Sidcup Rotary Club

Sidcup Rotary Club welcomes people who are interested in and care about their environment. Our aim is to ensure everyone is welcome, and no one feels out of place. We have a Satellite membership to cater for those who want to be part of a younger group. We are also exploring new membership models including e-clubs and Rotaract (previously for 18 to 28-year olds).

We are a non-political organisation and pride ourselves in being friendly, non-bureaucratic and welcome to new ideas. Gone are the days when we would accept only professionals or those in business. What really matters is that you are sociable, tolerant, action orientated and keen to make things happen.

We normally meet each Wednesday and mix business with pleasure. We invite interesting speakers to talk about their work, hobbies, or charity. The Sidcup Rotary Club has a Benevolent Trust, which makes donations to good causes after careful consideration and approval by its membership. Members generally join at least one Committee so that everyone gets involved in the running of the Club.

The Coronavirus has forced us to adapt and one benefit of using Zoom to hold our meetings is that members can attend from wherever they are at the time.

As individuals we are involved in a variety of local organisations where we put our skill to use and raise funds for our Benevolent Trust and other charities. Our principal fund raiser is our Christmas Collection when the whole local community enjoys seeing the sleigh and the opportunity to talk briefly to Santa. We also hold Quiz Nights, which are always good fun all the proceeds from which are passed to charities chosen each year. Our biggest single donation to date was over £37,000 to fund a new purpose-built community bus for the Bexley Accessible Transport Scheme which is used regularly by a variety of age groups and people with disabilities. Those interested in finding out more should look at this website, which gives you an insight into what we do. Please email us at rotarysidcup@gmail.com . If you would like further information or think that you might be interested in joining us and our Membership Team will get back to you.

A message from joint Presidents Peter Allsop and Jim Chambers

This is the first time Sidcup Rotary has appointed joint Presidents (photo Peter left) so we hope that two heads will be better than one. We hope to build on the excellent example of our predecessor Martin Low who achieved much in the face of covid’s limiting influence. And as we write we hope we can look forward to the end of lockdown.

Rotary provides us with an established administrative framework with committees covering Community, Vocational and Youth Opportunity, International and Rotary’s own Foundation. We also aim to enjoy each others’ company and have an entertainment committee for that purpose. We have appointed able Chairs for each committee and are confident of their ability to enable us to follow Rotary’s principle of “Service above Self” through the coming Rotary year which runs from 1stJuly to 30th June. This year we have added ‘the Environment’ as an additional area of focus.

In spite of covid Martin has overseen a year in which we have raised sufficient funds to enable our Trust to distribute nearly £38,800 to 35 local, national and international charities. This brought our total giving over the past 20 years alone to over £700,000 (involving over 350 good causes). Our educational trust (RoSET) has also provided twenty nine laptops for Orchard School in the past year and continues to offer grants and bursaries annually.

Our ability to pursue active projects in the past year has been restricted to litter picking in the Sidcup area; maintaining the Sidcup Community Garden; supporting the local food bank; volunteer help to clubs and charities; and support through the Friends of Queen Mary's Hospital. However, we look forward to additional opportunities once lockdown ends. We also hope to resume our Christmas fundraising Santa rounds. Other highlights will be our Community Day, when we welcome the Mayor and representatives from local service organisations; the Bexley Young Musician Awards to be held at the Townley theatre on 5th March 2022; and Young Enterprise, giving teams from local schools competitive experience in business projects, also in March 2022.

We always welcome new members. As well as our main Rotary club which holds two evening personal meetings and one zoom lunchtime meeting per month, we have Satellite members who concentrate on projects and meet more casually. We also benefit from “friends” who are prepared to provide assistance when we need it. If any of these options appeal to you, do please get in touch, initially via our email address rotarysidcup@gmail.com . You’ll be sure of a warm welcome.

Please consider making a donation to the Rotary Club of Sidcup Benevolent Trust by clicking donate:

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Welcome to Sidcup Rotary Club

Welcome to Sidcup Rotary Club

A message from joint Presidents Peter Allsop and Jim Chambers