The 39th Annual New Forest Rotary Golf Tournament took place on Wednesday 2nd September at Hamptworth Golf Club. 19 teams of 4 took part. Approximately £8,000 was raised, mainly towards the Honeypot Children’s Charity. Having competed in the event for the past 4 years without winning a prize, this year the team finished in a… Read more: Winchester Rotarians – Prize Winners at Rotary Golf Tournament – 2nd September 2026

A good number of members came along for our meeting at the Golden Lion on 24 August, more than at first expected, as the photo shows! In the absence of President Nick, the meeting was taken by Past President Paul Russell. We were pleased to welcome four visitors: Guy Woods and Sue Henstridge (prospective members)… Read more: 4th Monday Social Evening – 24 August

During their visit over Easter earlier this year, the team visiting Kasese agreed to help with the provision of a waiting shelter at a local health centre. £500 was made available by our International Team, along with a contribution from Ringwood Rotary in our District (PDG Caroline Millman had joined the team from Winchester). A… Read more: Completion of joint project for waiting shelter at Kasese Health Centre

Our breakfast meeting on 19 August was slightly down on attendance – holiday season and hot summer no doubt! We were delighted to have as our guests, Hannah Henshaw of Winchester Repair Cafe and a prospective member, Tracey Done – who some of us recently met at the open evening. After a brief run through… Read more: August Breakfast Meeting

Along with Dave and Anna Stewart, I visited IBM’s Hursley Park estate on August 19th to check on the disease resistant Elm trees that we planted there 3 years ago. Apart from the one we lost very early on, the rest are in reasonable health. A few have grown very well. Some are clearly suffering… Read more: Hursley disease resistant Elm trees and clubhouse fire

In February 2024, our Environment team began the work to clear the garden space around Unit 12 in Winnall. We then invested around £15,000 in the design and creation of the new community garden. Since then, the team have on occasion returned to provide a helping-hand to enable the local volunteers to keep on top… Read more: Unit 12 Community garden revisited

President Nick Bell welcomed Steve Parsons, District Governor for Rotary District 1110; Alan Priddy, Assistant District Governor, Group 4 and James Lapage from Southampton Magna Rotary Club. President Nick then welcomed our speakers, Lesley Sheldon-Browning and Kennedy Indyhole. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Honorary Member Kimberley Barber, editor of the Hampshire Chronicle, and… Read more: Winchester Rotary Dinner Meeting Monday 10th August 2026

Winchester City Council’s Mayoralty is part of Mayors for Peace, which each year commemorates the anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima by an atomic bomb on 6 August 1945 – this year is the 81st anniversary. Winchester joined in 2019, when Eleanor Bell was Mayor. Every year since then a gathering has been held at… Read more: “Mayors for Peace” Hiroshima Commemoration – 6 August 2026

At our July breakfast we heard from our own Dave Stewart, who supports the UKBMS. It was a fascinating talk, reminding us the huge variety of butterflies (and moths) that frequent our gardens. It became evident that a few of those present knew more about butterflies than they had let on! Thanks Dave, for a… Read more: July Breakfast (Dave Stewart – UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme)

On 4th August Deborah and I went along to one of the Rick Stein charity coffee mornings, on this occasion organised by the Sebastian Action Trust. This is a local charity based in North Waltham which provides help and respite for families with a child or children with life limiting illnesses. They have a centre… Read more: Sebastion Action Trust Coffee Morning

On Saturday 1st August we held a garden party at Crowded House, where the sun certainly shone for us. 28 Rotarians and guests attended and enjoyed the food and drinks while chatting about everything and anything – not just Rotary. We were well supported by District: with the Immediate Past DG, plus another Past DG,… Read more: Fundraising Garden Party – Sewing Machines for Uganda

On Sunday 2nd August, 11 of us treated Thomas, our University Scholar from Uganda, to dinner at the Bangkok Bistro. We even managed to time it so that we enjoyed a visit from Miff, the Rotarian owner, who popped in to offer his congratulations to Thomas. We were celebrating the fact that Thomas had managed… Read more: Celebrations and Congratulations to Thomas at Bangkok Bistro

