The Rotary Club of Romsey Test is one of the two Rotary clubs in Romsey.  Ours was formed in 1990 as an evening meeting club, sponsored by the existing lunch time club.  We meet every Wednesday evening, normally at The Abbey Hotel in Romsey.  Currently we have 52 members, and we actively welcome approaches from any professional and business persons who would like to know more about Rotary in general and our club in particular with a view to joining. 

Our Mission Statement as Rotarians is “Humanity in Motion”, and we pursue this through the application of our motto, “Service above Self”

Rotary is a worldwide organisation of men and women who volunteer their time and talents to serve their communities at home and overseas.  Find out more here http://www.ribi.org/information/index.asp?InfID=1

Rotary has its own charity, the Rotary Foundation, which has helped millions of people over the years, running programmes to eliminate suffering, hunger and humanitarian crises.  It also funds many scholarships and programmes to promote world peace and international understanding.  Its current major focus is on the final drive to eliminate Polio from the world through its vaccination programmes, an objective which it has been pursuing for over 20 years and which is now near completion with only 4 countries having Polio as an endemic disease. More on Rotary Foundation and PolioPlus here  Rotary Foundation

Locally in Romsey, The Rotary Club of Romsey Test supports many local charities and organisations through its fund raising activities, and through the time and efforts of its members.  We help needy families, support local volunteer organisations and run programmes to make Romsey an even better place to live.  Our two big community events in the year are the annual Mayor’s Picnic and Duck Race, a wonderful afternoon out in Romsey’s Memorial Park held in early July each year, and Reminiscences of Romsey, a day for our senior citizens where the focus is on Romsey in bygone days, with a tea party and entertainment in the Crosfield Hall. 

Internationally, we support a number of humanitarian programmes ranging from Christmas shoe boxes (filled with presents, for children in Eastern Europe and Africa), Rotary’s own Shelterboxes and Aquaboxes for disaster relief, we help support St Joseph’s Hospital in Uganda and a young girl in Guinea Bissau in Affrica, provide spectacles for developing countries, and are working with DentAid locally to support their efforts in bringing Dental care to third world countries.    

Working with and for the youth of Romsey and our Wessex Rotary District http://www.rotary1110.org.uk/ we run annual competitions for Young Chef and Youth Speaks, both aimed at developing the skills and confidence of our young people, the key to our future.  These are open to schools and colleges in the area and we welcome approaches from anyone interested in participating.  We also support Young Enterprise, a business scheme through which young people gain invaluable experience in running their own businesses within their schools. See  http://www.young-enterprise.org.uk/pub/ for more details.  We are strong supporters of Romsey Young Carers, an organisation supporting youngsters who take on the role of carers for sick or disabled parents and relatives. 

Our major fundraising event annually is our Test Way sponsored walk.  Since its inception in 2003 it has raised over £92,000 for charity, with £28,000 being raised by 300 walkers in 2007 alone.  This is a massive logistical exercise for the club, and increasingly attracts help from other organisations as it has grown over the years.  Walkers can chose between a 2.5 mile walk or a number of intermediate options up to a full 26 miles, all on the beautiful Test Way, finishing in Romsey’s Memorial Park.  Details are at www.walkthetestway.co.uk  One of the great attractions to participants is that they can walk in support of their own chosen charity, to which 75% of the sponsorship proceeds will be given, with the remaining 25% going to Rotary projects via our club, and many people find this a compellingly attractive mix.  We welcome walkers from companies, organisations, other charities and those who simply want to do some good and have some fun walking.  Please consider joining us in October for this delightful and worthy event. 

A little of our history…

Those familiar with Romsey Hospital may know that during the Romsey Hospital Appeal in the years 1998-2000 our Club raised in excess of £30,000 to provide a canopy to the entrance of the hospital so patients could be transferred from the ambulance without having to contend with the vagaries of our English weather.  The professional expertise and time of our members helped to save significant cost in this project, and it remains in daily service to make life a little more comfortable for users of our own hospital here in Romsey.

In 1995 members participated in a Rotary District initiative, Wessex Heartbeat, to provide an M.R.I. Scanner and other improvements for Southampton General Hospital. Going one better through the vision of a member, this Club led our Rotary District clubs to also provide "Rotary Heartbeat House", a home close to the hospital dedicated to housing the parents of desperately ill children in their Paediatric units. This facility was provided at a cost of £110,000 and continues to be invaluable to parents today as it was when it was first built.

You can help us do even more good…

We’re a busy, lively and friendly club, employing our professional, business and social talents to make the world a better place.  We have fun doing it and enjoy each other’s company. We work closely with our sister organisation, Inner Wheel (click here to view Inner Wheel Page) and with other service clubs in the locality, sometimes combining resources with other Rotary clubs to enhance our impact.

We have a busy programme during this 2008/09 Rotary year and we welcome suggestions from anyone regarding where we may be able to offer help or support.

We welcome interest from prospective business partners and from professional and business persons of any creed, colour or gender with a view to becoming a Rotarian.  Membership is by invitation and we reserve the right to select members on grounds of suitability, profession and potential commitment to our aims. 

Mike Thorne

President of The Rotary Club of Romsey Test.

July 2008 to June 2009