Due to coronavirus and restrictions on meetings, the club’s annual assembly and handover took the form of a Zoom meeting with 28 members logged on.

Unfortunately, retiring president David Pugsley could not join the meeting but had forwarded a written report. In it he was pleased to announce that despite the lockdown in March all aims for his year had been met and more than £10,000 has been distributed to a large number of local and national charities including Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, Freewheelers Emergency Voluntary Service and Cancer Research UK.

David concluded his report by thanking the people of Wellington and surrounding areas for their generosity and continuing support, particularly at Christmas time.

Incoming president Mike Parkinson introduced his officers and committee chairmen for the Rotary year. Each committee chairman outlined what they hoped to achieve in the next 12 months, whether through fundraising or offering advice and practical help.

The president’s charities for the year will be the RNLI, St John Ambulance, the Department of Clinical Research at Musgrove Park Hospital and Rossholme Kenya, a school in the Kiambiu slum area of Nairobi.

The president confirmed that the club will continue to support ShelterBox, PolioPlus, give practical help to SeeAbility at Fiennes House in Wellington and develop the club’s allotment for community use. The club will continue to support other worthy local charities and organisations which are sometimes overlooked.

It was appreciated that the club’s activities will be constrained by the coronavirus situation and the knock-on effects to the economy. Although a programme of online meetings is being planned, it would be very much a case ‘watch this space’.

Mike Parkinson’s first duty as president was to award Paul Harris Fellowships to Rotarians Richard Coupe OBE and Bob Mills in recognition of their extraordinary service to Rotary and the community. The awarding of a Paul Harris Fellowship is the highest personal honour any Rotary Club can bestow.

The award is named after Paul P Harris, who founded the Rotary movement in 1905. Such is the importance of this award that since being formed in 1954 the Rotary Club of Wellington has presented only 41 Fellowships, including five to non-Rotarians.

The president closed the Zoom meeting by wishing all club members a safe and enjoyable Rotary year, and echoed immediate past president David Pugsley’s thanks to the people of Wellington and the surrounding districts for their support, without which the club would not be able to help so many worthwhile causes.