Winchester Rotary organised and hosted a District-wide golf day on Friday 17th July which was held at Chilworth Golf Club on a glorious, very warm day. The day started with a bacon butty plus tea/coffee. There followed a short briefing on the day. With 3 consecutive tee times booked, most players headed out to the… Read more: Winchester Rotary Host District Golf Day

The Community Team decided to give £112 from their budget to help the local Highcliffe Community Forum put on a Fête and Fun Day on Sunday 19th July for adults and children. This sum paid for half the cost of hiring the local pavilion at Kind Edward V playing fields. It was also decided to… Read more: Helping in the Local Community in Highcliffe Winchester

On the afternoon of Thursday, July 16th, Dave Stewart and I, along with my wife Kelsie, attended the Wonderseekers Charity “Play wild” event at the Winchester Science Centre, for the opening of their brand new outdoor areas, relating to dinosaurs and chalk streams. Opened by local MP Dr Danny Chambers and 2 young people from… Read more: Playing wild at the Science Centre

This dinner meeting was the first of President Nick Bell’s year as our club president. He thanked Past President Mark Butcher for a very successful year, culminating in a most enjoyable evening, arranged by Mark himself, marking the end of his term of office. Nick welcomed among other guests, our speaker for the evening, Sarah… Read more: Winchester Rotary Dinner Meeting Monday 13th July 2026

Earlier this month, I was very pleased to be invited to attend the AGM of Winchester’s Food and Basics Bank at the United Church. In a very comprehensive review of its activities, attendees received an update on how the charity is doing, including its finances, also hearing from guest speakers about the positive impact its… Read more: Winchester Food & Basics Bank AGM 2nd July 2026

On Saturday 27th June Move Momentum gave an afternoon concert at Winchester University to publicise their work and also to raise some much needed funds. As the Community Team are considering supporting them this coming year, I responded to their request for help. The concert was a most positive experience. The majority of their members… Read more: Move Momentum Concert

The Winchester Club, a private members club, was the venue for our celebration evening to mark the end of our President’s year of office. The evening, advertised as a bowling hour or so, (with instruction), followed by a barbecue was a departure from the usual dinner. On arrival we were presented with a very enjoyable… Read more: Winchester Rotary Celebrates President Mark Butcher’s Year of Office

On Saturday 27 June the last District Council meeting of the year took place at Mountbatten School in Romsey. Richard Spalding, and Paul and Gill Russell attended from Winchester Rotary. Retiring DG Richard Burnett gave a summary of his year, thanking his team and members across the District for the help. After the main business,… Read more: District Council and Handover – 27 June

At our Handover meeting, held at the Golden Lion Pub, Mark Butcher our outgoing President, welcomed our guest, Andy O’Hanlon, a trustee of the Winchester Poetry Festival. After dinner, in addition to reading several poems, Andy gave us a brief outline about the Winchester Poetry Festival. It is a charity which shares, showcases, celebrates poetry.… Read more: Winchester Rotary Handover Meeting 22nd June 2026

On a beautiful summer’s evening Swedish Celebrations came to The Arbour in Winchester as part of The Garden Festival. Winchester Rotary provided the Stewarding and Marshalling to this lovely family event as well as having up the gazebo to further awareness of what we do (and provide a wet weather plan!). Picnics were out, a… Read more: Swedish Midsommar Celebration – 19 June

On Midsummer day – June 21st, a group of Winchester Rotarians and their friends gathered socially in the beautiful Deane House Gardens, Sparsholt, to share a picnic and to hear an outdoor performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan amusing, satirical opera – HMS Pinafore. The opera was performed on the terrace of Deane House, overlooking… Read more: Opera in the Garden – The Garden Festival – 2026

On 1 June, a small group of Rotarians spent an interesting afternoon visiting the BOAZ Project just north of Winchester. The General Manager, Stuart Palmer, outlined the philosophy of the Project,  and that is to support, encourage and supervise adults with learning difficulties. To give the ‘members’ purpose, dignity and a sense of belonging.  A tour of… Read more: Rotary visits BOAZ

