Our meeting on Wednesday 05 April 2023 was a face to face meeting with speaker Kim Tanner, the Inner Wheel District 13 Chair. With the meeting being held on the eve of Pesach, attendance was not strong, but the friendship and fellowship were both evident.
Inner Wheel is a partner organisation of Rotary International, but it is entirely separate from Rotary. It was founded in 1924 in Manchester by Margaret Golding, and shares much of the same ethos and the same aims as are pursued by Rotary Clubs around the world. Membership in Inner Wheel Clubs is restricted to women only.
Kim spoke about the activities of her own Club, the Inner Wheel Club of Clapham, the District 13 Clubs which cover the area inside the M25 (in broad terms), the National Organisation, and the International Organisation.
Inner Wheel provides service, and raises funds for charities. Kim’s chosen charity for her year in the chair is Papyrus (https://www.papyrus-uk.org/) an organisation that offers a range of suicide prevention training to individuals, organisations and communities who want to create a suicide-safer society. There is a special emphasis on prevent suicide in young people. From a free 30-minute SP-ARK session to a two-day ASIST course – they have a range of suicide prevention education and training courses available. Papyrus can provide more information on training through training[at]papyrus-uk[dot]org and runs a help line at Tel: 0800 068 4141. During her talk, Kim explained how she had become interested in Papyrus.
The worldwide Inner Wheel Convention in their centenary year will take place in Manchester, and we were introduced to the International President for 2024, Trish Douglas who comes from Scotland, and to the logo that has been designed for the event.
This was an interesting talk, and we were encouraged that a new Inner Wheel Club will soon be opening in the London District.
