Our club members are involved in many different activities, both at home and abroad and Rotary is in action when natural disaster strikes, such as the earthquake in Haiti. Shelter Boxes supplied by Rotary provided temporary shelter and relief for thousands of homeless families. Our club was able to sponsor a box with money raised by one of our social events.

On a more local level we have active involvement with schools and significant involvement with young people through our annual Youth Public Speaking Competition. This year's event was held on 9th March and although there were fewer entries than usual the standard of the speeches was very high contributing to a very entertaining evening. This event has been sponsored for a number of years by Boyes Stores and we were pleased that this year Stephen Boyes and his wife were able to attend. Stephen is shown presenting the winner Gerald Pickford of Beverley Grammar School with his prize. Gerald also received a cheque for his school.

A popular Rotary event is Kids Out, an annual nationwide event supported by most UK clubs. For a number of years we have been involved with Swinemoor Primary School helping some of their more disadvantaged pupils in a number of ways, including this day out at a local attraction. This year we took some forty children to Sewerby Hall and here they are shown ready for the off. Afterwards the school encourages the children to write to us and the day is best summed up by one of the children's letters: ‘Dear Rotary Club, I really enjoyed the trip because every adult that went was really kind and generous. The best bit was when we went to the park because we went on the swing and the climbing frame. It was so fun. I also enjoyed when we went to go and see the animals. My favourite was the monkey. Me and my partner Lauren called one of them Dexter. David one of our instructors wouldn’t go near the alpacas because last time they spitted at him. Overall I would rate my day 10 out of 10. Emily.’

Family Fun Day at Beverley Races
For the second year running we continued to provide family entertainment at Beverley Racecourse at their May Day race meeting. We organised funfair rides, giant inflatable slides, sporting competitions for both children and adults together with a tombola and market stalls under cover.  The Club was also honorary sponsor for one of the races,  the Beverley Rotary Club Handicap and President David Pilmer iis shown presenting the winning owners, Hull KR's coach and chairman,  with their trophy.

Visiting GSE Team
The five delegates of the 2010 GSE team from Romania were hosted by our club for two days, visiting local attractions including the Treasure House which featured an exhibition of the work of noted Beverley artist Fred Elwell RA who was a founding member of our club and president in 1930. The Rotary Foundation GSE scheme enables young professionals from around the world to experience one another's cultures with the objective of promoting international goodwill and understanding.

International Connections

We enjoy regular contact with our friends overseas as regular fellowship is an important aspect of Rotary. A group of our members visited Albi in France in September 2009 and that year we also enjoyed a visit from our old friends of Ramnicu Valcea, Romania, who enjoyed a full week of international fellowship and sightseeing. During the course of the week they visited many local attractions, finishing the week with a buffet and putting competition at Cherry Burton Golf Club.  At the end of the evening our guests were presented with mementos of their visit. They are shown in a group photo with some of our members at Tickton Grange Hotel.

A superb record of the first visit to us of the Albi Laperouse club was produced by past president André Sudre and this can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking here. Please note this is a large file and you should select 'save' rather than 'open' from the download window. It is also not recommended for those on a dial-up connection. 

Other events

Our annual Santa Sleigh Ride always receives a warm welcome touring Beverley and surrounding villages. Santa  rides in his purpose-built sleigh based on the Club's multi-purpose trailer which is used as a PR vehicle for all kinds of outside events.  The trailer was made possible with a legacy from a wonderful Rotarian, the late Frank Merrett and the efforts of past president David Preston who was largely responsible for its construction during his preidency.

Local Charities we regularly support include: Dove House Hospice, Candlelighters, Alzheimer's Society Hull & East Riding, Jacob's Well Christian Medical Charity and Beverley Community Care. Other charities to regularly benefit from our fund raising events include PolioPlus, a number of Cancer Charities, the RIBI preferred charity, Mercy Ships and more recently Hope and Homes for Children.

Fellowship
Various social activities are arranged for Rotarians and their partners. We've enjoyed an evening gliding with a barbecue, a visit to a sausage factory and the BBC studios in Hull, hosted by presenter Peter Levy as well as other social events. We also have regular contact other clubs and organisations with quizzes and games nights. Most of these activities involve our partners who also join us at special partners meetings held instead of our usual weekly meeting with interesting and entertaining speakers.

Rotary Links
To find out more about Rotary, go to the Rotary International website www.rotary.org
or to our District website www.rotary1270.org.uk