The last breakfast meeting of the current Rotary year took place on Wednesday 17 June. Following a quick round-up of club news, we welcomed our guest, Bianca Taubert – curator of the AGC museum. Bianca took us through the history of Peninsula Barracks and the site on which it stands. A site on which a… Read more: June Breakfast Meeting – with Bianca Taubert (AGC Museum Curator)

On behalf of the Winchester Rotary Youth Team, I recently organised a May day outing for Rotarians and their guests to the beautiful Elizabethan Manor, Breamore House. Built in 1583, the house today is privately owned by the 11th Baronet and his family; originally acquired in 1786 by their ancestor, Sir Edward Hulse, surgeon to… Read more: Recent Visit to Breamore House

President Mark Butcher opened our Club Assembly evening. President Elect Nick Bell then welcomed our District Governor Richard Burnett, two of our Honorary Members, Kimberley Barber, Editor of the Hampshire Chronicle, and Sam Jones, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Winchester University. Our Winchester Rotary/Winchester University Scholar, Thomas Bwambale, was also present as a guest. Guy Woods… Read more: Winchester Rotary Club Assembly – 08 June 2026

Our fundraiser for End Polio Now on 5 June at Winchester Science Centre was well-attended – and both informative and entertaining. Our local MP, Dr Danny Chambers (a veterinary surgeon) and our own Professor Kordo Saeed (Consultant Microbiologist at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust) discussed anti-microbial resistance (AMR). After a welcome from President Mark… Read more: “What we need to know about AMR” – fundraising event for End Polio Now

At our breakfast meeting on 20 May we welcomed Ellie Swire, curator and librarian at Winchester Cathedral. Ellie had been invited by Rob Carter – being a friend of the Carter family. Ellie is responsible for one of the most important projects in the history of the Cathedral. In 2012 work began on the mortuary… Read more: May breakfast meeting – with Ellie Swire, Cathedral Curator and Librarian

Winchester Rotary has been supporting Tools For Self Reliance (TFSR) for some 40 years. Based on Netley Marsh, their primary aim is to create brighter working futures by supporting people in Africa to learn a trade. We have helped TFSR in many ways, but primarily by acting as their official collector of used tools and… Read more: Winchester Rotary Continues to Support Tools For Self Reliance

On Wednesday 03 June we welcomed guests to enjoy our Cathedral Memory Tour. This followed three other tours which we provided during Dementia Action Week. On this occasion, one of our guests was aged 101 years. Full of life and conversation and still able to walk slowly – it was a privilege to meet her.… Read more: Winchester Rotary with Winchester Cathedral – Dementia Memory Tour

At this month’s informal lunch we were delighted to welcome past members Graham Topping and Colin Eames. All past and present members are welcome every first Monday of the month. No business, no formalities and no prior booking. Just turn up!

On Sunday 31st May a crowd of people gathered on the lawn outside the King Charles Pub in Kings Worthy, not to drink, (after all it was 10.00am), but in preparation for a 14K sponsored walk along part of the Watercress Way, organised by Winchester Rotary. After assembling, the group of 70 registered walkers heard… Read more: Walk The Watercress Way In Aid of Wonderseekers

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 6 years since our club first joined Lendwithcare and began supporting low-income entrepreneurs around the globe through Lend with care. In August last year, we reached our 5th Anniversary, and as you can see on the right, over the last 12 months we have provided 284 micro loans,… Read more: Another Anniversary supporting Lend with care

On Thursday, May 7th the following 5 members returned to the Hinton Ampner estate, not to plant trees this time, but to mulch them and as a result protect them from drying out, being attacked by little critters, etc: Working alongside a team of regular National Trust volunteers, we managed to mulch at least 1,000… Read more: Mulching fun in the sun

TFSR has recently received another consignment of donated sewing machines and tools. The accompanying photograph shows them being delivered to the Netley Marsh workshops. The load included one or two almost new electric saws which will probably be sold locally to raise funds to help with the cost of sending the refurbished tools and sewing… Read more: Recent Gifts for Tools for Self Reliance – TFSR

Our hosts this year for the annual Tripartite Weekend was the Rotary Club of Oberhausen Antony-Hûtte. On arrival at the very pleasant Hotel Melia in the centre of Aachen, we were welcomed by President Thomas Merz. Immediately we were among so many German and French friends, all of whom welcomed us with smiles and hugs… Read more: Tripartite Weekend 24 – 26 April 2026

