About Us 

We are part of Rotary International which has over 1.2 million members in more than 200 countries and our own shared international charity- the Rotary Foundation.   Rotarians have a shared passion for service that helps us accomplish the remarkable. Our differing occupations, cultures and countries give us a unique perspective and approach. We've been making history and bringing our world closer together for over 100 years since Paul Harris and three friends got together to establish the first club.

Our President

Peter Raynsford JP is our President for 2015-2016. Peter was in the Licensed Trade for 30 years and is currently a Trustee of the Licensed Trade Charity. In 1991 he was appointed a Magistrate serving in Central & West Herts. Married to Linda, he has 2 sons and 3 grandchildren and has been a Rotarian for 11 years.

Our charities

We have supported in the last couple of years

• Hertfordshire Action on disability
• Isobel Hospice
• Friendship House
• local food banks
• a rotary water project in Haiti
• Village Water
• local schools
• East African Playgrounds
• Flood Relief
• Foundation
• Friendship House
• HAD Project
• Riding for the disabled

Fundraising

We organise fund-raising events to benefit local, national and international charitable activities, raising over £20,000 each year. Our major fund-raising Events are:

• The Welwyn-Hatfield Walk - Jointly run with the Rotary Club of Welwyn Garden City, this is a sponsored 6 or 11 mile Walk through Sherrardswood, to the Ayots, and back through the Brocket Estate, usually held at bluebell time. Next year’s WHWalk will be on Sunday 17 April 2016. Our website is  www.whwalk.org.uk
• The Santa run www.santa.hatfieldrotary.org.uk is a wonderful opportunity for you to raise funds for your own charity and support Rotary's chosen charities too.  More than 100 dress up in Santa costumes to for a short run in December each year. 
• Frost fair - Father Christmas @ Hatfield House Frost Fair where Father Christmas greets children, young and old, and Mums, Dads and Grands and other grownups can arrange for letters to their, and other, littles, with photographs where requested.

Get in touch

For the next few months our meetings are being held at The Mercure Oak Hotel, Roehyde Way, Hatfield AL10 9AF  Phone: 01707 275701.  Lunch meetings  are at 12.45 - 14.00 hrs on the first and third Wednesday in the month, and Dinner at 18.15 - 21.00 hrs on second, fourth and fifth Wednesdays. Send an email to secretary@rotaryhatfield.uk

PolioPlus the fight against Polio

In 1985, Rotary launched its PolioPlus program, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children. Rotary has contributed more than $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $9 billion to the effort and now every dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication is matched two-to-one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation up to $35 million a year until 2018. Rotary’s focus is advocacy, fundraising, volunteer recruitment and awareness-building.  Less than 370 polio cases were confirmed worldwide in 2014, which is a reduction of more than 99 percent since the 1980s,

A Rotary International Global Grant Project - The Baragwanath Palliative Care Programme

This project arose because the Rotary Club of Hatfield in its work with Isobel Hospice had learned that rule changes had made a large number of syringe drivers in the UK redundant.  These are vital for providing controlled amounts of pain relieving drugs to patients in their homes, enabling those with life limiting conditions to stay pain free in their homes rather than in hospital. 

The UK's loss was South Africa's gain and we collected large numbers of syringe drivers for transfer to hospitals in South Africa.  We have now begun a project to develop palliative care using the syringe drivers in one of the largest hospitals in South Africa serving Soweto.