Rotary Club of Kings Lynn

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Rotary Club of Kings Lynn

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The main objective of Rotary is service. The Rotary motto is 'Service Above Self', and whilst doing this we also have fun and make lots of new friends!

Rotary is an organisation of business, professional and community leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 160 countries worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 30,000 Rotary clubs. Rotary club membership represents a cross-section of the community's business and professional men and women, as well as community leaders. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all.

21/10/2026

The Rotary Club of Swarthmore in Pennsylvania
On 19 October 2026 the Club’s speaker was Heather Saunders, a Rotarian from Swarthmore, a small town in Pennsylvania. Heather was visiting a number of friends and relations in Britain, including her aunt, Elizabeth Walker. She asked to attend a Rotary meeting and was happy to give account of her own club and background which members found very interesting. Swarthmore has a population of only some 6500 but has a flourishing Rotary Club with 57 members, roughly half men and half women. Although born in the USA, Heather’s parents were both English, and she has dual nationality. A number of interesting questions were asked but everyone resisted the temptation to play any Trump cards.

21/10/2026

The Rotary Club of King’s Lynn to support Brave Futures
Abbie Mulcairn from the charity Brave Futures recently spoke at a meeting of the Club and asked for help with the refurbishment of a therapy room at the Mr Bees Children’s Centre in King’s Lynn. The charity which operates across Norfolk and Suffolk supports children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse. The statistics quoted made a big impression on her audience. About one in six children in Norfolk may have experienced sexual abuse, which equates to some 16500. Abby pointed out that referrals in King’s Lynn (one of seven centres where the charity operates in Norfolk) had more than doubled in the last six months. She was particularly concerned that the criminal justice system did not offer adequate support: the conviction rate was very low; and cases could take years to come to court. The President promised that the Club would be offering support for this very good cause.
Photograph: Abbie Mulcairn and President Mike Douglass

07/10/2026

King’s Lynn Rotary supports RYLA
One of Rotary’s most successful programmes is the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). This is a training programme for leaders and potential leaders aged 18 to 25, so may include school or university students or young people already in or seeking employment. The aim is to help them discover and develop the skills needed to become leaders in the community and in their careers as well as in everyday life. In East Anglia the programme has for many years been based at the outdoor centre at Grafham Water. The participants spend a week there in August where they experience a series of challenges: working in teams they explore problem-solving strategies; are exposed to leadership issues; learn how to arrange youth activities and community service programmes; and practise team-building and team-leadership skills. This year the Rotary Club of King’s Lynn sponsored a local scout leader, 18- year-old, Emma Peers, who spoke to the Club recently and enthused about the programme and what she had gained from it. Emma described the experience as ‘the best thing I have ever done.’ A significant part of the week was spent taking part in practical team challenges such as designing a raft and racing it against other teams. A highlight for Emma was an overnight expedition, involving sailing across Grafham Water, hiking to a specified and then setting up camp. Because of her scouting background she took the lead for her team in this expedition. Other team-building exercises and the opportunity to make a personal presentation on a topic of choice were of great value and Emma felt that she had certainly increased in self-confidence. Her detailed account of the week at Grafham Water was very well received by the members of the Rotary Club and they were particularly impressed by the answer he gave to a question on what she had learned about Rotary. She described it as ‘groups of people coming together to make a difference within their communities, helping people and improving the lives of those around them.’

Photo: Emma Peers and Mike Douglass

07/10/2026

A hundred years of service to the community
On Friday 25 September the Rotary Club of King’s Lynn celebrated its centenary with a black- tie dinner in the Town Hall. It was a splendid occasion attended by some 120 Rotarians and guests. There were representatives from many other Rotary Clubs, including six from Lynn’s twin town, Emmerich- am-Rhein in Germany, and the President of that Club, Katarina Balkmann, was one of the keynote speakers. The guests of honour were David Flux, a former High Sheriff of Norfolk, and the District Governor, Andy Roberts. Michael Douglass, the Centenary President, outlined the major contribution the Club has made to local, national and international good causes as described in the new history of the Club, The Rotary Club of King’s Lynn, a Centenary Celebration, by Michael Walker. Since 2000 some 150 charities and many individuals have been supported by the Club, some of them on a regular basis. The President expressed the hope that in another hundred years the Club would still be a stalwart of the local community, as well as reaching out to help those in need in other parts of the world.

Photographs:
Michael Douglass with the six visitors from Emmerich.
The Assembly room in the Town Hall was a fitting setting for the Centenary Dinner

14/09/2026

New football kit provided.
The Rotary Club of King’s Lynn has recently sponsored a new football kit for the King’s Lynn Soccer Club Under-7 Blacks. The coach said that the team look brilliant in their new strip and that the boys are looking forward to wearing it throughout the season.
Photograph: Rotary President Mike Douglass, Community Chairman Ian Mason and the U7s team with their coaches.

