Rotary is an organisation of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 160 countries worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 30,000 Rotary clubs.

Rotary club membership represents a cross-section of the community's business and professional men and women. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.

The main objective of Rotary is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment, illiteracy, and violence. They also support programs for youth, educational opportunities and international exchanges for students, teachers, and other professionals, and vocational and career development. The Rotary motto is Service Above Self.

Although Rotary clubs develop autonomous service programs, all Rotarians worldwide are united in a campaign for the global eradication of polio. In the 1980s, Rotarians raised £170 million to immunise the children of the world; by 2005, Rotary's centenary year and the target date for the certification of a polio-free world, the PolioPlus program will have contributed £350 million to this cause. In addition, Rotary has provided an army of volunteers to promote and assist at national immunisation days in polio-endemic countries around the world.

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is a not-for-profit corporation that promotes world understanding through international humanitarian service programs and educational and cultural exchanges. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and others who share its vision of a better world. Since 1947, the Foundation has awarded more than £750 million in humanitarian and educational grants, which are initiated and administered by local Rotary clubs and districts.

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Information for Prospective Members

Rotarians are business and professional leaders who take an active role in their communities while greatly enriching their personal and professional lives. A Rotary club contains a diverse group of professional leaders from the community that the club serves.

Membership in a Rotary club offers a number of benefits, including:

• effecting change within the community
• advancing business and professional contacts
• developing leadership skills
• gaining an understanding of — and having an impact on — international humanitarian issues

Through Rotary International's service programs, a Rotary club can have a significant effect on the quality of life in its community. Rotary Foundation programs offer opportunities to form international partnerships that help people in need worldwide. Some 1.2 million Rotarians in 30,000 clubs in more than 160 countries make significant contributions to the quality of life at home and around the globe.

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type	description	size
	This is Rotary Eight-sided brochure that offers a succinct and colourful description of Rotary's work	188 K
	20 Answers to the Question "Why Join Rotary?"	12 K
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