Press Release

YORKSHIRE BUSINESSMAN TO LEAD ROTARY INTERNATIONAL IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

30th June 2007

Yorkshire businessman Allan Jagger will be inaugurated on June 30th as President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland at The Royal Armouries, Leeds.  He will lead 58,000 Rotarians in 1845 clubs across Great Britain and Ireland who are committed to service in communities at home and abroad. The Presidential handover ceremony will be attended by The Lord Mayor of Leeds Councillor Brian Cleasby  and The Lady Mayoress Jocelyn Cleasby and more than three hundred Rotarians and their partners from Rotary Districts within Great Britain and Ireland. Allan is a   member of the Rotary Club of Elland.

During the next twelve months Rotary Clubs will be addressing critical issues in communities around the world in particular literacy and education programmes, health and hunger, and water management projects. In Great Britain and Ireland Rotary Clubs will also focus on support for Cancer Research and Cancer Care, in particular the Institute of Cancer Research, to help raise funds and awareness of the many cancers and hopefully save lives by earlier detection.

The second major focus will be The Rotary Foundation,  Rotary's corporate charity, which is dedicated to furthering international understanding, goodwill, and peace and gives more than £50 million every year to educational and humanitarian programmes. Allan Jagger, President Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland said ” The Foundation relies on the enthusiastic support of Rotarians voluntarily giving generously of their time and money, and has become one of the foremost non-governmental foundations in the world. It is said that every minute of every day Rotary will touch the lives of millions somewhere in the world. The Rotary Foundation is one of the world’s leading charitable foundations and each Rotarian can be justly proud of its achievements. Rotary is recognised by international agencies and governments throughout the world as an effective organisation that doesn’t discriminate against age, sex and religion and can move invisibly across borders. ”

The first Rotary Club was founded by Paul Harris* in Chicago, USA on 23rd February 1905. Ever since, Rotary’s work has spanned the globe, with clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas and a membership of 1.2 million business men and women.

To arrange interviews, photos and more information:Contact  David Ward  01751 431258 email communications @rotary1040.org  or Judith Diment Telephone  07860 162313  or  email Judith@thediments.co.uk