14/09/2026

Rotary Member’s Poppy Ride Supports Royal British Legion
Rotary Club of King’s Lynn member Andy Kerr and his wife Debra have once again taken to their bicycles to raise money for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and remember those who gave their lives in service. The annual initiative began some four years ago and involves visiting Commonwealth War Graves in the Downham Market area and placing poppies at the graves. There are 147 war graves throughout the district.
This year, Andy and Debra cycled around 30 miles, visiting war graves at Watlington, Marham and Downham Market. They were supported by Royal British Legion Chairman Frank Bridgman and his daughter Natalie, who assisted with placing the poppies ahead of the ride. Andy said: “This is something we hope to continue every year. It is a simple way of remembering our fallen while also raising much-needed funds for the Poppy Appeal. Fundraising becomes more challenging each year, so we would be delighted to hear of any ideas for developing the event and involving even more people in the future.”
Special thanks go to everyone who donated, particularly Bond Funeral Directors, Watlington Parish Council and Barker Brothers of Downham Market for their generous support. The Rotary Club of King’s Lynn is pleased to support and recognise initiatives within the local community that combine remembrance, service and fundraising for worthwhile causes. The Club itself donates £300 each to the Poppy Appeal.
Photo: Andy Kerr in the cemetery at Watlington Church.

02/09/2026

Disastrous flooding on the Nepal/Tibet border on 26 August swept away homes, roads and bridges. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands more are missing. It is estimated trhat some 65000 people have been affected. The cause is believed to be the collapse of a large mass of ice and rock from a glacier high in the Himalayas.

In response the Club has paid some £600 for a Shelter box which contains essential support for affected families.

21/08/2026

Rotary’s End Polio Now Campaign
As a direct result of His Majesty’s historic opening of the final section of the King Charles III Coastal Path, Rotary in East Anglia held a coordinated mass walk of the Coastal Path around East Anglia on Sunday 16 August 2026. The route went from Snettisham Beach car park and finished at Harwich. It was divided into 17 segments to encourage widespread participation from local Rotary clubs who elected to either join the walk or to act as marshals. All walkers set off simultaneously from their chosen venue. Members and friends of the Rotary Club of Kings Lynn took part in the event, walking the six miles from Hunstanton to Thornham and raising money in the process.
The walk was held in support of Rotary’s End Polio Now Campaign which begun in 1985. Since then polio cases have dropped from 1000 daily over 125 countries to the current situation where the disease is only endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rotary has collaborated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has contributed $2 for every $1 raised by Rotary. Over $2 billion dollars has been raised by Rotary worldwide.
The Purple for Polo logo shown in the photograph refers to the practice of painting a child’s little finger with a purple dye when they are immunized.
Photo: Members and partners/friends of the Rotary Club of King’s Lynn. President Mike Douglass is holding the Purple for Polio sign.

02/07/2026

Centenary President for the Rotary Club of King’s Lynn
At the Club’s recent changeover meeting, held at the Carpenters Arms in East Winch, outgoing President, James Lee, passed on the Chain of Office to Mike Douglass who has been a Rotarian since February 2021. He becomes the Club’s President in our Centenary year.
Mike was born and raised in the North East, achieving a degree in Economics and Geography from Newcastle University. He stayed on at Newcastle and trained as a teacher before taking up his first teaching position in Ramsey in Cambridgeshire where he met his wife, Julie, also a teacher. Mike also taught in schools in Essex before moving to Norfolk in 1996 to be a deputy headteacher at King Edward VII School. He became Head of the school in 2002, taking over from Michael Walker. Mike retired from the headship in 2014 but it wasn’t long before he returned to the classroom and the teaching of Economics on a part-time basis. He fully retired in August 2024.
Mike and Julie have 2 children, Christopher and Andrew, and 5 grandchildren. He is a keen cyclist and a Norwich City season ticket holder. Mike is keen to continue with the club’s support of local charities and its extensive program of events and aims to work closely with schools and the local community.
A major milestone for the club this year will be the celebration of its Centenary in September. A black-tie dinner is to be held at the Town Hall on Friday 25 September and anyone who would like details can contact the Club through its website:
https://rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=482

Photo: James Lee and Mike Douglass.

23/06/2026

June 100 Club results

£50 Poppy Lee No 118
£30 Chris Betts No 28
£25 Mel Robson No 93
£25 Josie Douglas No 109

Address

The Crown & Mitre, Ferry Lane
King's Lynn
PE301LJ

Opening Hours

Monday

6pm - 8pm

Telephone

+441553617374

Website

http://Rotary-ribi.org/

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