THE ROTARY Club of Westbury has a host of events lined up for local people to enjoy in the New Year and they are hoping that 2022 will encourage more people to join the community-focussed club.
Events planned include a photo competition, the Imber Ultra Marathon and an adventure day out at Longleat for disadvantaged kids.
Photo competition
The Rotary Club are planning to recreate and update a book called, ‘Westbury in the year 2000’, and they are asking local people to help document Westbury over the course of a year. The competition is open to everyone and there is a local’s category for those living and working in Westbury and Westbury villages; an open category for non-locals; and categories for the under-10s, 10 to 13-year-olds and14 to 18-year-olds to encourage youngsters to contribute to the project too.
Themes include; people, landscapes, buildings, in the street, the seasons, flora and fauna, sports and leisure, at work, education, worship, military and contemporary. Westbury is the underlying theme, and to avoid disappointment the relevant part of Westbury should be readily identifiable in all submitted images, with the exception that photos of Westbury people need not have somewhere in Westbury as an identifiable backdrop.
The competition will run until 31st March 2022. Entrants will be required to submit a maximum of ten images over five chosen categories.
Imber Ultra Marathon
The Imber Ultra Marathon will take place on Sunday 6th March 2022 at 9.00am.
This is a trail run of approximately 33 miles, that starts at the Leighton Recreation Centre at the north west of the Imber Ranges. The proceeds for this event will be given to charities supported by the Rotary Club of Westbury, including Prostate & Breast Cancer research charities and a Ugandan Well project.
This event is the joint enterprise between the Rotary Club of Westbury and Avon Valley Runners.
Kids Out
Members of the Rotary Club will be taking children out for a day of adventure at Longleat this year!
This event will take place on Wednesday 8th June 10.00am to 5.00pm. Members will take 20-30 disadvantaged children from local junior schools for a day out at Longleat, which is supported by the safari park. The first National Rotary Kids Out Day took place in 1990 and since then it has turned into the biggest single outing for disadvantaged children in the UK.
The Rotary Club always welcome new members and you can join by visiting the Rotary website at www. rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=1231 All dates and events may be liable to change due to any new government advice surrounding Covid 19.
What we do for the community
The Rotary Club of Westbury is a well-established club with members from a variety of professions and backgrounds, and is always looking for some fresh ideas and energies to enable even more community activities.
“The club has a reputation for being open and friendly; we welcome visitors and prospective new members at any time. ,” says the club. “We are both charitable, and social, there are no barriers to potential members.
“We are people of Action with a unique position of being rooted within our own communities, but with a global outlook.
“Rotary has 45,000 members in over 1,700 clubs in GB and Ireland.
“We have regular meetings, either online, at the White Horse Country Club or various venues in the local area; please see our calendar for more information.
“We are active in supporting local causes. Just a few of those a can be seen below, although we do much more: 1. Kids Out. Part of a National effort giving local deserving kids a free day out in Longleat. 2. Imber Ultra Marathon. Working in collaboration with Avon Valley Runners to organise the 35-mile run around Salisbury Plain Training Area. 3. Christmas Carol Concert in All Saints Church. Local schools taking part in a well-attended concert, usually featuring a visit from a bearded red robed figure. 4. International Cuisine Evening, an evening celebrating food from the globe, usually held in the Laverton. 5. Abraham’s Kitchen, Fairfield Opportunity Farm, Julia’s House.”
Rotary International
“The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise.
“Rotary is one of the world’s largest and most successful global membership and humanitarian service organisations, with 1.2 million members in over 200 countries.
“Our impact starts with our members; people who unite to take action and create lasting change.
“During the past 100 years, The Rotary Foundation has spent over $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects around the world. Polio eradication being one of the most visible achievements. We have nearly succeeded in this effort and Polio is only being seen in a couple of areas of Afghanistan and India although we do have teams in those areas working with the local administrations.
“Visit the Rotary Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/TheRotaryClub ofWestburyWiltshireUK
