Foundation Committee
The Rotary Foundation is the charitable trust fund of Rotary International. In simple terms it is our charity and it belongs to every Rotarian who holds membership of any Rotary club world-wide.
At the 1917 convention of Rotary International in Atlanta, Georgia, RI President Arch Klumph proposed the creation of an “endowment fund for Rotary… for the purpose of doing good in the world in charitable, educational and other avenues of community progress”.
The objective of the Rotary Foundation is the achievement of world understanding and peace through international charitable and educational programmes.
The Rotary Foundation enables the Rotarians of each club who work with those of all the other clubs in the world to achieve a level of success which would be undreamed of by any individual member, club, or even district.
Rotary Foundation is a registered charity and the committee may be involved in the following:-
Acting as Counsellor to a Scholar from abroad studying in the area at a local University.
Contribute to service projects organised by Clubs from two or more countries (matching grants).
Group Study Exchange. Each year each Rotary District selects four candidates and a Rotarian team leader to spend five to six weeks in another Rotary district on another continent.
A programme is organised by the host Rotary clubs that is both individual to each person’s vocation together with joint functions.
The team will spend from four to six weeks in the District visited which including at least five days vocational experience and, in addition, the opportunity to study their host country’s institutions and culture and develop friendships with their hosts.
They will normally spend two or three days with a Rotary Club before moving onto the next club in another Town or City, a Rotarian and their family home host them at each location.
The candidates are normally aged from 25 to 40 they must live or work in the sending District and be currently employed in a recognised business or profession on a full time basis. Rotaractors are eligible unless disqualified by virtue of being a relation of a Rotarian, e.g. son, daughter or grandchild.
Group Study Exchange. Selection and nominating a candidate to be member of an outgoing team.
Group Study Exchange. Organising a programme and hosting arrangements of an incoming team.
Nominating a scholar (University Student) to study abroad.
The Rotary International Charity has a fund of several million pounds, which is used especially for inter country educational and cultural projects.
The Foundation Committee run a number of Events each year to raise money, the majority of these are social events i.e. Local Theatre Trips.