Paul Harris
On 23rd February 1905, the first service club in the world, the Rotary Club of Chicago (Illinois USA), was formed by Paul Harris. He was a lawyer who wished to recapture the friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth, within a professional club. The name "Rotary" stems from the early practice of meetings being rotated among member's offices. Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents by 1921.
Margarette Golding, née Owen Meanwhile, in Hay-on-Wye, England, a young lady by the name Margarette Owen had been growing up, going on to train as a nurse and serve in the First World War. After her return and rise to managing director of a local business, she married Oliver Golding, a Manchester businessman and Rotarian.
The first glimpses of Inner Wheel were on the 15th November 1923 when a number of Rotarian's wives convened in Manchester to form a "Ladies Rotary Club". It was on the 10th January 1924 when Mrs Margarette Golding presided over this club of Rotarian wives that the name "Inner Wheel" was adopted.
Over the following decade, clubs started appearing all over the UK and Ireland and so in 1934 the Association of Inner Wheel Clubs in Great Britain & Ireland was formed.
It was 1967 when International Inner Wheel International was then formed which enabled members in any country to serve as officers.
International Inner Wheel links together clubs from different areas of the world including Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. It comprises approximately 100 locations around the world with 103,000 members.
The name of the founder, Margarette Golding, is given to Inner Wheel’s only award for outstanding personal service.
Each year, the 10th January is celebrated as "World Inner Wheel Day" to honor that day when Inner Wheel was officially christened back in 1924.
What do we do?
We hold meetings once a month which take the form of a business meeting with an agenda, preceded by a meal, and often with a speaker. Additionally, social events are organised either for fundraising or fellowship. |
