How Rotaract is Reimagining Connections

Rotaractors from across our network came together in Dublin at the start of this month for our pilot Clubs Connect weekend.

As part of our commitment to bringing Rotaractors together, we have reimagined what our events look like. This new programme replaces the more formal conferences that have long provided an important opportunity for our network to connect, celebrate Rotaract, and engage with the wider Rotary family.

Clubs Connect is a flexible weekend experience hosted by a local Rotaract club and supported by Rotaract Great Britain and Ireland. Each event combines social activities, local exploration, and community service to create a programme that is informal, engaging, and meaningful for members.

We wanted our reimagined events model to;

• Celebrate people – placing members, their stories, projects, and lived experiences at the centre, rather than positioning attendees primarily as an audience.

• Celebrate place – meaningfully integrating the host location’s community, culture, and service context, so the event feels rooted and distinctive rather than interchangeable.

• Work for Rotaractors – designed around accessibility, affordability, wellbeing, and relevance to members’ personal, professional, and service journeys.

With our organisation covering both the UK and Ireland, hosting our first Clubs Connect in Dublin reinforced our commitment to supporting clubs across our entire network, while providing an ideal setting and easy to reach location.

Hosted in partnership with the local Rotaract club, the programme was designed to showcase the best of Dublin while creating opportunities for members to connect, learn and work together.

Across the weekend, participants explored the city's history and culture, supported independent local businesses, and took part in a range of social activities designed to strengthen relationships between clubs. Interactive challenges encouraged members to discover Dublin beyond its main tourist attractions while working collaboratively with Rotaractors from different backgrounds and clubs.

Service remained at the heart of the experience. In support of End Plastic Soup's Worldwide Action Day, participants worked along Dublin's canal network to help improve the local environment while contributing to a global effort to tackle plastic pollution.

One of the attendees, Michael, said;

"With this project, we set out to clear as much litter as possible. In the end, we all had to genuinely restrain ourselves from picking up more and more. With enough time and litter bags, we really could've - even for a moment - ended plastic soup."

This event brought together participants from 5 different Rotaract Clubs, and 7 different nationalities, creating a truly international atmosphere. This diversity enriched discussions, encouraged the exchange of different perspectives and demonstrated the strength of our organisation’s network.

This new pilot programme is informed by our strategy which sets out how we will deliver high quality foundations and opportunities to our network. It reflects our commitment to uplifting every club and every Rotaractor, wherever they are on their journey.

We envision a Rotaract movement where every member has a shared sense of community and common purpose which they use to create meaningful change - in their local communities, across the world, and within themselves.

Following the success of the pilot in Dublin, the programme, we’ll be taking the learning from this first event to Newcastle, in partnership with the Rotaract Club of Tyneside, for the second Clubs Connect which will take place between Friday 2nd October and Sunday 4th October.

Following Newcastle we hope to deliver this event three times a year with early plans to next move to South West England before heading to Scotland in 2027.

Extra time in Ireland also allowed our Chair and Director of Transformation, Chloe Rollings and Danny Brown, to visit one of Cork’s local Rotary clubs, who are celebrating their 100th year, as part of Rotaract GBI’s strategic work of Build, Grow, Support and Empower.

Rotaract GBI Chair (Chloe Rollings) and Director of Transformation (Danny Brown) outside the HQ of the Rotary Club of Cork.