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Rotary International in Devon District 1170 UK

Devon District 1170 came into existence on 1st July 1991, with 46 Clubs. Currently the District has 50 clubs. In July 2015 this District will amalgamate with the Cornwall District 1290 and will be renamed District 1175. The first District Governor for the joint Districts will be Rotarian Brian Stoyel. Rotary International Rotary starting in America in 1905, became international in 1910 and now has 1.3 million members in more than 200 countries and geographic regions. In 1985 Rotary International made the Eradication of Polio its top priority worldwide. It has been responsible for the vaccination of over 2 billion children, and as a direct result, the global number of cases annually has fallen from 350,000 to well under a thousand, and there are now only four endemic countries. R.I.B.I. is divided into twenty nine districts, with The Rotary Club of Totnes belonging to District 1170. Each district has a Governor, and each club a President, both being democratically elected annually by members. The Rotary Club of Totnes has 49 active members, both men and women, who come from all walks of life. Rotary’s Motto is: SERVICE ABOVE SELF Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (R.I.B.I.) District 1170 came into being in 1991. Prior to this, Clubs in this new District had been classified under four different headings - 4th DISTRICT, DISTRICT 10, NUMBER 17, and DISTRICT 117.

The earliest document retained in the District records is a Report of the Council of the 4th District for the year ended 31st May 1921. This states that a full meeting of the Council had not taken place, but the administrative work had been done by correspondence between the District Chairman, from Bristol and the District Secretary, from Gloucester. There were Clubs at Bristol (1917), Gloucester (1920), Torquay (1920), Bath (1921), Cheltenham (1921), Plymouth (1921), and Stroud (1921). The governing body for the British Isles was The British Association of Rotary Clubs.

The next earliest record is the minutes of a District Council Meeting of the 4th District in October 1922. Clubs now existed at Exeter (1922), Falmouth (1922), Newton Abbot (1922), St Austell (1922), Truro (1922), Weston-super-Mare (1922) and Yeovil (1922).

In 1923, the governing body was re-named Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland, and the area of the districts was revised. The 4th District was divided, and District 10 was born, comprising the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire and Somerset. During the rest of the 1920s, Clubs were formed at Barnstaple (1924), Paignton (1924), Bideford (1925), Exmouth (1925), Ilfracombe (1926) and Teignmouth (1926). Clubs at, Kingsbridge and Totnes also existed, but these later became defunct and were reformed in later years.

A proposal to open a Rotary Boys House at Weston-super-Mare was made at District level in February 1923. By May, this large house in South Road had been purchased by money raised by the Clubs of District 10, and opened for holidays for socially disadvantaged children aged between 9 and 14 from Bristol and the Midlands. A per capita levy of 2/6d was made from each Rotarian member of the District. The House was a splendid example of service to the community, and continued until 1976, when inflation, social changes and legislation, and the need for extensive repairs made it impossible to continue. In all, almost 30,000 boys benefited from holidays from the scheme. The proceeds from the sale of the House are now held by the Rotary Holidays for Children Trust, administered by one Trustee from each of the original participating Districts (now known as 1060, 1100, 1170, 1200, 1210 and 1290).

On 1st July 1928, District 17 was formed, comprising the counties of Devon and Cornwall, with 18 Clubs. A Chairman's badge was presented by the Plymouth Club to mark the fact that the first Chairman of the new District was from their Club. This badge remained in use until 1948, being replaced by one presented to District by St Ives. In 1929, it was decided to elect two Vice-Chairmen annually one from Devon, the other from Cornwall. Badges for use by these two Vice-Chairmen were presented by Torquay in 1936. P.H.W. Almy from Torquay was elected District Chairman in 1929, and became President of R.I.B.I. in 1938-1939.

The first District Magazine was issued in 1945 and was a quarterly publication.

In 1950, it was agreed to elect annually three District Vice-Chairmen instead of two, and for ease of administration throughout the large geographical spread of Clubs, the District was divided into four areas.

The following year, District Council agreed to cede the parish of Uplyme, which is within the county of Devon, to the area of the Lyme Regis Club in District 12.

In July 1957, the District was re-numbered as District 117, and a Blue District Year Book appeared for the first time in 1959. The District celebrated the 50th Anniversary of R.I.B.I. in 1961, with well attended Services of Thanksgiving in Exeter Cathedral, St Andrews Church in Plymouth and Truro Cathedral. Half of the offerings from the three Services was given to the Rotary Boys House in Weston-super-Mare.

District commenced its support of the Ranfurly Library Scheme in 1967, a scheme supported by innumerable Clubs over the ensuing years, as well as Inner Wheel, which organised the collection of used spectacles for transport to Third World countries. Also in 1967, The District Chairman was re-named District Governor, and a working relationship was formed with the Past Rotarians Association, forming several Clubs in the District. Arthur Newcombe from Newton Abbot, and President of RIBI in 1982-1983, designed a bell and stand for the District. The Bell was provided by David Haggett from Plymouth.

The demand for re-districting of 117 was a major item within the District Governor year of John Denman, Exeter West, and many meetings were held. On 1st July 1989, District 117 was divided into two, creating District 129 to comprise the Clubs in Cornwall plus the Clubs of Drake Plymouth, Plymouth, Plympton, Roborough, Saltham and Tavistock. Ten Clubs from District 120 joined the new 117. Axminster, Cullompton, Culm Vale, Exe Valley, Exmoor, Honiton, Otter Valley, Seaton, Sidmouth and Tiverton. Name Bars on the D.G.'s chain of office were allocated appropriately to each District for attachment to the two new chains of office and the existing D.G.'s Jewel was forwarded to the St. Ives Club, the original donor.

