Axbridge District Rotary

About Us

The Club’s History

Back in May 2018, several ex. Rotary Club members and acquaintances got together and held a meeting in a pub in Axbridge to talk about forming a new Rotary Club. Over the next few months regular meeting were held to discuss further as to what it should be along with the possible setup/format. During this time discussions were held with several local Rotary Clubs for feedback about the supporting of a new Rotary Club, by way of a satellite Club in the first instance.

Burnham-on-Sea Rotary Club stepped up and supported the project (which Axbridge District Rotary are very grateful for) leading to a satellite Club being established in October 2018.

The Axbridge District Rotary (ADR) project was then a go!

Over the next 18 months, the ADR project worked on community projects and held fundraising events to generate much needed monies for several local charities.

But 2020 saw the ‘global issue’ start and continue for the next couple of years. This may have stalled the ADR project, however during this period the ADR group continued to meet (the wonders of Zoom!) and maintained its membership through engagement and friendship, including in-person meetings where/when possible.

In 2023, the push to become a full Rotary Club started with an increase in membership numbers meaning the criteria for Club formation to be met. So early 2024 the ADR project was ‘sign-off’ at local, national & international levels leading to the Club being chartered.

So Axbridge District Rotary (or its formal name – The Rotary Club of Axbridge District) was born!

We look forward to continuing to support our local communities and will be looking to expand supporting national and/or international projects in the future – resources permitting.

What have we been up to:

Since the formation of the Axbridge District (ADR) Satellite Club we have:

• Worked on community projects. Currently, ADR are maintaining 2 public footpaths / rights-of-way in Axbridge – with the agreement of Somerset County Council. Some photographs of these can be found on the news page of the site.
• Held fundraising events to generate monies for local/regional charities (Freewheeler ‘Blood Bikes’ EVS, Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, Cheddar Foodbank) along with international projects including Rotary’s own on-going major project – End Polio Now.
  As of May 2024, the total figure is approaching £10,000.
• Work with other local community events, for example Church / Village Fetes, aiding when and where needed.
• Engaged with other local Rotary Clubs, enjoying building friendships via social get togethers and working with them on some of their projects / events.