About Us

Club Details

Rhondda Rotary

Formed in 1955, is a diverse Club, currently has 20 members, 13 male, 7 female and is drawn from a variety of occupations and professions. We meet on the first, second and third Mondays of the month, at 6.00 PM at the Cambrian Lakeside Café Bar, Clydach Vale. Club Council is the first Monday of the month, the second and third Mondays are for business meetings, fun, fellowship, guest speakers and other items of interest. There are no meetings in the month of August. There are also several enjoyable social functions during the year. Members serve on one of the service groups of the Club –Membership, Community, Youth, Foundation and International. Our members share their skills, experience and resources to give back to the community through a variety of initiatives.

The Club income is generated in the main by the annual Christmas Nativity Scene collection and the annual Charity Lunch and smaller amounts are raised at other social events. The funds are used to support local, national and International organisations and individuals, some on an annual basis. For their year of office the Club President usually chooses a charity or a cause to support and Club members work to support the President’s aims.

The current member subscription is £200 per annum, with 4 quarterly subscriptions, usually by direct debit. This covers annual subscriptions to Rotary Great Britain and Ireland (£82/annum), District 1150 (£27/annum) and meals and other incidentals.

Meet The Team

Martyn Lyons

President & secretary

Richard Fletcher

Treasurer

Susan Morgans

Membership Chair

ANN BALBY

Community Chair

Martin Nagle

Youth Services Chair

JEFF COWLAND

International Chair

Foundation Chair

Rhondda Rotary Past Presidents

1956-57 | GDR Metford
1957-58 | WE Hughes
1958-59 | TE James
1959-60 | E Bernsteil
1960-61 | C Gingell
1961-62 | TA Hopkin
1962-63 | LG Hutchings
1963-64 | DH Hutchings
1964-65 | AT Evans
1965-66 | J Hogg
1966-67 | HG Davies
1967-68 |FB Naylor
1968-69 | B Newell
1969-70 | EJ Evans
1970-71 | T Rees
1971-72 | WH Edwards
1972-73 | FT Upshall

1973-74 | WR King
1974-75 | D Lox’-Hughes
1975-76 | AV Stacey
1976-77 | HA Dean Davies
1977-78 | MJ Davies
1978-79 | H May
1979-80 | GR Davies
1980-81 | M Rees
1981-82 | WJ Billett
1982-83 | IW Price
1983-84 | CG Allen
1984-85 | D Williams
1985-86 | R Margetts
1988-89 | P Ivens
1986-87 | Rev K Phillips
1987-88 | WH Edwards
1989-90 | TT Williams

1990-91 | Dr V Bali
1991-92 | Gareth Thomas
1992-93 | TJ Davies
1993-94 | Dr I Gwynne
1994-95 | D Barnett
1995-96 | Griff Thomas
1996-97 | D Caddy
1997-98 | A Thom’-Evans
1998-99 | A Cox
1999-00 | M Jenkins
2000-01 | P Williams
2001-02 | (Griff Thomas / T Lynch)
2002-03 | T Lynch
2003-04 | H Morris
2004-05 | B Young
2005-06 | J Cowland
2006-07 | J Thomas

2007-08 | K Williams
2008-09 | P Williams
2009-10 | J Cowland
2010-11 | J Cowland
2011-12 | P Williams
2012-13 | P Williams
2013-14 | K Williams
2014-15 | K Williams
2015-16 | M Lyons
2016-17 | J Cowland
2017-18 | S Morgans
2018-19 | A Furlong
2019-20 | A Balby
2020-21 | J Cowland
2021-22 | J Cowland
2022-23 | A Balby                                2023-24 | A Balby  

Joining Rhondda Rotary

If you’re interested in joining Rhondda Rotary to use your time, talents, professional skills and energy to improve the lives of people in your local community, read on… And, in the process, you can enjoy the benefits of business networking, personal development, meeting new friends, hearing inspiring speakers, having a great deal of fun and experiencing that special sense of fulfillment that comes from achieving something really worthwhile.

If Rotary sounds like the organisation for you, we’d like to hear from you! Simply fill in the form below and we will contact you.

