Rotary Club of Dunstable

13/06/2026

What a great day of connecting with the community!

The Motor Rally in Dunstable presented great opportunity for a few of our members to support Dunstable in Bloom. at their fundraising stall today. As headline sponsor for this years In Bloom Campaign we are only too pleased to help and it gave us chance to spread the word of rotary!

Next weekend we will be supporting the Dunstable Town Council Band Concerts. We will be providing the refreshments so pop along and say hello!

13/06/2026

The UK's biggest single outing for disadvantaged children is happening today!

The Rotary Children's Fun Day is taking 25,000 children on over 200 days out across the country, all supported by Rotary volunteers.

From theatres to zoos, theme parks to the seaside, Rotary Children's Fun Days give memorable experiences to vulnerable children who need it most.

We hope that everyone attending a Rotary Children's Fun Day in 2026 has an incredible day!

Thank you to our partners Kids in Mind who help make it possible.

Read more and support a child for 2027: https://www.rotarygbi.org/funday

12/06/2026

This week has been a fun week, with a VIP visit on Tuesday from the District Membership Lead - Amanda Joseph, President-Elect of Rotary Welwyn Garden City.
Rotarians are all volunteers who work together to make great things happen, in our communities, and all around the world. With 1.4 million members in 36,000 clubs, in 200 countries, we are recognised as the world’s largest volunteering organisation. Globally we generate over $8,000,000,000 (8 billion) of impact.

🍽️ WGC Rotary Steps Across the District: Cake, Custard & Community Action! 🥧🍰

This week, our very own President-Elect (and District Membership Lead) Amanda Joseph paid a visit to our fantastic neighbours over at the Rotary Club of Dunstable—and what a wonderful afternoon of fellowship it was! Rotary Club of Dunstable

The meeting was brilliantly chaired by Dunstable's President-Nominee, Ian Saunders, and the hospitality was top-notch. Amanda was treated to a delicious, hearty lunch of cottage pie, followed by a classic sponge cake smothered in custard. The club secretary also kept everyone entertained with some brilliant stories from his recent visits to local Rotary clubs over in sunny Florida, USA! 🇺🇸✈️

🦁 The Rotary Childrens Fun Day Big Dunstable Project: Whipsnade Zoo!
With 22 members present, the room was buzzing with plans for their upcoming Club Handover, as well as the final logistics for the massive Rotary Children's Fun Day at Whipsnade Zoo. 🐘🚂

Because the zoo is right on their doorstep, Dunstable takes the lead on organising this incredible day out for children. They take care of all the heavy lifting and big logistics so that other clubs across the District can simply register, turn up, and give local kids a magical day out without the "faff" of planning it all from scratch! It's a brilliant team effort, and registrations are already opening for 2027 if your club wants to get involved next year!

🎒 Meanwhile, Right Here in Welwyn Garden City...
While Dunstable takes on the zoo, we’ve been busy working on our own localised version of the Rotary Children’s Fun Day! We are super excited to be partnering with the wonderful charity Kids In Mind to bring this special day to life. 🧩❤️ Kids in Mind Charity

We are joining forces with three of our amazing neighbouring clubs—the Rotary Clubs of Potters Bar, Hatfield, and Brookmans Park—to host a bespoke Fun Day for 115 fantastic students right here at Lakeside School. 🐾 Brookmans Park Rotary Club, Rotary Hatfield - England, Rotary District 1260 in Beds, Bucks and Herts organised by Barbara Middleton

We were all geared up to run the event yesterday (Thursday 11th June), but the British weather had other ideas! Due to the heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast, we had to make the tough call to postpone. ☔

The good news? We aren't letting the rain stop the fun! We’ve already rescheduled the entire event for Thursday 24th September, right at the start of the new academic term. We can't wait to bring the mobile petting zoo, smiles, and sunshine to the Lakeside pupils then! ☀️🐑

Whether it’s teaming up at the zoo or collaborating locally for our schools, it just goes to show what can be achieved when Rotary clubs work together.

Mind

12/06/2026

03/06/2026

🏆 Dunstable Rotary Club Honours Maureen Kerr with Prestigious 2026 Community Award

The Dunstable Rotary Club is thrilled to announce Maureen Kerr, Manager of Hospice at Home Volunteers - Dunstable & Houghton Regis Areas (HHV), as the recipient of the 2026 Dunstable Rotary Club Award.
Each year, the club recognises an individual or organisation that has gone above and beyond to improve the wellbeing of the local community. Maureen’s 17 years of unwavering dedication to supporting those with life-limiting illnesses makes her the ultimate embodiment of the Rotary motto: “Service above Self.”

🌟 Going Above and Beyond
Maureen manages HHV across Dunstable, Houghton Regis, and the surrounding villages. While she is contracted for just 16 hours a week, her passion turns her role into a vocation—frequently volunteering up to 40 hours a week without complaint to ensure local families never face difficult times alone.

