Women Welcomed

As Robin Povey took over the helm, the branch's first ever women members were sworn in.

Robin was delighted to welcome Jane Seamer and Hilary Stirling and said he was looking forward to his presidential year.

"It's exciting, it's a challenge and it's something different," he enthused.

"There is always something going on with the Rotary. It has kept me very busy and I expect to be even busier this year, I don't expect there'll be many dull moments," he added.

The widowed father-of-two joined the Littlehampton Rotary Club five years ago and said he was looking forward, in particular, to the fellowship of the club.

"I want us to go forward to serve the local community in the best way we can, and do our best to promote Rotary."

And his enthusiasm was shared by Jane and Hilary, who are both delighted to be members of the club.

A ground-breaking change of rules meant they were now able to join the club something about which they were clearly pleased.

But they both agreed their reason for joining was not to succeed in breaking into a male organisation, but to help the community in the best way they could.

Hilary's reasons for joining the club stem from her days as a headteacher at a Middlesex junior school.

"I had been a recipient of Rotary Club generosity so, of course, I knew about the good work they do.

"When I finished my full-time position as a headteacher, I felt I then had the opportunity to return some of that charity to the community," she said.

But it was in Japan, of all places, that Hilary saw her golden opportunity to join.

She explained: "I was on holiday in Japan when I saw a Rotarian taking his banner to the local Japanese branch.

"Incredibly, its meeting was being held at the hotel in which I was staying."

Hilary and he struck up a conversation, which ultimately put her in touch with previous Littlehampton president Maurice Ozanne.

He invited her to an open evening and the rest, as they say, is history.

Jane's story is not so different. She is a director of Educational and Scientific Products Ltd in Rustington, a manufacturing firm she and her husband have run for the past 12 years.

Like Hilary, she, too, wanted to put something back into the community, and felt the Rotary Club provided the perfect opportunity to do just that.

She explained: "I have looked at various charities with a view to helping, but it is very difficult to do this as an individual.

"I had a word with one of the members, Bill Skelton, who told me about the Rotary Club, and I thought 'this is just what I am looking for'."

She joked: "It's funny sometimes if I'm walking through a door, someone might say 'ladies first', and so I'll say, 'But I'm a Rotarian!'."