What we do - Riverside Rotary
Helping charities and the local community since 1991
Welcome to Riverside Rotary
What we do
What we do
The motto of Rotary is 'Service above Self' and all of our activities are focussed on serving our local communities in some way. We do also have a bit of fun whilst we're doing it though....
We organise and run fund-raising and volunteering events for local and international charities. And we support local schools and other organisations when they need a bit of help.
For a full list of forthcoming events see our activity diary
Swim Relay is a major event in which local people take part in a sponsored swim in aid of Demelza and/or their own charities or good causes. The first was held in 2015 and since then it has run every 1 or 2 years (although with a 6 year gap due to the Covid19 epidemic). The 2024 and 2025 events raised 10s of thousands of £s.
Race Night is part fund-raising, part social when we take over a local venue for a fun evening of cine-racing. All money raised through the evening is in aid of a local charity. The last was in October 2024 in Harrietsham Village Hall in support of Space 2 Be Me.
In the past year we have raised money and helped local clubs and charities by car park marshalling, we've provided boat trips and canoeing days for local young carers and other community groups and we've organised and run cash collections at various times for some of the big international disaster appeals.
We also organise collections of relevant donations such as unused bicycles and tools for onward shipment to Africa, and Christmas gifts for children in orphanages in Moldova.
We regularly volunteer to help with events run by other organisations, such as at the Demelza Bubble Rush, and to help local organisations in need of ‘hands on deck’ Recently this has included developing a community allotment in Parkwood and ongoing help for local charity Fusion.
Some of our members help local charities such as AGE UK with their meals on wheels service and Involve by volunteer driving and other help when needed. We get involved in Mock Interview Programmes for local secondary schools and we organise litter picks a few times a year in Mote Park and along Maidstone Riverside to help keep the town spaces clean and litter free.
Helping the Environment
We have a number of projects focussed on helping protect the environment and we publish regular newsletters for our members, and others on environmental issues. For copies of the newsletters click here.
And we also meet socially for meetings and activities, some just for fun and others with a fund-raising element. Current examples include our recent Petanque evening, visits to productions at the Hazlitt Theatre, and our recent Race Night.