The Rotary Club of Christchurch Inc.

The Rotary Club of Christchurch was chartered in 1922 and had a long history of service in the Christchurch community. In 1922 the minutes were recorded in leather-bound ledgers, were signed in flowing script using a fountain pen and members paid an admission fee of £2/ 2s and annual dues of £4/4s.

The original membership was 43. Those members met at the “Beresford” but soon transferred to Ballantynes tearooms. Members paid 2 shillings for lunch. The rules were very much stricter in the early years regarding attendance and meeting procedures. Whilst maintaining some traditions, Rotary Clubs are now less formal. During the years of the depression the Club helped many families with food parcels and other support.

Rotary, in those early years, had a regular street collection and organised fundraising concerts helping various organisations such as the Plunket Society. In the 1930’s member Sir John Robert McKenzie established the JR McKenzie Trust and the JR McKenzie Youth Education Fund making a considerable gift of £110,000 to the Trust “in acknowledgement of the great work of the Rotary and of the privileges it had conferred on him”. These Trusts have supported young people and continue to do so to this day.

During the period of WW2 the Club was very active in supporting men and woman of the services, including arranging for entertaining of troops and organising an annual Christmas party for children with fathers on active service. Food parcels were organised for distribution in Britain by British Rotary Clubs.

Many projects have been undertaken in the post war years, including the funding of the children’s swimming pool in the Botanical Gardens, the support for schools and underprivileged children, support for the program for the Eradication of Polio, support of the City Mission and other charities, together with subsiding young people to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Program, Science Summer Schools and to visit overseas as Rotary Youth Exchange Students.

Our Club invites men and women from many walks of life to participate in the ongoing fellowship and service to the local and international community.

Rotary in NZ

Rotary in New Zealand and the Pacific includes New Zealand, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. Learn more about Rotary in the South Pacific

If you would like to support Rotary’s activities but are unable to volunteer there are many options including:

Support the international projects of Rotary through Rotary New Zealand World Community Service which acts on behalf of all Rotarians in New Zealand to carry out a range of international development services, many in the Pacific region. This includes disaster relief to the Pacific Islands through its Emergency Response Kits.

Find out more options on the Rotary Oceania website

Rotary International

Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.

Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision. For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects. From literacy and peace to water and health, we are always working to better our world, and we stay committed to the end. Learn more about our structure and our foundation and our strategic vision.

What we do

Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues. Our 35,000+ clubs work together to:

• Promote peace
• Fight disease
• Provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
• Save mothers and children
• Support education
• Grow local economies

How to Become a Member

If you are interested in finding out more about our Club, or you would like to apply to join, we’d love to hear from you.

You can contact us via email [insert email link] to arrange a time to meet one of our members for a coffee. You are also welcome to join one of our lunchtime meetings, or one of our monthly evening meetings to get to know our members.

Meetings are held on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Tuesday of every month at the Canterbury Club (corner Cambridge Terrace & Worcester Boulevard) from 12pm for a 12.30pm start until approximately 1.30pm.

Evening meetings are held on the 1st Tuesday of the month at Trenches RSA (74 Armagh St) at 6pm for an informal social evening, partners welcome.

Prospective members typically attend approximately three meetings, and meet with one of the former Presidents of the Club prior to submitting their application. Applications are reviewed for approval by our Board of Directors at the monthly meetings.

To find out more about joining the Rotary Club of Christchurch, contact us [insert email link] today.

‘I value long term relationships, and getting to know people from varied backgrounds. I get a lot of satisfaction from being involved in projects in my community and being part of the tradition of community engagement.’ Kintilla du Boucher-Ryan