New rotary club set up in Buckhaven and Methil

The club still has provisional status ahead of the official charter ceremony which takes place in September, but already has 18 members.

They meet every Tuesday evening, and have already started supporting local groups, and just this weekend, helped one local women to put on a 80s charity night raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Alistair Robb is one of the founding members, having been involved with rotary before.

“I was a member of Leven Rotary Club, and latterly Kirkcaldy, but the time of the meeting didn’t suit and I started to doubt if rotary was doing what I wanted it to.

“A group of us got together to see if we could get one set up for Buckhaven and Methil.

“Other clubs are quite traditional and formal, and the cost can be quite prohibitive, so we looked at having a club where things could be quite relaxed.

“We first spoke about it last November, butreally started to put the bones on the idea in March of this year.”

Since then, the club has been given provisional status, and hit the ground running, supporting Buckhaven group CLEAR with some of its projects, and given a few pairs of hands to Arden House as it expands its facility.

“We have quite a few projects in the pipeline right up to Christmas,” said Alistair. “We’re still becoming known in the area, but it would be great if any wee groups that need a bit of support came to us, as we’re primarily about supporting the local community.”

The club is also looking at the possibility of resurrecting the Buckhaven Gala over the next couple of years.

The youngest member is in their 20s, with many working people in their 30s, 40s and 50s also signed up.

“That’s one of the big differences about our club, we’re quite young in rotary terms, as the average age of a rotarian in Scotland is 72.

“We’re also two-thirds ladies, so that’s different from a lot of traditional clubs.

“For many clubs, it’s a status thing to be invited, but our club is just a group of people who don’t necessarily know much about rotary but who are community spirited; that’s the sort of people we want.

“This is a club for the community and anyone is welcome.”

To find out more and to join, search for ‘Provisional Rotary Club of Buckhaven & Methil’ on Facebook.