Rotary Bows Out After 60 Years of Fundraising
Community Rotary Ponteland has held its final meeting after more than 60 years of raising money for local causes, with its best-known events set to continue under new organisers.
A community group that has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity over more than 60 years has bowed out with a celebration dinner.
Community Rotary Ponteland, formerly the Rotary Club of Ponteland, held its last meeting at Ponteland Golf Club, its home for over 30 years. Formed in September 1964 by local businessmen, the club once had a membership of more than 50 people.
Over the decades it organised the popular annual Duck Race in Ponteland Park and the Christmas Market and Santa's Sleigh collection each December, and provided grants to local primary schools, Scouts, Guides and the Boys' Brigade. It also funded young people from Ponteland High School to attend a leadership training course each summer for over 20 years, and financed projects in schools in the Philippines.
Facing declining membership, the club took the difficult decision to close in November 2025. Its main fundraising events will carry on: the Duck Race under The Sunshine Fund, the Christmas Market at Ponteland Memorial Hall, and the Santa's Sleigh collection with the Ponteland Round Table.
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