Membership

If you are interested in becoming a Full or Associate Rotarian, this is how it works:

Above all you will need to be of good character and willing to serve the community. Our membership varies across the professions, Businesses, self -employed, employees, artisans and actively retired.

Individual Member

As a potential new member you will be invited to attend two evening dinner meetings as our guest. Following these visits and in conversations with your hosts, if you like what you see and hear and feel you could contribute to the life of the club and would like to be considered for membership your sponsor will discuss the qualification, benefits, expectations and obligations of membership which will give you the opportunity for any questions including the attendance target of at least 50% of possible meetings. At this point if you wish to continue you will be asked to complete a short application form which is then given to the club secretary.

The procedure is quite straight forward; the application is discussed at the next club council meeting for observation, and then within 7 days from the membership notification and is approved, you will be formally welcomed into the club.

The current (2020/21) basic cost of Rotary is £40 per month paid by a bank standing order. This sum covers the subscription to Rotary International Great Britain and Ireland, a contribution to the clubs cost and meal payment based on the attendance of twice a month. Any debit or credit balance will be adjusted half way through and at the end of the Rotary year.

Attendance Rules

The Club has a relaxed approach and this is reflected by the 50% attendance target. We meet on the second and fourth Mondays in the month – Bank Holidays excepted.  In practice the vast majority of our members attend most weeks. Our average attendance is in the region of  70%. One of the key factors of Rotary is fellowship and friendship and of course it is difficult to build relationships or know what is going on in the Club if you do not regularly attend. For guidance, the Club Council will review a situation when a member does not attend for extended periods (four consecutive meetings) without dispensation from Club Council for family or business reasons and may after discussion with the member mutually agree to suspend or end membership.

IMPORTANT. The 50% target can be made up by visiting other clubs, attendance at Club Council or Club Committee meetings or other activities.

If you feel you are unable to meet the foregoing requirements then rather than lose a potentially good member you could apply to join as an associate member as detailed directly below.

Associate Member

Associate Member is all of the requirements shown above or the applicant being a chair or director of a known and respected local organisation or other notable standing.

The difference between the memberships Individual or Associate is the 50% attendance obligation which does not apply; you attend when you can. In all other regards you will be very much part of the club and without responsibility of chairing the standard committees, voting or presidency.

The cost is a nominal £25 per annum plus of course your meal and drinks cost and any social events. The associate status is for a 2 year period with the opportunity to extend by agreement with the club council. There is the opportunity to apply for full membership should your circumstance change when you would receive the rotary membership lapel pin and all of the other confirming status.

 Alan Mulholland and David Wynn McKenzie

The scheme provides a number of benefits to local companies:

• Helps to meet Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives;
• Allows companies to be more closely identified with the communities in which they are based;
• Provides development opportunities for staff;
• Enables staff who may be new to the Shaftesbury area to forge stronger links;
• Gives staff the opportunity of enjoying the benefits of being a member of a highly respected and established organisation;
• Offers representatives travelling anywhere in the uk and abroad the benefit of being able to attend any Rotary meeting as Rotarians in the place of their visit.

Representatives who could benefit from involvement in the Scheme include Directors, Managers and professional staff. Membership of Rotary through Corporate Membership also provides significant benefits for staff who are aspiring to, or training, to reach such positions (e.g. recent graduate appointments).

Representatives may rotate provided that the Club Secretary is notified in writing of any changes. Should a representative wish to join Rotary as an individual member that will be encouraged and the company can then nominate another employee.

Membership:

• The Rotary Club will welcome the company as a member of the Rotary Club.
• On the same occasion the Club will welcome a Senior Representative (e.g. a Director or a Senior Manager of the company) as a Rotarian with all the privileges of a full member.

The requirements from a company are:

• A Senior Representative to be nominated as the main contact point for communication and co-ordination activities;
• To encourage representatives to attend Rotary Club meetings;
• Each representative as a Rotarian to contribute to Club matters;
• Representatives may play an active role within the Club and be prepared to serve on Club Committees;

We have got off to a great start with this project having secured the membership of seven major employers in the town:

• Stalbridge Linen
• Tesco
• Dorset Foods
• Wessex Group
• Shaftesbury Academy Trust
• Virginia Hayward
• BV Dairy

We are currently also in discussions with three other possible company members.

The strategy of this grouping is to try and work together with all of the major employers for the good of the town and its people, being mindful that these employers jointly provide jobs to over 1000 staff.