Winchester is fast becoming known as a city of festivals – and at our most recent breakfast meetings we heard about two. Sian Searles joined us in March – she is one of the founders and organisers of the Winchester Books Festival. As a result of her talk, several members were encouraged to attend some… Read more: March and April Breakfast Meetings

This was the fourth visit made by Winchester Rotary to Kasese, Uganda to share and develop the Projects we have with Great Lakes Peace Centre (GLPC) and Kasese Rotary Snow Peaks, which started in 2019 with a visit by myself and Rtn Luke Addison to their second Peace Conference. I visited for the next three… Read more: Uganda revisited

Thursday 16 April was another hardworking day at the Market Garden Project at Lockerley – a group of asylum seekers are driven from St Peter’s Church in Jewry Street either by minibus or by volunteer Rotarian drivers to the organic smallholding just fifteen miles from Winchester. The project which started in February is designed to… Read more: Hampshire Market Garden Project

President Mark Butcher welcomed many guests to our dinner meeting. They were President Elect Chris Cox from the Rotary Club of Canterbury – Forest of Blean, and his wife Pamela, Brian Collins and his wife Brigitte. There were eight other visitors who came to hear our speaker, Winchester Rotarian JJ Heath Caldwell’s presentation entitled “What… Read more: Dinner Meeting Monday 13 April 2026

Winchester Rotary have completed their initial pilot project of providing bird nesting box kits to local primary schools.  It is planned to extend the offer to provide kits to Primary Schools across the city later this year.  East Brothers Timber in West Dean (eastbros.co.uk) kindly donated native green oak for the kits. The nesting box… Read more: Bird Box Project

All Rotarians in Great Britain and Ireland (RotaryGBI) have recently received an email from RotaryGBI detailing their response to the UK Government’s decision to withdraw, after 2026,  direct funding to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). To say that this is disappointing is something of an understatement – GPEI and its partners (of which Rotary… Read more: End Polio funding and club fundraiser

This year for the first time Winchester Rotary held the annual Senior Citizens Tea Party at Weeke Community Centre. Our President Mark Butcher, together with our community team and other members, welcomed 70 guests including their carers. Each table of 8 people was looked after by a table host. It is always a pleasure and… Read more: Senior Citizens Tea Party Saturday 21st March 2026

We were delighted once again to welcome past member Colin Eames to the informal lunch at the King Charles. With limited mobility,  this monthly gathering has become an important occasion for him as a chance to catch up with old friends. All members past and present are welcome to join us on the first Monday… Read more: Informal Lunch – 2 March 2026

Our guest speaker in March was Campbell Williams of Winchester City Council, who had come to tell us about waste management in our area. He explained the rollout of the upcoming food waste collections – which have already begun for businesses and which be fully implemented for private households by 1 April. Many in the… Read more: Dinner Meeting – Monday 9 March 2026

An informative and enjoyable evening with our friends at the Winchester Muslim Cultural Association (WMCA), particiapting in their breaking of the fast during Ramadan, known as Iftar. On Sunday, 8th March 2026, 5 of our members and two spouses, along with numerous other guests including the Mayor of Winchester (Sudhakar Achwal) and the leader of… Read more: Winchester Muslim Cultural Association Iftar dinner

What a terrific turn out for Winchester Rotary’s last tree planting session of the season on Friday 6 March, in the far flung fields belonging to the National Trust at Hinton Ampner. Our local MP Danny Chambers, the Mayor of Winchester Cllr Sudhakar Achwal, our District Governor Richard Burnett, City councillor Kelsie Learney and City and… Read more: Final tree planting session at Hinton Ampner

Once again, the iconic statue of King Alfred in the city centre is surrounded by purple crocuses. Planted on World Polio Day in October (with Winchester’s MP Dr Danny Chambers joining us), they flowered on World Polio Day in February – and haven’t quite finished yet! They have been spotted and commented on by visitors… Read more: End Polio crocuses flowering around King Alfred

