About Rotary

Here is a little bit of information about Rotary. Every Rotary club can trace its connections back to the Rotary International organisation. Riccarton is one of several clubs in the Christchurch area. The New Zealand clubs are grouped into districts and there are several districts in the country (all countries have one or more districts). Riccarton is affiliated to district 9970. Districts are further grouped into Regions, and then to Rotary International, based in the USA. There are now more than 31,000 Rotary clubs in over 160 countries.
 
Rotary is...
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders (men and women) united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world. 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 programmes for youth, educational opportunities and international exchanges for students, teachers, and other professionals, and vocational and career development.
Rotarians meet weekly for fellowship and interesting and informative programmes dealing with topics of local and global importance. Membership reflects a wide cross-section of the community's business and professional men and women.

Rotary Club of Riccarton
The Rotary Club of Riccarton was founded in 1953. Now, over 50 years later, it has about 90 members, men and women, making it one of the biggest clubs in the Christchurch area. The club meets each Monday lunchtime at the Chateau on the Park, corner of Kilmarnock Street and Deans Avenue.
The Rotary Club of Riccarton is one of the 32,000 affiliated but autonomous clubs in 207 countries which make up Rotary International. There are 1,220,000 Rotarians worldwide.
Each year the Club distributes about $120,000 to worthy causes in the community.
Diversity in Membership
Rotary ensures that a club’s membership represents a variety of the community’s professional men and women, including leaders in business, industry, the arts, government, sports, the military, and religion. Rotary clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.
Becoming a Rotarian
An important distinction between Rotary and other organisations is that membership in Rotary is by invitation. Rotary clubs invite individuals to join and become members. Prospective members must:
  • Hold, or be retired from, a professional, proprietary, executive, or managerial position.
  • Have the capacity to meet the club's weekly attendance or community project participation requirements.
  • Live or work within the locality of the club or the surrounding area.
 
Often an individual considered for membership is invited by a member to attend one or more club meetings to learn more about Rotary, The sponsoring member may then submit the name of the candidate to the club's membership committee. If you are interested in becoming a Rotarian, in the first instance please use the form on the Contact Us page which will send us an email with your details. Someone will then contact you.