, it is the largest private Charity in the world, with the lowest overheads of any. Global Projects are funded in excess of $100 million every year. In addition, since 1985 when it ‘declared war on Polio’, in combination with our partners the WHO, US Centers for Disease Control, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it has reduced the annual number of cases from 350,000 to just 16 this year (2018).
RobinWeathersbee, Hon Sec.