Why Maureen is 2026’s Worthy Recipient:

Pandemic Resilience: Her leadership and strength sustained HHV through the challenges of the pandemic and have continued to elevate the charity ever since.

Bespoke Care & Matching: Maureen personally risk-assesses client situations and thoughtfully pairs them with volunteers who share similar interests, ensuring deep emotional and practical support.

Comprehensive Support: From professional, free care for patients to vital advice for caregivers and essential bereavement follow-ups, Maureen covers every step of the journey with kindness.

A Family Affair: The award also nods to the invaluable support of Maureen’s husband and sons, who are always on hand to brave the weather, set up gazebos, and run fundraising stalls.

Maureen was nominated by Ian Coulter, Past President and said “Maureen's dedication, hard work, and caring personality have built an incredible bridge of support in our community. She epitomises everything the Rotary stands for—commitment, care, and kindness to the communities we serve."

Well done Maureen, so thoroughly deserved.

17/05/2026

Today would have been the birthday of our late President and dear friend, Alan Corkhill.

Alan was a man of great kindness, generosity, and quiet dedication. He cared deeply about helping others and was a passionate supporter of The Rotary Foundation and its life-changing work around the world.

He gave not only financially, but also generously of his time and energy. Alan believed wholeheartedly in the power of Rotary to make a real difference, and he spoke often and passionately about the impact of its work. One cause especially close to his heart was the fight to eradicate polio. His commitment even took him to India, where he supported the mass polio vaccination programme and witnessed first-hand the difference it makes to children and families.

Alan’s family chose The Rotary Foundation as the beneficiary for the collection in his memory, and we are incredibly proud to share that, through the magic of Rotary’s matched funding, more than £10,200 was raised.

With each vaccine costing just 20p, this means 51,000 children will now be protected against this devastating disease.

As we remember Alan today, we take great comfort in knowing that his legacy continues to do good in the world and change lives for the better.

RIP Alan.
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14/05/2026

We recently held a fundraising Quiz night for Shelterbox, and were delighted to confirm that the event raised enough funds to purchase 2 complete Shelterboxes.
Each one will provide an emergency home, beds, cooking equipment and water filtration for a family in desperate need of help.

https://www.facebook.com/100064863993051/posts/1430216515817135/?

11/05/2026

✈️🎉 50th Anniversary Celebrations – Part 2 🇬🇧🤝🇧🇪

The celebrations continued on Sunday 10th May with a fantastic day at Shuttleworth, including a visit to the beautiful house and gardens, followed by their first air show of the year. 🌿🛩️

86 members and guests came together to enjoy a wonderful day filled with fellowship, friendship and fun. 💙💛

We were especially honoured to welcome Ismail Anilmis and Mark Hardy, who both gave fascinating presentations about the history of their roles, how they have evolved over time, and the importance of service within our communities. Their words celebrated the strong bonds between our two countries and highlighted the incredible impact of Rotary around the world. 🌍✨

Presidents Fitz and Nicolas thanked our distinguished guests for taking the time to join the celebrations and support this very special milestone. 👏

A huge thank you also goes to Steve Harper and his amazing team for going the extra mile to ensure the entire day ran so smoothly and successfully. 🙌

🌎 Rotary is the world’s largest volunteer organisation, bringing together 1.4 million members across 36,000 clubs in over 200 countries. If you’d like to learn more about Rotary and how you can make a difference in your community, we’d love to hear from you!

💫 We are

11/05/2026

✨🎉 50 Years of Friendship, Fellowship & International Service 🇬🇧🤝🇧🇪

88 members of Rotary Dunstable and Rotary Menen gathered at the beautiful Woburn Golf Club to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Twinning of the two clubs — a truly memorable evening filled with music, friendship and Rotary spirit. 💙💛

President Fitz opened the celebrations by introducing drummers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. With incredible military precision, they marched into the room and performed a spectacular selection of military and popular tunes that captivated everyone present. 🥁🎶

Throughout the evening, Russell Kelly from Octave Music in Dunstable provided wonderful entertainment on the grand piano, performing a mix of classical favourites and popular songs that created the perfect atmosphere. 🎹✨

Following a fantastic dinner, both Club Presidents reflected on the many friendships, shared projects and unforgettable memories created through five decades of twinning between the clubs. 🌍❤️

The highlight of the evening was an inspiring keynote speech from Nicki Scott, whose engaging and polished presentation celebrated the power and impact of Rotary across the world. 👏🌟

📸 Part 2 continues in the next post!

04/05/2026

The Dunstable Wombles turned 5 years old last month, and today’s community litter pick saw a record number of people, collecting a new high record number of bags of litter and recycling.
We had several newbies on the day, and support from Beds FA too.

are peopleofaction Rotary District 1260 in Beds, Bucks and Herts Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1021370503549284&id=100070290316232