    Memberships

    The main social events in the Club’s past calendar are viewed as an opportunity to fundraise, enjoy ourselves and invite prospective Rotarians. We will be hoping to slowly re-introduce these in the coming year.

    Ascot Night – we have held an enjoyable Ladies Ascot Day/evening, with Pimms and strawberries, a flutter on the races from Ascot on the TV, a carvery, choir and entertainment.

    Christmas Dinner – an opportunity for a raffle to boost funds, with a local male voice choir attending to enhance the Christmas spirit.

    Quiz Night – Valley quiz teams pit their wits against each other, with prizes to be won.

    Club has been considering ways to attract new members and we have moved to fortnightly meetings from 1st July 2022, with a reduced annual subscription.

    Community

    The Friends of Rhondda Rotary Community Shop was the brainchild of two club members and initially opened in June 2013 and quickly developed into an interesting and fun idea for all involved. The shop’s motto is ‘here to make a difference, not a profit’ and anyone who needs anything for the community can have it free of charge, recycling at its best. In recent years, local groups have run the shop, the weekly proceeds being given as a donation to the groups. The original premises that the shop occupied was sold, however, following a period to identify another suitable premises, the shop ‘rose from the ashes’, re-opening in May 2018 and it has continued to be a popular venue in the community.

    The Nativity Scene collection, which is popular at Christmas, is our main source of revenue, with collections at Talbot Green Retail Park and supermarket collections at Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsburys. Members and ‘buddies’ (wives, partners, friends) brave the elements to raise money for the club’s charitable causes. Records have been set in the years from 2014 to 2017, with over £8300 being collected in 2017. The total fell slightly in 2018 to around £7800, which still illustrates the huge support from the Rhondda community.

    The collections were re-introduced on a smaller scale in December 2021 and 2022 achieving around £3900 and £3300 respectively. Club has regularly supported the District 1150 Disabled Sports Team Championship, with the Rhondda Polar Bears regularly representing us. Club members have also supported the Disabled Gymnastics competition.

    Club provides a week’s caravan holiday for a deserving family in the summer, using a caravan at Trecco Bay, Porthcawl, owned by the Llandaff Diocesan Mothers’ Union, with the provision of a donation to cover food costs etc. Club members have received ‘dementia friends’ training and as one of the President’s charities in 2017/18, club supported dementia awareness events/organisations during the year. Dementia was the President’s ‘charity’ in 2022/23/24.

    Club celebrates Christmas with participation in a Carol Service, usually in a place of worship or community building in the current President’s locality. One of our club members is a member of a local male voice choir and he arranges for them to perform at one of the valley’s residential homes for the elderly at Christmas time, with the club providing a donation to help the choir’s expenses.

    In November 2019, a Recognition Night was held to honour local individuals and groups who have shown the same ideals as Rotary i.e., ‘we’re for communities’ and ‘service above self’. Rotary Service Recognition Awards were presented to 5 individuals and 7 groups, which were a pleasant surprise and reward for the recipients’ hard work. Another successful recognition event took place on Friday  28th April 2023, where individuals and groups were recognised for their work in their communities.

    Youth Services

    The pandemic has decimated the youth competitions, but in the past Rhondda school pupils, sponsored by the club, regularly competed in the Rotary Young Musician and Youth Speaks competitions. In 2017, Ysgol Gyfun Y Cymer won the finals of Welsh Youth speaks. In 2016 a pupil of Treorchy Comprehensive reached the national final of the Young Vocalist. A Young Musician competition, jointly arranged by Aberdare and Rhondda, was held in November 2022 and a competitor representing both Clubs has reached the National Finals. A competition was held in November 2023, there were a limited number of competitors and Club will be looking to improve communication and encourage more competitors in future years.

    Club regularly sponsors pupils from local schools/groups to attend the RYLA outward bound course,  2 candidates from the Rhondda Sea Cadets  participated in the course in August 2023.

    International

    Over many years members of the public were encouraged to take their old spectacles to local opticians. Club then collected around 6000 pairs of old spectacles each year from the local opticians, to deliver to the University of Wales Cardiff, which then go to African countries to be used in a variety of projects.

