Our diverse community includes individuals who are currently working or have worked in fields such as engineering, retail, social care, education, health, accountancy, law, and many more.
If there's a profession you can think of, chances are we have or have had a member with experience in that field or close connections to it.
Join us and see how we turn words into action every day and support our local community.
David is our newest member, having transferred from the Lichfield Rotary Club in the New Year, and gave a short description of his career since leaving school in west London aged 16 with some o-levels. 
He became an apprentice building services engineer (4 years) and spent the next 10 years on various private projects in the London Docklands, the Great Ormond St Hospital and the Hotel de las Artes, Villa Olympico, Barcelona.
Emma Orton spoke at the Club Frugal Meal on Thu 26 Mar 26 to introduce Assisted Reading for Children (ARCh), that helps pupils in Oxfordshire who struggle with their reading. They send trained volunteers into primary schools and aim to inspire in the children we see a love of reading. This will enhance their lives and improve their life chances.
In November 2025 The Rotary Club of Banbury raised £7800 for childrens good causes through it's “Children Singing for Children” concerts.
It may seem a bit early to be planning for November 2026 - but in organising four evenings of concerts with around 600 children there's a lot to get sorted!
If you are a local primary school and haven't yet signed up - we recommend you do so ASAP and certainly befote 1st May 2026.
We can only accommodate maximum of 24 schools. So far we've got 17.
It's first come: first served so read on to make sure your school doesn't miss out on this truly uplifting event.
Joan Bond gave a short talk to members at the Speaker Meeting on Thu 12 March to share the very personal story of her extensive and heart-felt search for her unknown parents. After much work, and some luck, she was eventually able to make contact and form a close relationship with her maternal family who originally lived in Persia but some members of whom came to the UK during WW2.
Friday 20th March saw a visit by Dawn Hodson, from Reducing the Risk, to our meeting to receive a total of £650 from the Autumn Concert surplus and certain supermarket collections. She gave an update on the charity - and in particular the work they are doing with local schools.
You can read more about this charity here.
She was accompanied by Sally Scott, who is Oxfordshire's Deputy Lieutenant: someone who is playing a lead role in actively supporting the Reducing the Risk project.
You can read more about the lieutenancy here.
Hundreds of Rotary clubs across Great Britain & Ireland have been supporting Lendwithcare since 2011. Lendwithcare is a microfinance initiative run by CARE International UK that allows individuals to lend as little as £15 to support entrepreneurs in low-income countries. The program aims to help people set up and run local businesses in very poor but safe locations throughout the world, where repayments of the loans made can be collected safely and regularly by honest people.
After discussion at a recent Open Club Meeting regarding a perceived drop in regular numbers attending club meetings it was decided to try holding 2 evening meetings a month with a view to attracting those who cannot attend on Friday lunchtime either due to work or cultural commitments. So, from 1 March 2026 there will regular weekly meetings at the Cricket Club held at 1230 for 1300 on odd numbered Friday lunchtimes of the month, and at 1800 for 1830 on Thursday evenings on even numbered weeks of the month. See Event Calendar for details of any specific meeting.
On 26rd January 2026 we were presented a talk by Sonia Robinson from Trading Standards entitled “Scams and Rogue Traders” which set out the role of Oxfordshire Trading Standards and how to protect oneself.
We are coming up to Febriary which for Rotary is Peacebuiling and conflict Prevention month.
Rotary's 1.2 million members are committed to this as one of the seven key areas.
They also actively seek to help those affected by conflict.
Read on for more information including how Rotary Clubs are helping those affeceted by the war in Ukraine.
The dates for the next Contact meeting are 14-17 May 2026.
See more details of the programme.
Please be deciding whether you will be taking part.
Following the success of last year’s Charity Christmas Light Trail, the Westminster Group Foundation once again brought a festive cheer to Banbury with a dazzling display of lights and decorations at Westminster House. The 2025 event took place over two weekends — Friday 5th to Sunday 7th December and Friday 12th to Sunday 14th December, from 6pm to 9pm each evening.
Visitors were able to take a magical walk through the illuminated gardens, enjoy hot drinks and food stalls, and take part in a Children’s Christmas Quest. The entry fee was by a suggested donation of £5 per person, with all funds raised going to charity.
The Westminster Corporate Rotary Members helped by a few Club Members helped to raise £5000, which will be split amongst their choice of local charities. See below for a letter of thanks from them for our support.
See photo-albums further down the page for photos of this event.
