Introduction to ‘Knaresborough Revolutionaries’

Kit Lacey, Revolutionary

Knaresborough Rotary Club had a great idea. They found some young businesspeople in the town who wanted to find a really good social project and run with it. Kit Lacey told us about the new group, the Revolutionaries. They’re all members of the Rotary club but they’re on a pretty long lead. They don’t need to come to the weekly meeting – they have their own monthly meeting in the pub. And they found a great project. They identified some anti-social behaviour in the town and so they got together and bought a ‘Youth Bus’. Essentially this can take provision for young people to where it is most needed. It’s early days yet but it seems to be working well. Already ‘Yorkshire Youth’ are using the bus two days a week and other groups are starting to take up the facility.                                                                                                           

It’s a new way of thinking about Rotary and a way of attracting new, younger members. The main points are clear: find a group of younger people who want to take on a community project and who will enjoy doing it together. The Rotary brand and the ability of Rotary to tap into grants will help them and it’ll also present a new profile for Rotary, one with younger members who can join an established club.

It’s a model lots of Rotary clubs would do well to consider as they think about how they can keep themselves relevant in the 21^st Century.