On Tuesday 3 March Winchester Cathedral hosted an Iftar meal organised by the Dialogue Society and attended by a number of Rotarians – past and present. Present were Kordo Saeed, Miff Kayum and myself as current Rotarians, Roly Riem (Honorary Rotarian) and Graham Topping and Keith Woodward as past Rotarians – apologies to any missed… Read more: Winchester Cathedral and Dialogue Society Iftar meal and commemoration

Graham and I had the good fortune to connect with Jane Walker of the Philippines Community Trust when in Manila last month and receive a guided tour of all the Projects in which she is involved. This was particularly poignant for me as Jane was my first Speaker at  Rotary dinner when I was President… Read more: A personal visit to Rotary in Action in The Philippines

Having met the Mayor, Cllr Achwal, briefly when they attended the ringing in of the New Year at the Cathedral, Rotaractors Thomas Bwambale and Adil Saad were invited by him to visit his official residence, Abbey House. The city of Winchester received its charter from King Henry II in 1155 and it is second only… Read more: Rotaractors visit Abbey House

A largely informal 4th Monday dinner, where we were joined by Mark Bulwicz (pronounced Bull-wits), an American Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary), Dublin, Ireland, and his wife Geraldine. They had just returned from a cruise to the Canaries on the Queen Victoria. Mark had visited the UK many times… Read more: Hi-vis and visitors from afar

Winchester Rotarians Tony Catesby and Colin Cook are pictured collecting two car loads of biscuits donated from the warehouse of Silver Crane in Poole. Wessex Rotary have a long relationship with the firm who provide warehousing facilities for the collection and dispatch of Christmas shoeboxes to children in Eastern Europe. Last year, with their help,… Read more: Bonanza for the Basics Bank

February’s Breakfast speaker was Jon Ryan, Director of Works at Winchester Cathedral. Jon recounted that after a year with a City insurance firm in London, following completion of a business studies degree, City life was not for him. Instead, he started at the bottom of the ladder in the construction industry, but it was not… Read more: Breakfast Meeting Wednesday 18th February 2026

Well it didn’t rain. This new Rotary project went into action today, led by Nick as chair of the community team( and who is currently  out of the UK) in conjunction with the hub at St Peter’s church when three Rotarians Julian, Robert and Luke drove local asylum seekers to the Hampshire Market Garden at… Read more: Hampshire Market Garden Project

On a rare sunny in Mid-February 2026, 30 teams met to do battle over the now traditional pancake race course in front of Winchester Cathedral. Starting at 7:30am, members of the Rotary team along with folks from Winchester City Council were in place to start putting everything in place, including the fencing, gazebos, etc. As… Read more: Flippin’ marvellous day out at the pancake races

Since 2024 Winchester Rotary Club has been running a project to plant Elm trees resistant to Dutch Elm Disease. The focus is on schools and public places in the Winchester area. We have now planted over 150 Elm trees in 15 locations as part of a broader scientific trial to test the disease resistance of… Read more: Elm planting project reaches 3 year milestone

On Wednesday 11th February 2026 we welcomed our guests to Winchester Cathedral for another Dementia Friendly Memory Tour – there have been several recently and more are planned over the coming months. Quite often one or more of our guests has in the past been closely connected with the cathedral. Today was no exception. One… Read more: Winchester Rotary Dementia Friendly Cathedral Memory Tours

Our President Mark Butcher welcomed our guest speaker, Alister Veitch, Head of Business Development at Acorn Bioenergy. He has been a key figure during the launch and development of the Three Maids biomethane facility in Winchester, built by Acorn in early August 2025. He gave us a most interesting update concerning the new anaerobic digester… Read more: Dinner Meeting Monday 09 February 2026

On a very murky, though thankfully rain free Sunday in February, a team of 24 intrepid individuals, including a team from Denplan braved the quagmire of the Hinton Ampner estate, to plant 900 trees! We literally ran out of stakes and guards to be able to plant any more. As usual, we were supported by… Read more: Hinton Ampner tree planting beats last year’s total!

On Friday 30th January Nick Bell threw a party at Weeke Community Centre to celebrate the fact that he had been in Winchester Rotary for 40 Years. It was an informal and fun evening and was attended by our present District Governor Richard Burnett and his wife, Sue; Immediate Past District Governor Debbie and her… Read more: Nick Bell celebrates 40 years in Winchester Rotary!

