Today is World Rotaract Day and Rotaractors globally are celebrating 45 years since the first club was set up in North Carolina by inviting more young people to join.
Rotaract is a global network of over 220,000 young people aged 18-30, in more than 9,500 clubs across 179 countries. It provides opportunities for people to give something back to their local communities, learn new skills and meet new friends.
In Great Britain and Ireland, this Rotary sponsored program has about 70 clubs with approximately 700 members. One of their recent projects was swimming and helping out at the Rotary Global Swimarathon which raised over US$100k for local and international charities.
Rotaractors come from a wide range of backgrounds, devoting some of their spare time and energy to help out as volunteers in their communities, both local and international, as well as at their local Rotary Clubs. Whether it is organising charity balls, pub quizzes, parachute jumps, marshalling for local marathons or helping out as Games Makers at the Olympics, Rotaractors also manage to have a lot of fun along the way.
Learning new skills
In the course of benefitting their communities, Rotaractors also have the opportunity to develop new professional skills which many have subsequently put to good use in their subsequent careers.
One Rotaractor, Stefana Covalciuc, recently gained an internship at the United Nations in New York, whilst another, Sally Hetherington, is Operations Manager at an NGO in Cambodia which is involved in sustainable development, education, community and vocational training. Many more go on to become district governors at their local Rotary clubs, as was the case with former Rotaractor, Mike Thorn of the Rotary Club of Cheam, who was also an Olympic torch bearer.
Chairman Elect of Rotaract in Great Britain & Ireland (RGBI), James Lovatt (pictured to the left with Zoya Phan), who will take over as Chairman on the July 1st said: “Apart from having fun and making new friends, one of the best things about Rotaract is the personal and professional skills that you learn which can transfer into your working life. The jobs market is pretty tough for young people at the moment and many could hugely benefit their career prospects, as well as their communities, by becoming Rotaractors. On the 45th anniversary of Rotaract, there has never been a better time to join and we hope that many young people will take up this invitation.”
To find out more about Rotaract, or how to join, go to www.rotaract.org.uk to find your local club.
