Rotary Club of Watford UK

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Watford Rotary’s President for 2026/7A great time was had by Rotarians who held their Presidential Handover at the Aerod...
27/06/2026

Watford Rotary’s President for 2026/7

A great time was had by Rotarians who held their Presidential Handover at the Aerodrome Cafe at Elstree airport on a very hot summer evening.

It was the time of year which sees the existing President (Ali Irteza) handing over his chain of office to the new President( Bill Hodnett). Outgoing President Ali reviewed his year which has been so successful that the Rotary Assistant Governor for Hertfordshire Raj Joshi stated that the Rotary District Team regards Watford Rotary as the gold standard for other Rotary Clubs to copy. Ali referred to new initiatives developed during his year, including Wrap Up, which involved Watford Rotarians collecting 700 unwanted winter coats to distribute to the homeless plus another initiative working with West Herts College in a mentoring scheme.

The club has also expanded its membership considerably during Ali’s year and as Bill said in his acceptance speech, he has big shoes to fill, but he was looking forward to the challenge. The new Vice President, Amelo Elaju was also presented with her chain of office, Amelo is an experienced Rotarian who was previously with a Rotary Club in Uganda.. Certificates of appreciation were handed out to a number of members and as a final gesture before Ali’s stepping down. Ali was also presented with the Paul Harris Award, which is the highest award Rotary can bestow on a member as appreciation of their hard work.

We would also like to thank the team of the Aerodrome Cafe, headed up by Colleen who put on a fabulous spread.

Watford Rotary’s Big GiveawayMembers of the public could be forgiven for not believing their eyes when they visited Watf...
10/06/2026

Watford Rotary’s Big Giveaway

Members of the public could be forgiven for not believing their eyes when they visited Watford Rotary’s stall on Sunday as part of the councils Big Green Week.

The stall, stocked with 2 van loads of household items which Watford Rotary had been collecting for a year and which were unwanted items by their owners, had been recycled and stored at Storex Watford. Items which were perfectly good but destined for land fill were saved by the Rotarians, displayed on their stall and given away to anyone who wanted them. Crockery, books, CD’s and DVD’s, cutlery, glassware, artwork, you name it, they had it and by 3pm, nearly all of it had gone.

Watford Rotary’s President Ali Irteza stated, "there must have been way over 1,000 items given away, the expressions on peoples faces when we told them it was free was priceless, we even gave them recycled plastic bags to put their items in, we are very grateful to Storex for providing the storage unit, it’s no exaggeration to say we could not have done it without them”.

This is the 3rd year Watford Rotary have participated in the Big Green Week and the most successful yet. All the Rotarians who were up at there crack of dawn to load up the vans and set up the stall, came away with a feeling of accomplishment and the knowledge that their efforts not only made a lot of the Watford Community very happy, but also spread the message of the benefits of recycling.

Last Wednesday (20th) saw Watford Rotary visited by a Rotary Scholar, Yvonne from Nigeria. Yvonne is being hosted by Bro...
22/05/2026

Last Wednesday (20th) saw Watford Rotary visited by a Rotary Scholar, Yvonne from Nigeria. Yvonne is being hosted by Brookmans Park Rotary and was escorted by their members Aruna and Ravi Mene. Yvonne gave a very interesting talk about how she became a Rotary Scholar and about her experiences here in the UK and Nigeria.

Global grants are for graduate students studying abroad in one of Rotary’s areas of focus:
Promoting peace
Fighting disease
Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
Improving maternal and child health
Supporting education
Growing local economies
Protecting the environment.

In Yvonne's case, as a doctor, she is studying improving maternal and child health. We wish Yvonne every success for the future.

Photo shows Yvonne, 3rd from right, together with Ravi, Aruna, President of Watford Rotary Ali on the right, Rotary Speaker engagement chair Actar and Vice President Bill on the left.

Watford Rotary are delighted to welcome 3 new members, Olga, Ankit and Marijah. Our 2027 President Bill Hodnett welcomed...
14/05/2026

Watford Rotary are delighted to welcome 3 new members, Olga, Ankit and Marijah. Our 2027 President Bill Hodnett welcomed them into the Rotary family by presenting them with membership certificates, membership pin and handbook. Everyone at Watford Rotary are looking forward to working with them for the betterment of the local community.

The highlight of the year for all Watford Rotarians took place on the 29th April, that is the day when all the hard work...
02/05/2026

The highlight of the year for all Watford Rotarians took place on the 29th April, that is the day when all the hard work carried out by them came to fruition. One of the main objects of Rotary is to support the local community, primarily through providing grants to the smaller local charities, Watford residents have no doubt seen the Christmas sleigh being driven round the streets collecting donations, or seen members shaking the bucket outside their local supermarket. Many of you have participated in Rotary events like their Supper Quiz or Rock and Roll Bingo, many of you might wonder where the money collected goes, well here's your answer. On the 29th, Watford Rotary distributed over £10,000 to local charities in a cheque presentation event held at the Mayfield Retirement Village. Charities representing numerous causes, from children's mental and physical health, Alzheimers and Dementia, food support, army veterans, disabilities and and a joint project with the NHS that could save the NHS thousands of pounds (more on that in the future) and much more all benefitted on the day, Lots of smiles from the charities and lots of pride on the faces of our Rotarians.
Want to get involved? Email us at [email protected] to see how you can give back to the local community.

In honour of his fantastic charity work both inside and outside the Watford Rotary Club, Luther Blissett OBE, was awarde...
23/04/2026

In honour of his fantastic charity work both inside and outside the Watford Rotary Club, Luther Blissett OBE, was awarded the highest honour Rotary could bestow, The Paul Harris Fellow award by our current President Ali Irteza. We are very lucky to have Luther on our team and appreciate all the hard work he has done in helping Watford Rotary raise funds for local charities. We look forward to Luther's continued support as an Honorary member of our club.

Watford Rotary’s Super Super Quiz.On Friday 17th an excellent evening was had by over 100 guests at the Watford Rotary S...
23/04/2026

Watford Rotary’s Super Super Quiz.

On Friday 17th an excellent evening was had by over 100 guests at the Watford Rotary Supper Quiz, held at the Holiday Inn, Watford Junction.

Hosted by our quizmasters Luther Blissett OBE, Mayor Peter Taylor and Dean Russell, over £3,400 was raised which included a grant from a local bank and will be used to support local charities in the Watford area.

A delicious 2 course buffet was had before the 6 brain teasing fun rounds including questions on such subjects as music, films, comedy, science and the Best of British which had the audience scratching their heads, but at the end of the day it was Table 7 who broke away from the rest and won the quiz.

Keep a watch on the Watford Rotary Website (watfordrotary.co.uk) for future fun and fund raising events, especially the date of their Rock and Roll Bingo event at the end of the summer.

Address

Watford
WD31GG

Telephone

+447456706600

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