During 1990, a number of British business men were taken hostage in Iraq, and held in Baghdad. Among them was Okehampton's Vice-President John Rattenbury who was teaching Arabs how to grow grass without soil. After several months of correspondence and negotiation by D.G. Roy Wood, the R.I. Office in Zurich and King Hussein of Jordan (an Honorary Rotarian and PHF), the hostages were released.

1st July 1991 saw the renumbering of District 117 to DISTRICT 1170, with 46 Clubs. '''www.rotary1170.org ''' That same day saw Districts first Young Inventor of the Year Competition, held at the University of Exeter, master-minded by D.V.C. Conrad Edwards, and attracting 23 entries. There were over 1,500 visitors to the Exhibition.

1991 also saw the agreement by District Council that in future the annual sub paid by all District members would incorporate a Conference component.

The District Conference of 1991 was the first to be run on this basis, with a £3 levy. Sufficient numbers attending the 1992 RIBI Conference in Glasgow warranted the chartering of a District Coach, which enabled members to tour adjacent areas as an addition to attending Conference sessions. This was so successful, that PDG Eric Watts organised a District Fellowship Exchange visit to the U.S.A., to attend the R.I. Convention in Orlando, Florida in June 1992. Eight couples participated (from Bideford, Exmouth, Exeter, Kingsbridge, South Molton and Tiverton). They visited Rotarians in Arkansas City, Dodge City, Wichita in Kansas, Columbia and Charleston in South Carolina, as well as other stays in Georgia and Florida.

A Pre Presidents Elect Training Seminar was initiated in 1170 by D.G. Geoffrey Joyce. Held in January 1992, the event was the custom in District 1200, to which the D.G. has previously belonged, and its purpose was purely social, enabling incoming Club Presidents and their partners to meet one another. Rotary business was reserved for the P.E.T.S. scheduled for later. There were now 49 Clubs in District.

By 1994, an East European Students programme had become firmly established. In association with the University of Exeter, two to four students from Eastern Europe attended the English Language Centre in each of the three summer months. The purpose was to increase their command and knowledge of the English language and culture.

In 1995, RIBI President Bill Huntley challenged every Club to participate in a Rotary World Window Week for one week during February, to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of Rotary. In 1170, of the Clubs who participated, Babbacombe and St Marychurch was judged to have the best window display, with Sidmouth coming a very close second. A Commemorative Service at Exeter cathedral was also arranged, and nearly 400 Rotarians. Rotaractors, Inner Wheel members and Past Rotarians with their friends and families attended.

A regular fortnightly spot on the Gemini Radio was secured on Friday afternoons, through the initiative of PDG Peter Adams, enabling Clubs to advertise forthcoming events and also to promote Rotary membership.

Organised by the Torrington Club, and supported by the Clubs of Braunton, Exe Valley, Holsworthy, South Molton, Barnstaple, Barnstaple Link and Seaton, twelve Latvian farmers spent three months in 1170 gaining practical hands-on experience of basic farming techniques.

A District coach took a full load of passengers for a week to the R.I. Convention held in Glasgow in 1997 and trips to neighbouring places of interest were included.

Also in 1997 DG Adrian Lunnon was the first 1170 DG to take Conference out of District to Weston-super-Mare. ROTARY CLUB OF TOTNES Totnes received its Charter in 1958 and has been active ever since. Its 43 members meet on two Monday evenings a month at The Royal Seven Stars Hotel. Club projects include collecting monetary donations from members of the public, particularly in support of the Rotary ShelterBox in times of natural disaster, assisting in local school programmes, running fundraising events such as the Dragon Boat Festival and Duck Race, helping with the Totnes Carnival and Totnes Show, taking part in many of Rotary's varied youth programmes and planning our own social events. You may have seen club members collecting for ShelterBoxes for the Haiti Earthquake disaster or the Indonesian Sunami in 2004.

Since 1958 The Rotary Club of Totnes has collected and donated more than a quarter of a million pounds to various charities, with the source of the donations coming mainly from the citizens of Totnes.

Club activities involve all members of the Club who enjoy the close fellowship of working together, and have a great deal of fun!

The three Service Committees are: 1. Community and Vocational Service Committee: runs the Christmas Sleigh and deals with local charities, including C.R.Y.; Rowcroft Hospice; Totnes Space Working Group; Helping the Aged; Transport for the Disabled; Totnes Carnival, etc

2. New Generations Committee: promotes and organises competition events for young people such as Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), Rotary Young Chef, Rotary Youth Speaks, Rotary Young Technologist etc., as well as supporting and sponsoring Primary School programmes.

3. International/Foundation Committee is involved with financial aid to areas where natural disasters have occurred. This Committee also offers aid to countries suffering from life-threatening diseases or where famine and lack of clean water is evident. This club has a record of providing ShelterBoxes as well as a sustainable food and water project in Zimbabwe, and water storage tanks for a school in Uganda. The Rotary Foundation is Rotary's own charity and provides funding for educational and humanitarian programmes at home and overseas. This is only a snap shot of the activities that The Rotary Club of Totnes is involved in. Weather permitting, we arrange BBQ’s and hold a Christmas party as well as occasional informal walks and visits to places of interest.

Why not find out more about our activities by contacting us on our website, www.totnesrotary.co.uk

A warm welcome awaits you.