On February 13, the club hosted a lunch attended by its district and assistant district governors, as well as by presidents and representatives from 20 other Rotary Clubs from this part of England.

They met in Chislehurst to hear speaker Allan Jagger, the current president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.

Mr Jagger, a Yorkshireman, gave a fun-packed talk with encouraging words to spur on the 82 other Rotarians present.

He referred to his recent discussion with Microsoft's Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Gates Foundation.

Bill has challenged the Rotary movement to raise funds over three years and promised to match their efforts with up to $100m donated from the foundation as part of a global campaign to eradicate polio worldwide.

Over the past 20 years, Rotary International has achieved a lot in its drive to eradicate polio, but the job now needs finishing as there are still some cases of polio in India and a couple of other countries.

Mr Jagger praised the efforts of local clubs who continue to raise much-needed funds for worthwhile causes locally, nationally and internationally.

He thanked them for donations to the flood disaster appeals the UK suffered last year, where Rotarians provided emergency support.