Big hearted and generous Monmouth Rotarians who have given so much to the town over the years, and are still doing so, have just celebrated their 75th anniversary with a special showcase evening at The Priory writes Nigel Heath.

They are well known by everyone for their annual raft race, Walk the Wye fund raiser, summer duck race, Bonfire Night and Santa Sleigh rounds.

But there is so much more going on behind the scenes with their tireless support for numerous local community projects plus wider outreach activities including the equipping and driving of ambulances to Ukraine.

But as Peter Davey recalled in his fascinating opening look back at the club’s history, it all began back in post war Britain when a local businessman established The Monmouth Rotary Club.

It was launched with eighteen members, including seven of the town’s retailers, who held their first meeting in June 1951 and were recognised by Rotary International and chartered the following year.

The showcase evening included a heartfelt thankyou from Andy Tabb of The Monmouth Sports Association for helping them get back on their feet after they lost all their equipment washed away in the recent flood.

Rotary Monmouth collaborated with the Monmouth Sports Association to secure a £35,965 grant from the Rotary Disaster Recovery Trust. Combined with local club match funding, a total of £53,589 was made available to replace ruined equipment, repair the pitches, and install new flood-resilient storage containers following the Storm Claudia flooding

Representatives from St David’s Hospice and the Velindre Cancer Centre also praised club members for their tireless ongoing support raising tens of thousands of pounds over the years.

There were also updates on the club’s ongoing Monmouth local school’s education programme from member Olwen Davis and continuing support for Ukraine from member Kevin Graham accompanied by Will Jackson from the Hereford Elan Club

Support from Monmouth Rotarians had already helped deliver three ambulances to war-torn Ukraine with a fourth one all ready to go was parked outside.

Member Nagi El-Bay bought members up to date on their latest outreach Aswan Project where the club was helping to support blind children in remote outlying areas of the country having no access to any facilities.

A finale highlight of the proceedings was a series of presentations to 96-year- old honorary member Roger Steer, a keen gardener who has clocked up an amazing sixty years in Rotary.

While club member Pete Walters presented him with a flora gardenia plant, President Bill Parnell handed over a special certificate from British Rotary and more importantly, a framed letter signed by Rotary International President Franco Arezzo commending him for all his years of service.

Closing the proceedings, Bill hoped all those attending had found all the presentations highlighting the club’s wide range of community activities both interesting and informative.

“We are constantly looking for new members who have a similar outlook on community service while at the same time enjoying coming along to regular meetings and participating in social activities,” he said.