Rotary International’s motto is that ‘Rotary connects the world’ and Lesley Hills has put that to the test.
Lesley, a Rotarian from New South Wales, Australia, travelled half way around the world, where she met fellow Rotarians in Burnham-On-Sea.
Lesley says: “I wrote to the club and said where I was from and that I was coming to visit my mother who lives in Burnham, and asked if I was able to sit in on one of their meetings.”
“They responded really positively and were looking forward to me dropping in. While there, we talked about the challenges and objectives Rotary faces internationally and locally.”
“It was interesting to hear the volunteering work they did in the Somerset Levels floods and how similar it was to our efforts back home with bushfire relief.”
“They all asked about the fires and took great interest in what Rotary was doing to help.”
She was treated to dinner and was presented with a Burnham Rotary banner as part of an extension of friendship between it and the Deniliquin club.
While Lesley has lived in Deniliquin, New South Wales for 27 years since leaving England, she has only been involved with Rotary for 18 months.
She says it has presented her with many opportunities. “There are so many different things you can accomplish with Rotary. It’s the first time that I’ve reached out to another club to join in on a meeting and I was met with overwhelming welcomes.”
“I attended their dinner and meeting and met a lot of terrific like-minded people. This would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Rotary. They were also quick to welcome me back at any time and we would extend the same invitation to Deniliquin if they ever made it here.”
On her return to Deniliquin, Ms Hills presented the Burnham-On-Sea Rotary Club banner to Deniliquin Rotary president Wayne Sheean, as pictured above.
