Supporting the local community

​And much, much more or as our club motto says.. 
​Making Dreams Real Within Communities
Helping the local community is one of the primary roles of Rotary and you may have seen Rotarians at work supporting communities without even realising it.

At the Rotary Club of Westbourne, we take our community and international service seriously, and whilst striving to give back to the area in which we work and live, are also mindful of the internationality of Rotary and our international communities too.

Since the club was chartered in 1995, it has carried out many and varied activities and constantly add new projects and initiatives as they arise under the name of Westbourne Rotary Club Trust Fund CIO with our charity registration number of 1197774.

We are working with BCP Council to help survey properties in the BCP area that are prone to surface water flooding to get them help with flood prevention measures.

A few years ago, we built our own Santa Sleigh Float to bring even more Christmas Cheer to the community and help local charities at the same time.  Later in the year, you will find more information on dates for this year's sleigh routes on our News and Events Page, but our Santa is currently taking a rest after the 2025 festive season.

​We always strive to give back to the area in which we live and work and over the years have carried out many projects engaging with the community in the following ways:
  • Two Annual Days Out for group of school children
  • Young Carers - Expedition Experience Camping Weekend
  • Supporting Rotary Youth Competitions
  • ​Monthly lunches for isolated members of the community
  • BBQ's for Cherry Tree Nurseries Open Days
  • Santa's Grottos in Boscombe and Carol Singing with Santa in Westbourne
  • Santa Express Street Collection fund raisers in local area
  • Young Achievers Award for children at St Michaels School
  • Rotary Christmas Shoebox Collections
  • Dragons Den style initiative to help fund local small community groups
  • Litter picking Westbourne community area.
  • Renovation of Westbourne Playpark & Alum Chine Water Fountain
  • Helping with the Skerryvore Heritage Project in Westbourne
  • Planting thousands of purple crocus bulbs in Westbourne
  • Food Related projects, including:
  • Re-packaging donated foods from business partner, Harvest Fine Foods, for use by Bournemouth Food Bank.
  • Supplying Christmas food parcels for local local families
  • Providing Christmas hampers to a group of Bournemouth Care Leavers
  • and much, much, more... whilst having fun...

Charity Projects

Over the years, the Rotary Club of Westbourne has raised thousands of pounds for charities, both in the local community and worldwide, including:
​
  • Dorset Mind
  • Cancer Research UK
  • Julia's House
  • ​Life Education Centres
  • Barnardo’s
  • Chaos
  • Hope & Homes for Children
  • Can’t Walk Away
  • Kidsinvis
  • Rotary Foundation (Rotary’s own charity)
  • Lewis Manning​
  • Bournemouth Food Bank
  • ​And many more........

Global Projects

Rotary is an international organisation and also the largest Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in the world. Each club has a role to play to make the worldwide community a better place to live.  To support global projects, our club has:
  • bought and filled numerous Aquaboxes
  • sent Shelterboxes for use in overseas disaster areas
  • sent Christmas presents directly to Romania in shoeboxes
  • supported the education of two children in Thailand via Plan International
  • supported the education of 10 children in The Gambia via Stella's School Scheme
  • supported several international ambassadorial scholars
  • supported Purple Community Fund and disasters in The Philippines
  • organised a Classics on the Pier concert 
  • held a tribute show at the Pavilion featuring several well known tribute acts
  • brought fresh, clean drinking water to two remote villages in The Gambia.
  • And much more - whenever our help needed...

We started a project with the Rotary Club of Batticaloa Heritage in Sri Lanka to build facilities for the disposal of sanitary products for girls at 25 schools to enable & encourage female students to attend school during menstruation so education would not be interrupted. The objective was to build 2 of the disposal bins at each of the schools, so a total of 50 units.  However work came to a halt during Covid lockdowns followed by shortage of supplies, and funds were re-allocated to another humanitarian need in Sri Lanka - food and medical supplies.

The project has also been financially supported by the Rotary Club of Toronto and a grant from Rotary District 1110.
The Rotary Club of Westbourne used to be a registered charity under the name of Rotary Club of Westbourne Trust Fund with the charity number 1111184, but in 2022 this changed when the club became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in the name of Westbourne Rotary Club Trust Fund CIO with the new charity registration number of 1197774 so that anyone making a donation can find out more about us.