Club News

Rotary clubs help to plant millions of purple crocuses every year to raise awareness of their efforts to End Polio Now.

Faversham Rotary has supported this campaign for several years and thousands of purple crocus have been planted in and around Faversham, including at the Recreation Ground.

This year the Club will be at Faversham Town Hall, 12 Market Place on Tuesday 19th, Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd October to promote the End Polio Now campaign.

Purple crocus corms will be available, ready for planting in the next week or two. Donations for the corms will be sent to End Polio Now.

Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal disease which Rotary and it’s partners have been working hard to eradicate since 1985. Then it was endemic in 125 countries, now it is just two, Pakistan & Afghanistan. Although there are relatively few cases each year, over 400million children worldwide still need doses of polio vaccine to prevent the return of this crippling disease. 

When a child receives their life-saving polio drops on mass immunisation days, their little finger is painted with purple dye so it is clear that they have received their polio vaccine, hence Purple4Polio.

Every £1 raised is matched with £2 from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Please Make a Donation if you would like to contribute to this worthwhile cause.

We sadly lost our Immediate Past President Michael on the 10th September after a short illness. Michael was an enthusiastic and energetic Club President who unfortunately, due to the COVID restrictions, never had the opportunity to preside over a face to face meeting, having to rely on Zoom meetings all year.

Michael was passionate about many causes and through his leadership during COVID the Club was galvanised in raising funds to support good causes in Faversham. He was also an ardent supporter of international causes, and it is in his honour that all donations in his memory will be devoted to the purchase of a Literacy Box for a primary school in Zambia.

New Rotary Year – New President

The Rotary Year starts on 1st July and that’s the date when new Club Presidents take office.
Faversham Rotary Club’s President for the new year will be Dave Darby, taking over from Michael Hoey, who has lead the Club during a particularly challenging year. 
Michael has the unique distinction of not holding a single face-to-face meeting with club members during his year as President, but that hasn’t stopped the Club from making a positive difference in Faversham.

Michael says, "I am proud of what the club has achieved in the past year. We supported local charities and helped local schools and St Vincent de Paul get support to families in difficulties. Our on-line Christmas stories also attracted thousands of views at a time when spirits were low. Dave is taking over a vibrant club and will make it an even more vibrant club in the year to come."

Incoming President Dave says, “It’s a great honour to be asked to be President for the forthcoming year. Faversham Rotary have for over 70 years been supporting local causes. During the pandemic, under Michael’s excellent leadership it has been no different, including providing Marshalls for the vaccine roll-out.”

Dave adds “I would encourage anybody who is likeminded in wanting to make a difference to check out our website