Rotary International

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If you would like to know more about Rotary please feel free to contact Selwyn Beattie on 01207 232 604


 The Rotary Club of Stanley was founded on 4th July 1945 and is a member of Rotary International (R.I.) which began in 1905 (Chicago USA) and is the world's largest service organisation. Our motto is 'Service Above Self'.

We are a mixed gender club, meeting on a Tuesday lunch at South Causey Hotel. At these meetings we may have an outside speaker, or discuss and plan our projects and voluntary work in the community. Whilst we may support national and international projects the majority of our work is for the individual or groups of all ages and is centred locally.

Our members not only work for the community but take time out with their partners to visit theatre shows, visit other clubs, and compete in games nights and quizzes.

We support Tanfield School and work in partnership with the school to provide information and guidance to enter the youth competitions. In 2015 one of the Tanfield students won the overall Intermediate Young Writer Competition and was awarded gift vouchers from the District Chairman.

For the last number of years two Year 11 students have taken part in the Rotary Youth Leaders Course that has been sponsored by the Stanley Club. They had to attend an intensive team build course and raised funds by participating in an abseil across the Tyne Bridge.

Rotary Club of Stanley - Local History

The Rotary Club of Stanley on 9th May 1966, presented Stanley District Council with its coat of arms and the Chairman's Jewel. This was in celebration of the Club's 21st birthday.

The Coat of Arms can be seen on display in the Civic Centre. It is believed the Chairman's Jewel is incorporated in the chain of office of the Chair of the Town Council.

Interpretation of the Arms

ARMS: The arms of shield are indicative of the Union of the districts of Stanley, Tanfield and Annfield Plain. Across the middle, Causey Arch recalls its purpose to facilitate the moving of coal, the industry round which the whole area grew. Above the arch, the three parrots from the arms of the Lumley family refer to their tenure of the Manor of Stanley in the 15th and 16th centuries. Below, the pectoral cross of St. Cuthbert refers to the erection of Tanfield's Church about 1,000 years ago by the monks of Chester-le-Street, the repository of the relics of St. Cuthbert. In each angle is a flame of fire in allusion to legends connected with St Aidan, the patron saint of the parish of Annfield Plain: he was said to have, by prayer, changed the direction of the wind and thus to have diverted the fire which Penda, King of Mercia, had kindled against Bamburgh; when he died, his soul was said to have been seen by St. Cuthbert ascending to Heaven in a globe of fire. Thus, the emblems of the two saints closely associated with Lindisfarne and Durham are combined to represent their links with Tanfield and Annfield Plain.

CREST: Above the shield is the closed helm proper to civic arms, with its wreath and decorative mantling in the basic colours of the shield, the white of the Lumley arms and green, also from the Lumley arms and appropriate to the historical names of the districts - Stanley ("stoney lea or glade"), Tanfield and Annfield Plain. The crest spans the district's working history from Roman to modern times. The green circlet represents the turf wall enclosing the Roman cattle camp, which is recalled by the bull rising from it, wearing a Roman shield. These were often charged with a stylized thunderbolt, used in heraldy to symbolise electricity, as in the arms of the B.B.C., whose thunderbolt here refers to the importance of Pontop Pike. The black shield refers to the coalmining industry, and the chain to engineering.

MOTTO: The motto is a line from the famous Border ballad (Scott's "Marmion"): "On, Stanley, on!" Although the reference is not to the town, the exhortation to progress is just as valid.

The council are indebted to the Stanley Rotary Club for their kindness and generosity in making this Grant of Arms possible.

               

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