Up in Orkney, Scotland, years of work by the Orkney Rotary Club finally came to fruition as the Dounby Primary School RotaKids were became officially chartered.
At Dounby school, Orkney Rotary President Anne Leslie and area youth officer Alistair Risk presented Ruaridh, Dounby RotaKids President, with their charter before Ruaridh thanked everyone for their support.
The Dounby group – the first RotaKids club in the Northern Isles – are sponsored by Orkney Rotary Club and have been working with the club to take part in community projects.
The RotaKids club has previously organised for Christmas boxes to be sent to retirement homes and spent last summer fundraising to raise money for a swap shop they want to open where local residents can swap anything they can from DVD’s to food items.
We have seen our pupils flourish and work so brilliantly with their Rotary Club mentors.”
However, the Youth Committee Chair for Orkney Rotary, Bill Wallace, insists that Dounby RotaKids are very independent in how they operate.
He explained: “RotaKids is run by the kids. It has its own President, presiding over each meeting, a secretary, responsible for minute taking, and a Treasurer who holds on to the purse strings.”
RotaKids clubs are based in schools, youth groups or community centres and are an exciting way for children aged 7-12 to make friends and get involved with important activities in the community, all while having a great time in the process.
Dounby School headteacher, Islean Gibson, said of the RotaKids to The Peedie Orcadian: “RotaKids has been such a wonderful learner-led initiative here at Dounby school.
“We have seen our pupils flourish and work so brilliantly with their Rotary Club mentors. There is a really positive dynamic and shared learning that we see across all their meetings.
“We cannot thank the Rotary Club enough for making this happen here in Dounby.”
