It perhaps wasn’t a on the scale of a visit from George Dubya, but it was a Presidential visit none-the-less.
Members of the rotary clubs from Inverness were hosted at the Waterside Hotel, home of the Loch Ness club today.
The four clubs came together to hold a joint meeting to welcome the Alan Jagger, President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland to the City of Inverness.
Jagger, a Rotarian since 1983 and originally from Yorkshire, took up the UK’s highest position in Rotary in July of this year and appreciates he has a very heavy year ahead of him.
He and his wife Rose have only started their mammoth tour but they know it will have them travelling more than 25,000 miles to visit over 200 Rotary Clubs throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland in a period of less than 300 days.
Host club President, George McRae welcomed his fellow Presidents and members from the Rotary Clubs of Inverness, Culloden, Nairn and the newest club in the City, Inverness Riverside.
RIBI President Alan Jagger was given the opportunity to address the Rotarians in attendance and started by commending them for the charitable work they had undertaken on behalf of Rotary International at both a national and local level.
Delivering a very direct and what some may describe at times as a contentious presentation, the President informed the group that Rotary was now very much a global organisation. He told them that Rotary is now 102 years old; has thirty-two thousand clubs worldwide with a membership of over 1.22 million Rotarians. But do the public in your area know what rotary is about or what it is doing?
He commented, “There are now Rotary clubs in 167 countries throughout the world and Rotarians are being able to undertaken cross-border work where other organisations are finding challenges and difficulties.
Continuing on the positive work Rotary International has undertaken in relation to the polio vaccination programme he stated, “We should be proud that thanks to Rotary International 2 billion people have received the polio vaccination and we have all but eradicated polio throughout the world. And all this from the idea and vision of a single Rotarian.
“It’s almost unconceivable to think that in India, Rotary played their part in vaccinating over 132 million people throughout the country in one day. The only other disease in history to be eradicated on this scale is smallpox.
Closing his address, the top Rotarian in the Country commented, “Each individual club has too look at ways of making themselves truly diverse by considering who you are, what you do and what you stand for. Office bearers and members need to address ways of removing the public’s perception that rotary is an elite organisation, work to increase their profile locally and take a more business-like strategic view to the way their clubs are operated.
Expressing his thanks for one of the warmest welcomes he had ever received as a visitor to a rotary meeting, he finished his presentation by stating, “Each and every one of us needs to consider ways in which we prepare ourselves and our clubs for the future. This way Rotary will be able to withstand the changing worlds we live in and ensure we continue the fantastic charitable work we have so modestly undertaken to date.
“The hospitality here from hosts Loch Ness and the 4 other clubs has been tremendous; there is a ‘buzz’ about this joint meeting and I look forward to returning to Scotland and the Highlands again one day in the future.
Thanking President Jagger and his wife for choosing Inverness as one of their 200 or so clubs to visit, Derek MacRae, President of the Inverness Culloden Club presented him with silver Quaich on behalf of all clubs.
The four clubs in Inverness have a membership of just over 200 members between them and regularly work together to deliver on common charitable aims.
The four clubs came together to hold a joint meeting to welcome the Alan Jagger, President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland to the City of Inverness.
Jagger, a Rotarian since 1983 and originally from Yorkshire, took up the UK’s highest position in Rotary in July of this year and appreciates he has a very heavy year ahead of him.
He and his wife Rose have only started their mammoth tour but they know it will have them travelling more than 25,000 miles to visit over 200 Rotary Clubs throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland in a period of less than 300 days.
Host club President, George McRae welcomed his fellow Presidents and members from the Rotary Clubs of Inverness, Culloden, Nairn and the newest club in the City, Inverness Riverside.
RIBI President Alan Jagger was given the opportunity to address the Rotarians in attendance and started by commending them for the charitable work they had undertaken on behalf of Rotary International at both a national and local level.
Delivering a very direct and what some may describe at times as a contentious presentation, the President informed the group that Rotary was now very much a global organisation. He told them that Rotary is now 102 years old; has thirty-two thousand clubs worldwide with a membership of over 1.22 million Rotarians. But do the public in your area know what rotary is about or what it is doing?
He commented, “There are now Rotary clubs in 167 countries throughout the world and Rotarians are being able to undertaken cross-border work where other organisations are finding challenges and difficulties.
Continuing on the positive work Rotary International has undertaken in relation to the polio vaccination programme he stated, “We should be proud that thanks to Rotary International 2 billion people have received the polio vaccination and we have all but eradicated polio throughout the world. And all this from the idea and vision of a single Rotarian.
“It’s almost unconceivable to think that in India, Rotary played their part in vaccinating over 132 million people throughout the country in one day. The only other disease in history to be eradicated on this scale is smallpox.
Closing his address, the top Rotarian in the Country commented, “Each individual club has too look at ways of making themselves truly diverse by considering who you are, what you do and what you stand for. Office bearers and members need to address ways of removing the public’s perception that rotary is an elite organisation, work to increase their profile locally and take a more business-like strategic view to the way their clubs are operated.
Expressing his thanks for one of the warmest welcomes he had ever received as a visitor to a rotary meeting, he finished his presentation by stating, “Each and every one of us needs to consider ways in which we prepare ourselves and our clubs for the future. This way Rotary will be able to withstand the changing worlds we live in and ensure we continue the fantastic charitable work we have so modestly undertaken to date.
“The hospitality here from hosts Loch Ness and the 4 other clubs has been tremendous; there is a ‘buzz’ about this joint meeting and I look forward to returning to Scotland and the Highlands again one day in the future.
Thanking President Jagger and his wife for choosing Inverness as one of their 200 or so clubs to visit, Derek MacRae, President of the Inverness Culloden Club presented him with silver Quaich on behalf of all clubs.
The four clubs in Inverness have a membership of just over 200 members between them and regularly work together to deliver on common charitable aims.
