For the first century of Rotary’s 118-year history, the stereotypical view was that it was a club for middle-aged, middle-class men who meet weekly to eat unhealthy meals.
But since Rotary started to admit women, the 46,000 clubs across the world have been changing.
Leicester Novus, for instance, had a woman, headteacher Carolyn Robson, as its first president in 2009. Its members have met nearly every week since (online during Covid) but normally eat together only once a month. Some meetings are, even today, held online. Some are being held in the form of getting together to do service projects for the homeless and disadvantaged.
Last year’s president, pharmacist Ranjit Singh Mann (whose wife Jasbir was president in 2011) proposed that members should meet for walks to promote good health. That chimes exactly with the hope of the president of Rotary International, Gordon McInally, who is promoting activities to improve physical and mental health of Rotarians and non-Rotarians.
So for the third Thursday evening of July, Ranjit organised a walk from the Lower Car Park (Woodhouse Eaves) up to the summit of Beacon Hill, the second-highest point in Leicestershire, (Bardon Hill is 30 metres higher) with spectacular early-evening views over Loughborough as far as Nottingham.
It was no problem for Ranjit. He and Jasbir climbed Snowdon (1085m/ 3,560ft) a couple of weeks ago, raising £3,700 for charity. For current Novus president Jim Matthews and his wife Sally it was familiar because on the day that Jasbir and Ranjit climbed Snowdon, Sally and Jim took their granddaughters to Beacon Hill to admire the views and the sculptures near the summit.
It was pre-Covid when Jason Chauhan, who took lots of photos, and Sarita Shah last visited the beauty spot. At the Trig (triangulation) Point at the top a very kind couple of rock climbers borrowed Jason’s camera to photograph Ranjit, Sally, Jim and Jason.
Sarita did not make the summit, having explored Loughborough Beacon Rotary Club’s award-winning natural play area. She caught up with her friends as they descended from the top of the hill.
During their walk and over a drink in the comfort of the Old Bull’s Head in Woodhouse Eaves the friendly five discussed work, serving as magistrates and on juries and as court witnesses, electric cars, solar panels… and, of course, Rotary service projects and future Rotary walk venues.
All agreed that the 90-minute stroll over a mile and a half had left them feeling healthy in body and mind and keen to explore other parts of their county. The club’s next meeting will be over Zoom when they discuss the progress of the several service projects for the benefit of people in Leicestershire, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
If you would like to know more about our upcoming schedule, please click on the link to our Programme and if you would like to know more, please Contact Us.
Last edited: 12:30 on Friday, 28/07/2023