    This was arranged by one of our former club members, who was an alumni of the University and a local Optician. He passed away a couple of years ago and the Club now donates a prize to the University in his memory. Regrettably, the collections have been curtailed.

    Club has regularly sent backpacks to the Mary’s Meals ‘gift a backpack’ project and over the past year sent 70, it is disappointing that Mary’s Meals are stopping the scheme to concentrate on providing meals. We will be looking at an alternative project to support e.g. Rotary shoe box. Club regularly supports Water Aid, Send a Cow, Life for African Mothers, Rotary Doctor Bank and Lepra fundraising initiatives.

    Disaster appeals are also supported via e.g., Shelterbox, Aquabox and Lifestraws. To support the recovery in the Philippines, Club invested £2000 in Kiva loans and continues to reinvest as the loans are repaid. At February 2023, 1348 loans to individuals in 67 countries, totalling almost $34,000 have been made. Immediate Past President Jeff Cowland spent a week volunteering in Kenya in 2017, where he gave a LifeStraw to every pupil in a local school. The LifeStraws were kindly donated by Brynmawr RC.

    Club has supported those impacted by the war in Ukraine.

    General

    The ‘message in a bottle’ is primarily for emergency services and the club has linked with the ‘blue light’ services, the Local Health Board and the Rotary Clubs of Aberdare and Llantrisant to roll out the scheme further in Rhondda Cynon Taff. It gives immediate access to vital medical and personal information on elderly and vulnerable people by placing the bottle, containing the information, in the fridge and a sticker on the inside of the main door of the property. The club has distributed more than 7000 bottles since its introduction and ‘re-launched’ the initiative in 2018. The Health Board was proposing to develop an All-Wales initiative with Rotary’s help, this has stalled due to the pandemic. We have been distributing bottles to local organisations during 2022/23. Unfortunately, the Rotary Club responsible for distribution of the bottles is no longer undertaking the function.

    The club has been looking at other interesting and enjoyable opportunities to increase income, which involve the Rhondda community and support the annual President’s charity. Between 2016 and 2019 and in 2022, very successful charity lunches have been held in April/May, with for example referee Nigel Owens, Phil Bennett, Alan Curtis and Ryan Jones, as the guest speakers. An auction and raffle are held with the overall lunch proceeds going to nominated charities. The beneficiaries to date being Cancer Research Wales, Noah’s Ark, Parkinson’s UK, the Alzheimer’s Society, the Tenovus Closer to Home Appeal, the Rhian Griffiths Forget Me Not Fund and local dementia groups. The 2024 lunch was held on 10th May, the guest Speaker was Phil Steele and and enjoyable event will contribute to the President’s cause of supporting local dementia groups and those living with dementia in our local communities.

    Foundation

    Club makes regular annual contributions to Rotary Foundation. We planted 5000 crocus corms in October 2016, 2017 and 2018 to support the Purple4Polio project, but in 2019 chose not to plant any more, but rather to increase our donation to Foundation by £100. We planted a further 4000 in 2021.

    Rotary

    Club usually participates in the District Quiz competition, hosting rounds as appropriate.
    We are usually represented at District Council and District Conference.

    Partnership Projects

    Over the past few years, a decision was made to support organisations in the medium-term to help a sector of the local community and raise the Club and Rotary’s profile in the process.

    Rowan Tree Cancer Care

    Rowan Tree Cancer Care (RTCC) is a local community-based charity, the charity had been established for 14 years originally covering the Cynon Valley. Since 2006 the charity developed 3 outreach venues based in GP Practices and families are brought into the surgeries to access counselling and therapies. The families have the opportunity of having support in their own communities. The aim of the partnership project was to provide support services which are paramount to families living in the Rhondda Valley, whose lives are touched by cancer.

    The Club could not commit to the full cost of the project, but agreed to tapering funding of more than £9000, over a three-year term, for the basic service to commence in December 2014. Our funding came to an end in 2017, but the service has expanded and become a sustainable success.

