Following the success of last year’s Charity Christmas Light Trail, the Westminster Group Foundation is once again bringing festive cheer to Banbury with a dazzling display of lights and decorations at Westminster House.
The Events
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.
🇬🇧 Banbury Rotary Club at Remembrance Sunday 2025 🇬🇧
Today, members of Banbury Rotary Club were honoured to take an active part in Banbury’s Remembrance Day commemorations — a moving and unifying occasion for our town as we remembered those who gave so much for our freedom.
Where does Rotary fit in?
The Poppy Appeal is organised by the Royal British Legion and this year it runs from 23 Oct and 8 Nov.
Rotary Club of Banbury members have traditionally helped with these collections. For example last year over £70,000 was raised by the RBL Banbury Branch, and Rotary Club of Banbury members helped raise £15,655 of this by manning the Poppy Stall at Sainsbury's Supermarket.
This year we are again supporting the RBL Appeal manning a 2 hr shift (10-12, 12-2 or 2-4) on weekdays Mon-Fri over 2 weeks.
The next Rotary Young Musician Competition will be held at the Banbury Cricket Club on Saturday 7th February 2026.
Application forms need to be submitted by 20 Dec 25 and are downloadable from this page.
It's World Polio Day.
Braving Storm Benjamin, a team of around a dozen intrepid Banbury Rotary Club members and friends today planted 12,000 crocus corms at Banbury Cemetery and Crematorium.
Why?
Because, come spring, they hope the burst of purple colour, will raise awareness of Rotary’s global mission to eradicate the terrible disease - polio.
Read on to find out about a project that dwarfs the scale of HS2 but is 99.8% complete!
The most heartwarming series of events of the year is almost here! For four magical evenings, your local Rotary Club is thrilled to present our annual Children's Singing for Children Concert Series! Be enchanted as young voices fill the air with joy, harmony, and a wonderful enthusiasm. Each school will bring two songs of their own choice ranging from timeless classics to modern favourites.
Following that - prepare for unforgettable massed choir finales guaranteed to uplift your spirits and put a smile on your face or maybe bring a tear of joy to your eye! This isn't just a concert; it's a celebration of community and the incredible power of young people singing.
Bring your family, bring your friends, and make memories that will last a lifetime. All monies raised go to support Children's Charities. Add it to your calendar now!
John Davies told us about how his involvement in stamp collecting when his children became interested got a bit out of hand and ended up with him having a collection exhibited at several international exhibitions!
Saturday 4th October 2025
7:00pm at St Mary’s Church Banbury
Supporting 4 local charities
Alan Wolstencroft is a member of Banbury Rotary Club, and he is undertaking a 20 mile bike ride in order to raise funds for his latest "Alans Africa" project, to totally refurbish a 3-classroom block at Kono Town Primary School.
He's almost 80% there in terms of sponsorship …..
Al;ex spoke to us about the role of 1st responders in the South and Central Ambulance Charity.
The NHS benefits from people working in this charity helping them meet their response time targets but in reality they are charities and are not formally part of the NHS structure.
Lend with Care is an enterprising charity that has been running a loan scheme for eligible individuals or suitable groups in support of individuals aiming to be entrepreneurial in their own countries where there is no obvious support for them locally but where there is at least a framework of those who can administer such scheme safely to those providing the capital. There are many countries who cannot organise safe and proper organisation by reliable local agents, so the list may well be shorter than the real need of where help could be provided.
And so it was that an intrepid group of members of Banbury Rotary Club braved the travails of HS2 to visit Quainton Mill near Aylesbury.
They were not disappointed: the windmill soared majestically into the air just an easy walk from the pub at which time had been set-aside to share experiences over lunch.
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.
D - R - S - A - B - C- D
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.
Members can download duty Rotas from here but you'll need to be logged in.
The dates for the next Contact meeting are 14-17 May 2026.
Click below to see details of the programme.
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.This year members who participated contributed a total of £735.
The last club meeting at the Freemasons' Hall took place at the Christmas Lunch on13th December 2024. If you feel so inclined,
members can make a donation to Foundation instead of sending cards to fellow members
For members only - the 2025 internal lottery offers you a year of regular (weakly!) excitement for a mere £10/annum.All proceeds to Rotary Foundation.
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.It will consist of a guided tour and look around.
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.
The proposed visit to Sulgrave Manor had been cancelled but there was a meeting for members and partners / friends at Banbury Cricket Club at 6:30pm on Wed 2nd Oct 2024.
Read more for
updated comment and photo!
A "Banbury History Refresher" via a guided tour around the town
JOIN A PROJECT
Change your community with us by volunteering on a local project.
We offer many projects for local children and young people. We also raise money and hold collections for local food charities.
Additionally we engage with numerous international projects including: End Polio Now, Lend with Care, AquaBox, Shelterbox Alan's Africa etc.etc.
PARTNER WITH US
We work with groups and organizations of all sizes to accomplish even more.
Currently we have strong links with Katharine House Hospice, RVS Dementia and Social Eyes,
Via our events we have also recently supported Dogs for Good, Helen & Douglas House, Children Heard and Seen and the Sunshine Centre.
DISCOVER NEW CULTURES
Discover and celebrate diverse perspectives with a global organization.
We have strong links and annual exchanges with European Rotary Clubs as well as projects operating in Sierra Leone, Kenya and India.
We also contribute directly to the previously listed internationasl projects.
