Rotary Club of Eastbourne celebrates its centenary with £100,000 donation to help the homeless

By Andy Hemsley

Published 27th Oct 2022, 10:59 BST

One of Eastbourne’s longest-established service clubs celebrated its centenary year with a gala dinner at the Grand Hotel.

Guests gathered along with members of the Rotary Club of Eastbourne to mark a hundred years since eight founder members met in 1922 to create an organisation that “the best men in town would wish to join”.

Fittingly, the evening also marked the culmination of the club’s centenary “Homes for Homeless” project and the presentation of a cheque for £100,000 to the Southdown Housing Association. Southdown is match-funding the donation to help purchase and furnish two self-contained flats in Eastbourne, to accommodate homeless people.

Receiving the cheque, Neil Blanchard, Southdown Chief Executive, said the project would create a lasting legacy and “help change the lives of many”.

He added: “The rotary club has done fantastically well to raise this staggering amount during the past two years in support of their campaign. I’d like to say a heartfelt thanks to its members for choosing to support homelessness for their centenary fundraising project. It has been a privilege to work alongside them.”

Club president Graham Marsden told the audience: “This is also an opportunity to remember our founder members, to look back with pride at our achievements and to rededicate ourselves to the Rotary motto of ‘service above self’.”

The speaker was retired Major General Tim Cross and dinner guests included Eastbourne and Willingdon MP Caroline Ansell and rotary district governor Paul Frostick.

Have you read? Hunting for ghosts in haunted Sussex