Clubs Connect

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.

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Friday 2nd October to Sunday 4th October

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Join Us In Newcastle | Friday 2nd October to Sunday 4th October | Book Now |

Introducing Clubs Connect

Clubs Connect is a new programme designed to bring Rotaractors together through meaningful experiences that celebrate people, community, and service. Rather than focusing on a single formal conference, this approach creates flexible opportunities for members to connect, collaborate, and make a difference in communities across Great Britain and Ireland.

By reimagining how we gather, Clubs Connect creates events that are more accessible, engaging, and reflective of how Rotaractors connect today — through shared experiences, collaboration, and hands-on service.

    • Members take part in a variety of social activities and make use of the host location’s unique features, from cultural experiences to local excursions.

    • Activities are designed to encourage networking, fun, and shared experiences, allowing members to engage with the weekend in a way that suits their interests.

    • Each Clubs Connect include a “Hit Squad” community service project, leveraging the manpower of attendees to deliver high-impact support for the local community.

    • The service project are a core element, ensuring the programme maintains Rotaract’s focus on service.

    • Attendees can choose which activities they participate in, balancing social, local, and learning opportunities.

    • Key shared experiences, such as the group meal and the service project, create moments of cohesion and shared purpose without imposing a rigid schedule.

    • Informal programming reduces overheads, allowing ticket costs to be affordable for members, while Rotaract GBI can subsidise the host club to ensure the event remains a true Rotaract GBI programme.

    • Members arrange their own accommodation, allowing them to tailor the weekend to personal preferences and budgets.

    • This model ensures the programme is sustainable for both host clubs and Rotaract GBI, avoiding the financial and logistical strain of traditional conferences.

    • Clubs Connect is designed to be experienced as a group from each club, strengthening existing club bonds and encouraging teamwork, rather than solely as individual attendance.

    • The model’s flexibility and lower cost mean that multiple Clubs Connect weekends could be held each year, expanding opportunities for engagement, service, and celebration across the Rotaract GBI network.

    • By rotating the hosting location among different clubs across Great Britain and Ireland, Clubs Connect showcases the diversity and reach of Rotaract GBI.

    • The programme reinforces that Rotaract GBI is not defined by a single place, but by a community of members united across regions, celebrating local identity while connecting to a large area.

    • Each event gives attendees the opportunity to experience and contribute to different communities, strengthening understanding, collaboration, and pride in being part of a UK & Ireland-wide movement.

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“Our network increasingly seeks experiences that are participatory rather than passive, practical rather than performative, and community-driven rather than top-down. By moving away from a predominantly formal, speaker-centric model and toward an interactive, people-focused, and place-connected experience, we can ensure our in-person events are connected to our current strategy and genuinely valuable to those they are intended to serve.”

— Danny Brown, Director of Transformation

Clubs Connect

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

Rotaractors come together to build relationships, discover the host community, and collaborate on projects that make a real difference locally. A key feature of each event is a hands-on community project — often delivered as a “Hit Squad” activity — where members work side-by-side to support a local cause.

Alongside service, participants enjoy social activities, shared meals, and opportunities to experience the unique character of the host location. The programme is designed to be flexible and welcoming, creating space for connection, collaboration, and shared Rotaract experiences.

People-Focused, Place-Connected

At the heart of Clubs Connect is a simple principle: Rotaract events should celebrate both the people who make up our organisation and the communities we serve.

Clubs Connect places Rotaractors at the centre of the experience. Rather than positioning members as an audience listening to a programme, the model encourages participation, storytelling, and shared learning. It recognises that the most valuable insights often come from the experiences of fellow members — their projects, challenges, and ideas.

The programme also celebrates places. Each event is rooted in the host club’s local community, allowing participants to experience different parts of Great Britain and Ireland.

Join Us In Newcastle upon Tyne

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Find Out More

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Join Us In Newcastle upon Tyne | Find Out More |

Next Event: Newcastle

Friday 2nd October - Sunday 4th October

Hosted in partnered with the Rotaract club of Tyneside, our second Clubs Connect weekend takes place in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Tickets are now on sale and you can learn more about the event on our event page, with a full programme coming soon.

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Clubs Connect Dublin

  • Three women take a selfie in an urban area with a stone building and a statue of a woman with a cart in the background. The women are smiling, holding pink signs that say 'People of Action,' and one is holding a smartphone.
  • A group of volunteers wearing yellow vests labeled "Rotary Ireland", holding trash bags, participating in a community clean-up event near a canal with buildings and a crane in the background.
  • A group of four friends taking a selfie in a lively city street with crowd and colorful buildings, including a red bar with flowers, under overcast sky.
  • Group of people enjoying a meal at a restaurant, sitting around a table with plates of food, drinks, and tableware, smiling and posing for the camera.
  • Group of people dining at a restaurant, smiling and looking at the camera, with drinks and table settings in front of them.
  • Group of four volunteers taking a selfie outdoors by a canal, wearing high-visibility yellow vests with a Rotary Club logo, some holding litter pickers and trash bags, participating in a community cleanup event.
  • Close-up of two people holding pink flyers with black and white text and a background image of a cityscape, with historic buildings and a tower.
  • Group of people enjoying a meal at a restaurant, smiling for the camera, with plates of food and drinks on the table.
  • Three people wearing yellow Rotary club vests are collecting litter near a pond, one person is holding a trash bag, during daytime.
  • Two women smiling and holding pink 'People of Action' pins, standing in front of a bronze statue of a person wearing a hat and glasses, with a city street and a double-decker bus in the background.
  • Group of seven friends smiling and sitting around a table with coffee and desserts in a cozy restaurant with a floral tapestry on the wall.
Read the Story of Clubs Connect Dublin

Our Strategy

Clubs Connect was introduce as a pilot programme in Spring 2026 and 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.

Our narrative is one of connection, service, and impact. Rotaract GBI is more than a network; it’s a movement powered by shared purpose and friendship. Our strategy outlines our role in this and is centred on four core pillars: Build, Grow, Support, and Empower.

  • By partnering with local clubs to host and plan programmes, Clubs Connect strengthens organisational systems, collaboration, and governance at both club and GBI levels.

    Shared responsibility ensures clear structures for planning, logistics, and funding.

    Local clubs gain practical event management experience, building long-term capacity across the network.

  • Rotating Clubs Connect across regions ensures that more members have accessible opportunities to attend, increasing engagement and visibility of Rotaract GBI.

    Showcasing different communities demonstrates that GBI is a network that’s not tied to one place, strengthening public recognition and the collective voice of the movement.

    The flexible, repeatable model creates potential for multiple events per year, expanding reach without adding disproportionate cost or complexity.

  • Clubs Connect offers flexible participation so members can select activities aligned with their interests, learning goals, and personal circumstances.

    Members gain new experiences, networking opportunities, and exposure to best practices from other clubs.

    The combination of social, local, and service elements creates a supportive environment where attendees can connect, collaborate, and develop confidence.

  • Local clubs leading programme design and delivery gain leadership, project management, and organisational experience.

    Attendees participating in Hit Squad service projects develop practical skills in teamwork, problem-solving, and social impact.

    By fostering leadership at multiple levels, Clubs Connect creates a legacy of empowered Rotaractors who can drive change locally, across GBI, and internationally.

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Read Our Strategy