We were joined at our first breakfast meeting of 2026 by Peter Hurley, Assistant Headteacher at The Westgate School. The school is Hampshire’s first 4-16 “All-Through” School. During the club “round-up” – including the Shrove Tuesday pancake races and the upcoming celebration of Nick Bell’s 40 years in Rotary, we were reminded that Shrove Tuesday… Read more: Breakfast meeting – 21 January 2026

At our first dinner meeting of 2026, President Mark Butcher, welcomed our guest District Governor Richard Burnett. The reason for Richard’s visit was to present a certficate to President Mark, in recognition that once again Winchester Rotary is in the top ten group of clubs in District 1110 for contributions to End Polio Now. DG… Read more: Dinner Meeting Monday 12th January 2026

On January 14th, our team of 26 volunteers, 17 of whom were non-Rotarians ventured out to the Hinton Ampner estate, to continue with our tree planting effortsin collaboration with the National Trust. Our number was bolstered with the 2 National Trust Rangers (Steph and Casper) and three of their volunteers, who showed us the new… Read more: 1,000+ trees planted in a single day. Tremendous!

 In 2021 the River Nyamwamba  which runs through Kasese in Uganda, burst its banks totally destroying over 200 homes. The families affected were given land by the Council on which they had to build their own temporary huts on the basis they were promised more permanent accomodation at some time in the future. They are… Read more: Christmas Meal at Displacement Camp, Kasese

On Monday, December 15th 39 of us, including Thomas from Rotaract gathered at the Wessex Hotel for our Christmas Party. There was certainly a lively atmosphere in the room, and from what I could see, the food and drink seemed to go down very well.  It was a great test for my new hearing aids! … Read more: Christmas party

It was Sunday, 14th December, and the weather was ideal for planting trees, not too cold, light winds, patchy periods of sun and, for a change, dry. A team of 20 people assembled for the first Rotary tree planting session of the season. The place, a very muddy farmyard in front of a barn housing… Read more: First tree planting session at Hinton Ampner this winter

For a second year Winchester Rotary’s Reverse Santa project again provided gifts for less fortunate children and families in the Winchester District. Children and parents were invited to donate gifts to Santa, with the result that almost 400 toys and other gifts were collected! These have been delivered to Winchester Basics Bank, who will arrange… Read more: Reverse Santa ends with almost 400 gifts collected!

As has become something of a tradition, our final breakfast meeting of the calendar year is an informal and lighthearted event. This year it took place on 10 December. As always, our Chair, Rob Carter had provided the ever-popular Christmas quiz. Let’s just say that the questions vary in their difficulty! Once again, Colin Cook’s… Read more: Christmas Breakfast Meeting

On Thursday 11 December, at the invitation of former Rotarian Geoff Cox, a small team of members of our club were on ‘duty’ to look after the audience at the Winchester City Festival Choir’s Christmas Concert at St Paul’s Church. So Ian and Chris Valentine, Mike Billington, Ian White and myself welcomed the audience of… Read more: Rotary volunteer stewards at Christmas concert

Winchester Rotary’s Environment Team are embarking on an exciting new project to support local schools to install nesting boxes for local wildlife. Beginning with bird nesting boxes we plan to expand to include bat boxes and hedgehog boxes in the future. Local timber saw mill East Brothers (www.eastbro.co.uk) have partnered with us, providing green oak… Read more: Nest Box Project

Derek gave us his life story at our SGM meeting held at the Golden Lion Pub Winchester. He was born in Frankfurt. Shortly after his birth his family moved back to Munich where they lived for 6 years. He went to kindergarten; German was his first language. In 1968 the family moved to Israel for… Read more: Derek O’Neill’s Life Story – 24th November 2025

Things didn’t start well this month – sadly our booked speaker, Beth Flint (City of Sanctuary) had to cancel at short notice, due to family illness. But she hopes to join us early next year. However, Paul and I recalled our extremely interesting visit to the Royal Logistics Corps Museum at Worthy Down a few… Read more: Breakfast Meeting – Wednesday 19 November

