Rotary and the Coronation

Several months ago, King Charles III expressed the wish that the Bank Holiday Monday following his coronation should be defined as the start of The Big Help Out, when new volunteers would be encouraged to create and support projects that helped communities and nature, for example.  

In response to this strong wish, Rotary of Great Britain and Ireland strongly encouraged Rotary clubs across the UK to join thousands of people across the country who would be trying out volunteering for the first time as part of the coronation celebrations. 

Cranleigh Rotary decided that their best response to this national initiative would be to create a ‘volunteer-based advert platform’ which dove-tailed with the already planned Community Celebration Day in Cranleigh on Sunday, 7 May.

This strategy reflected the expectation of large crowds gathering to enjoy a wide range of street entertainment, picnics, craft fairs, children’s games etc. Following discussions with several established volunteer-centred bodies in Cranleigh, a multi-poster display was set up in the High Street in order to reflect their important benefits to the community, as well as their ongoing need for new volunteers.

The posters displayed represented the following: Rowleys Centre for the Community; Cranleigh Village Care (CVC): Memory Lane; The Food Bank; Cranleigh Baptist Church; Cranleigh Arts Centre; and Riding for the Disabled (RDA).

As anticipated, several thousand people joined the celebration on the Sunday and the ‘exhibit’ (see photo, with Club President David Barry) gained a lot of interest.