Annie Gayton, who caters for us at the Cricket Club, teaches her culminary and enterprise skills to catering student at Banbury College. Part of the practical tuition for students is to produce and serve a practice Christmas Meal to paying guests on Tues and Thus lunchtime in the two weeks before Christmas. Purely out of the goodness of our hearts (and stomachs) ten members and partners volunteered to be guineapigs at their first event on Thu 4 Dec 25, and I have to admit that the meal was very generous (in a massive way) and increadibly tasty. Sometimes it can be great fun helping out in the community!
Over 40 members, partners and guests shared fellowship and a festive meal at the Whately Hall Hotel on Thu 11 Dec 25 in a Posh Frocks event. The idea originated with a suggestion by Amanda Laurenson and this was taken up by Paul Gardiner, who arranged the venue and festive menu, and Martin Phillips, who arranged the entertainent by the Five Ways Harmony Choir. The food, service and entertainment were great fun and everyone thoroughly enjoyed dressing up for an evening out with friends - hopefully, a trend that will be repeated again before the end of the Rotary Year!
We recently received a heartwarming letter from a trustee of the Banbury SocialEyes charity group, part of MyVision Oxfordshire, to thank us for the generous contributions we made to them this year, and to wish all members a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Attached is their annual report, highlighting what they have been doing this year and the impact of MyVision in this area. You may spot Steve Baker in one of the photos.
Members of SocialEyes would welcome the opportunity to tell you more about living with visual impairment and what the local group means to them. Also, members of Rotary would be welcome to join one of their monthly coffee and chats at the Mill so that the group could personally thank you for your support.
You are thanked for Club's work in raising funds and generosity to Banbury SocialEyes.
What an unforgettable week it has been! Our Children's Concert Series has been a resounding success, with 22 local schools and 450 children shining bright on stage, each school performing two songs before combining into a massed choir of 100 - 150 young singers for each evening’s finale.
The 4 day series of concerts drew to a close with storming renditions by Frank Wise School students singing ‘Elephants have wrinkles’ and ‘Let’s go fly a kite’, again followed the massed finale songs in which all the young singers performed with such gusto and enthusiasm that you’d have needed a heart of stone not to be moved by the joyousness of the whole occasion.
Signed-in Members can download notice of the AGM on 1st May 2026 by clicking here.
The dates for the next Contact meeting are 14-17 May 2026.
See more details of the programme.
Please be deciding whether you will be taking part.
Thanks to Alex for some high quality training on the CPR and the use of defibillators.
He commenced by explaining the difference between a heart attack (plumbing) and cardiac arrest (electrics!)
In the case of cardiac arrest the electrical signals to the heart are often in a state of fibrillation (irregular fluttering).
The patient will be unconscious and the first 3-5 minutes are pivotal. CPR keeps oxygen circulating until a defibrillator can be used to stop thje fibrillation and allow the heart to restart with a proper rhythm.
In a cardiac emergency, time is life. Immediate CPR and defibrillator use can double—or even triple—a person’s chance of survival. Yet too few of us are trained.
Whether you're at home, work, or in the community, knowing how to respond could mean the difference between life and death. Training is quick, accessible, and empowers you to act confidently when it matters most.
💡 Be the difference. Get trained. Save lives.
Summer holidays saw a smaller than usual number of members at the Friday meeting.
The absence of our president also gave our recently designated 1st Vice president an opportunity to run his first club meeting – which he did with unsurprising efficiency despite being adorned with an L-plate!
All good wishes Peter and Pat as you move away to your new home.
Thanks also for the super "farewell do" where good food, good drink, good weather and most importantly good company were the order of the day.
You can see some of the photos from our 2025 exchange by visiting the photo-album here.
Tuesday 20th May, 7 o'clock at BCC for a pre club European Exchange meeting. (Contact)
Bring a plate to share with a German theme, and pen and paper
Alison will take us through the arrangements for our trip to Aalen-Heidenheim, it is really important at least one person per couple attend but hopefully all can, to make sure we are all well briefed.
A tradition has evolved of club members not giving Christmas Cards to each other but - instead - making a payment into The Rotary Foundation Fund.
The last club meeting at the Freemasons' Hall took place at the Christmas Lunch on13th December 2024. 
For members only - the 2025 internal lottery offers you a year of regular (weakly!) excitement for a mere £10/annum.
These events are all in the list of upcoming events but mixed up with a large number of Service Activities such as supermarket collections and other fund-raising or community service events.
Visit planned by John Bennett to the Bugatti museum located at Prescott Hillclimb on Wednesday 16th October followed by optional pub lunch.
Nigel R has emailed members alerting them to the likelihood of the Clubrunner app becoming the main vehicle of club communicationand has asked for members who are not yet able to use the app to get in touch with him.
Members can follow this link to see the structure and make-up of the club committees and working groups: ClubRunner: Committees
Members can download duty Rotas from here but you'll need to be logged in.