At our meeting on Monday 10 November, we were delighted to welcome as our guest speakers, Rangers Casper Rocher and Sophie Bradfield from the National Trust Hinton Ampner Estate. Both known to us from our 2024-25 tree planting sessions. Casper and Sophie told us more about the Trust’s plans for the estate. In 2021, following… Read more: Club Meeting – 10 November “Reimagining a Hampshire Estate”

A total of 53 members of the Winchester Rotary and friends and family volunteered and attended the Winchester Roundtable Fireworks Display on Saturday evening, 8 November 2025.   It was another successful evening. This annual event, with traditional torchlight procession through Winchester to the River Park Recreation Ground and the bonfire and impressive firework display… Read more: Fireworks 2025!

Following the devastating category 4 Hurricane Beryl, Winchester Rotary donated approximately £1,500 in December 2024 to help refurbish a senior citizens care home on the small island of Carriacou, part of Grenada. A 2 Phase recovery initiative was launched. Phase 1 prioritised urgent structural repairs to the roof, doors, windows and electrical systems to the… Read more: Carriacou Senior Citizens Care Home Re-opened

Pitting themselves against the elements, 7 hardy members of Winchester Rotary ensured that the Winchester Christmas Lights switch-on went without a hitch. With our experienced leader Paul to guide us, Tony, Ian, Peter, Derek, David and I had the role of ensuring that acts were delivered from the green room in the Guildhall to backstage,… Read more: Switching-on the Christmas lights

As club President, I had the pleasure of attending the first of the Ginkgo trees in Winchester, as part of the Mayors for Peace initiative. My fellow Rotarian, Luke Addision was also present, representing PeaceJam UK. The City of Winchester joined the Mayors for Peace network in 2019, at which time both Winchester Rotary and… Read more: Mayors for Peace – Planting of the first Ginkgo tree

As is customary, I had the honour of laying a wreath on behalf of the club at the Winchester Cathedral Remembrance service on Sunday, November 9th. Some addtional photos here.

This week we welcomed 4 guests from Abbots Barton Care Home, together with 2 carers. All of our guests were living with the early stages of Dementia so were able to enjoy the guided tour within the beauty and tranquility of Winchester Cathedral. Pam Meir, our cathedral guide, took our guests into the Quire to… Read more: Dementia Friendly Cathedral Tour 5th November 2025

In an attempt to create something that can help to extend our reach beyond our standard audience, with information that is both timely and engaging, our Communications and Marketing team has delivered the first quarterly newsletter, covering July thru September 2025. The newsletter is intended to be sent out via email, as it deliberately includes… Read more: Introducing the new quarterly newsletter

A good attendance for our “4th Monday” October meeting, at our regular venue, The Golden Lion pub on Alresford Road. We were pleased to welcome President Mark Butcher back from his well-earned break following the District Conference. There were a few club announcements: a visit to Wonderseekers by Ian White and Dave Stewart who were… Read more: Informal Meeting at The Golden Lion – 27 October

For two hours, last Thursday 23rd, Dave Stewart and I became Wonderseekers. The new name, since 2022, for the registered charity at the Science Centre at Morn Hill. We had the honour of representing Rotary to present the Charity with a cheque for £6,500 for the timber hide they have purchased and which is now… Read more: Wonderseekers open evening

With thanks to Winchester City Council, we have again been planting purple crocuses for World Polio Day in the centre of our city. This year we were delighted to receive enquiries from passers-by about the project and Rotary in general. The King Alfred statue will, we hope, be surrounded by crocuses in the spring. The… Read more: Crocus planting for World Polio Day

Winchester Rotary is on target to add 700 Christmas shoeboxes again to the annual Wessex Rotary Shoebox appeal. With contributions from 8 primary schools and 2 playgroups as well as individual donors, churches and other organisations, Rotary provides the boxes to be filled with age related presents, educational and hygiene items for disadvantaged children in… Read more: Shoebox preparation……

On Wednesday 22 October, our breakfast guest was Anna O’Brien of Winchester Radio. Anna is a former member of Winchester Rotary, and we were delighted to welcome her. Particularly as we have recently embarked on a new project – a monthly podcast on our activities, broadcast by Winchester Radio. Anna took us through the history… Read more: October Breakfast – Anna O’Brien (Winchester Radio)

Is now available at a screen near you!

