December 2021-January 2022 | Comment

David Ellis – Chair of the Executive’s Column

David Ellis – Chair of the Executive’s Column

Chairman of the Executive for Rotary GB&I, Dave Ellis, discusses the desire for change in Rotary clubs across the country as well as an exciting new environmental project.

As I write this article we are coming to the end of the first round of District Conferences, it was a huge pleasure to attend three face-to-face conferences in October and my thanks for the warm welcome Denise and I received, it was great to be out and about meeting people again.

There is no doubt that there is a thirst for change in the clubs, my message is all about how we need to change and for clubs to be relevant to the society of today. I have to say that no dissenting voices were heard which is really refreshing, in fact many club members stated that they would go back to their clubs and discuss a new way forward.


Listen to this article


This article will be published post COP26 and I hope that the world leaders start taking action to preserve the future of our planet, but what can we do?

At the Rotary in London District Conference I was privileged to hear about a fantastic environmental project called Treekly, basically it is an app that counts your daily steps, each day the target is 5,000 steps, achieve this for five days in a week and Treekly will plant a mangrove tree.

There are opportunities for individuals to donate to the project if they feel they cannot achieve the target and for clubs to get together as a group which will increase the number of trees dramatically.

For every 5,000 steps recorded on their app, Treekly will plant a mangrove tree.

This project fits perfectly into our new area of focus, more details will be coming out shortly, Rotary in London and District 1080, which is Rotary in East Anglia, are running this already.

As we enter the festive season I ask that any images you put out, on social media and other platforms, show the results of our fundraising not images of us collecting, and tell your Rotary story.

Our Public Image Team would be happy to assist with any publicity and will ensure it has a consistent look.

Have a great Christmas and New Year, and let’s prepare for an exciting 2022.

Our magazine covers a wide range of fascinating features, exclusive interviews and inspiring human interest stories from across the world of Rotary.

Listen in audio format Discover more

Rotary Magazine