    Rhondda Foodbank

    The Rhondda Foodbank is a lifeline for an increasing number of vulnerable valleys’ people who are in crisis. Foodbanks have seen a big rise in numbers given emergency food. The rising cost of living, static incomes, changes to benefits and unemployment have meant increasing numbers of people have hit a crisis that forces them to go hungry. Rhondda Rotary is a supporter of the Rhondda Foodbank, making regular donations from individual members. Club has agreed to support the Foodbank on an ongoing basis and the club logo is now displayed on their van, hopefully increasing the profile of Rotary in the community. Around £8000 has been donated to the foodbank over the past five/six years.

    Rhondda Cynon Taf Young Carers

    Looking to the future, a pilot project was undertaken with Rhondda Cynon Taf Young Carers. Club arranged and paid for the use of a local boys and girls club, so that the young carers in the area could enjoy a respite programme on Saturdays, away from their day-to-day caring responsibilities. Club members also arranged a very successful Christmas party between 2016 and 2019 for the young carers, for them to do what young children usually do at Christmas, without having to worry about their caring duties. This became an annual event, however during and since the pandemic, we provided funding for presents as parties could not be held.

    Hen Felin Special School

    Club received a presentation from the local Hen Felin Special School on their aspiration to develop a ‘wellbeing centre’ for pupils and parents. We agreed to support the project by funding the cost of the ICT equipment for the centre, which has opened and is very successful.

    Dementia Friendly Community

    Club started developing a project to make the local town of Treorchy a ‘dementia friendly community’. It was in its early consultative stages when the pandemic hit, but work re-commenced to get it up and running and the initiative was launched on 30th April 2024 and it will consider incorporating other areas in the Valley.

    Location of Defibrillators

    Club has supported the installation of a number of defibrillators in valley locations and is exploring a project, to inform local residents of the location of defibrillators in their community.

    60th Anniversary

    The Club was established in December 1955 and members considered ways to celebrate its birthday and raise awareness and its profile at the same time. Discussions were held with the Rhondda Cynon Taff Council, and the Council was pleased to be able to recognise Rhondda Rotary’s long-standing commitment to supporting humanitarian projects, especially in the Rhondda community, by naming a section of the A4119 road, Ffordd Rotari Rhondda / Rhondda Rotary Way, to celebrate its 60th year.

    Community Raffle

    A Community raffle was first arranged in the Autumn of 2016, with the club covering the cost of prizes and printing of tickets etc. The value of the tickets sold by the participating organisations is retained by them, helping them raise funds to support their operation. The raffle has since become an annual arrangement, with around 15000 tickets being sold, at £1 each, by around 40 participating organisations. The pandemic prevented a raffle in 2020, but it successfully recommenced in 2021, around 13500 tickets were sold by 45 organisations for the 2022 raffle and 16400 tickets were sold by 45 organisations in 2023.

    Summary of Recent Donations

    During 2020 and 2021, income and donations were minimal, but the details below give some indication of the levels before the pandemic.

    Organisations supported by Rhondda Rotary in recent years

    International
    • ShelterBox
    • Mary’s Meals
    • Lepra
    • Life for African Mothers
    • Aquabox
    • Rotary Purple 4 Polio
    • Micro Finance in 3 rd World Countries
    • Guatemala Literacy Project
    • Send a Cow
    • Lifestraws
    National
    • Cancer Research Wales
    • Macmillan Cancer Support
    • Tenovus Cancer Care
    • Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital
    • Alzheimer’s Society
    • Mercy Ships
    • Rotary Doctor Bank
    • Blood Bikes Wales
    • Ty Hafan
    • Parkinson’s UK
    Local
    • Rhian Griffiths Rose Tribute Fund
    • Rowan Tree Cancer Care
    • Rhondda Polar Bears
    • Rhondda Foodbank
    • Rhondda Flood Relief Fund
    • Salvation Army
    • Royal Glamorgan Hospital
    • Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda
    • Caravan holiday for a local family
    • Message in a Bottle
    • The Maerdy Archive
    • Rhondda Sea Cadets
    • Rhondda Lifeguards Club
    • RCT Young Carers
    • Lindsay’s Leg Club
    • Ysgol Hen Felin Wellbeing Centre
    • Cwmparc Blitz Memorial

    and many local individuals to support their activities.