TFSR, a charity founded in 1980 from modest beginnings, today equips people across sub-Saharan Africa with vocational training, start-up support and refurbished toolkits to enable them to build sustainable livelihoods. Winchester Rotary has been supporting TFSR for over 34 years. On Friday, 10th October we were invited to attend two 45th birthday anniversary events. In… Read more: Tools For Self Reliance TFSR – 45 Years On

This week we welcomed guests from Dementia Friendly Alton. A husband and wife came on the bus and a 90 year old lady came with a volunteer from Dementia Friendly Alton. Our guests were living with the earlier stages of Dementia so were able to participate and enjoy the tour. Pam Meir, a cathedral volunteer… Read more: Winchester Rotary Dementia Friendly Cathedral Tour 15th October 2025

Rotarian Nick Bell, standing in for President Mark Butcher, welcomed our guests for the evening – Eileen Berry, past Mayor of Winchester, (2014-2015), and Zahra Scott-Gunnlaughson representing Youth Options (our charity for the last Rotary year 2024-25). Zahra had travelled from London to speak to us about the work that Youth Options provides for disadvantaged… Read more: Winchester Rotary Dinner Meeting Monday 13 October 2025

This year District Governor Richard Burnett welcomed participants to the conference. Friday 10th October saw the evening opening of the conference. This offered an opportunity for old friends to meet and new friendships to be made. Everyone enjoyed drinks in the bar followed by a buffet dinner and an entertainment. Saturday 11th October began with… Read more: Rotary District 1110 Conference 10th to 12th October 2025

At the start of Clarendon Marathon weekend 2025, we welcomed Storm Amy to our shores, with local winds in excess of 50mph. It made the lives of our course setup teams across the 26 miles somewhat difficult, having to try and secure signs so that they would still be in position 24 hours later. As… Read more: Storms and Sunshine – The Clarendon Marathon

On the 5th Monday in September 2025, a number of members, plus a guest from Winchester Round Table enjoyed a fun evening at the Willow Tree pub in Winchester. Situated opposite Trinity Winchester and the very handy Durngate carpark, the Willow Tree is now managed by the same people, who run the Queen Inn, down… Read more: A fun evening at the Willow Tree

Following-on from our success at the previous week’s Winchester Green Fair, 6 of our members: Caroline Rubin, Dominic Hiscock, Les Haswell, Dave Stewart, Colin Cook and Mark Butcher formed a rota to run a stand at the inaugural Olivers Battery Environment Fayre, on Saturday 27th September. Held on the battery itself, the event was split… Read more: More progress at the Olivers Battery Environment Fayre

As always our informal social evening held at the Golden Lion Pub was lively and filled with friendship and laughter. Our new Firework Night coordinator, Crispin Tomlinson, introduced Jamie from Round Table (the organisers) who encouraged volunteers from Rotary – a great tradition and one which our members always rise to! Our speaker for the… Read more: Informal Dinner Evening at The Golden Lion Monday 22nd September 2025

On Saturday, 20th September, 8 of our members manned a stall at the Winchester Green Fair, held at the Cathedral Pavilion, which is secreted away behind the refectory. The space consists of a permanent marquee and a lovely, though compact garden area, with a great view back to the Cathedral. Things began with Colin Cook,… Read more: A great day at the Winchester Green Fair

On Friday 19 September, last year’s President Paul Russell, together with a number of other club members – including current President Mark Butcher, visited the “Friday Night Football” at Henry Beaufort School, arranged by Winchester Street Reach/Youth Options, which was our charity for the 2024-25 Rotary year. The Rotary group was there to present a… Read more: Presentation to Winchester Street Reach/Youth Options – 2024-25 fundraising

At another well-attended breakfast meeting on 17 September, we were delighted to welcome as speaker, one of our Honorary Members – Kimberley Barber, Editor of the Hampshire Chronicle. Also with us were Julie Blackwell and Eleanor Bell, members of Soroptimist International (Winchester and District). A brief update on club events – the Shoebox Appeal (again… Read more: September Breakfast – Kimberley Barber (Editor, Hampshire Chronicle)