At a dinner in central London on 24 November 2015, our Club President, Ritu Kapur, was called forward to receive a special Commendation Certificate from the Rotary Foundation in recognition of our work and support.
Very nearly 100 Rotarians from all over London came to the Imperial Hotel by Russell Square for the dinner to recognise the support given by London Rotarians to Rotary International’s own charity, The Rotary Foundation.
Our Keynote speaker was Rotarian Bryn Styles (pictured above), from the Rotary Club of Barrie Huronia, in Ontario Canada, who serves as a Trustee of the Rotary Foundation. In his address, Bryn asked the Rotarians to imagine a world without Rotary, and without the Rotary Foundation! He talked about how polio would be experienced throughout the world without the Rotary Foundation’s efforts to eradicate it, dwelling in particular on Africa (which has now been polio free for more than a year) and India (which has now been polio free for more than three years). He talked about the more than 50,000 scholars who would not have received Rotary Foundation Scholarships. He also spoke about the Rotarians whose skills would not have been developed by running the projects.
He concluded that the world would be a far worse place without the work of the Rotary Foundation, and without the financial support Rotarians throughout the world give to the Rotary Foundation. He called upon those present “to be proud of Rotary and to share their pride with non-Rotarians”.
