Dedicated Rotarians celebrate helping their communities after 20,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered in Clitheroe

Back in December, Rotarian Bill Honeywell saw a piece on BBC North West Tonight with Furness Rotary volunteering at Barrow and immediately thought “We could do that in Clitheroe ” Dr Russell Robb, the doctor in charge of vaccinations at Clitheroe Health Centre, said: “Yes please!”

To our offer their support during the mass roll out, Rotary members were asked to help and responded magnificently. Little did they know that by the end there would be over 220 volunteers, most, of course, ordinary members of the public who were keen to help.

Commenting on the inspirational initiative, Rotarian Mr David Bleazard, said: "Bill, along with Clitheroe Rotary President, Jenni Schumann, worked on planning and logistics. The programme started with 16 marshals per shift, and vaccinations got under way. Jenni, furloughed from her full-time job, immersed herself in the programme, discovered the online scheduling system ‘"sling" and put in hour after hour after hour of hard work – an inspirational example to everyone! Jenni was subsequently awarded the prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship for all the work she has put in on this project.

"Town Crier, Roland Hailwood, was out and about in Clitheroe last week, giving a special Cry to mark the end of marshalling for the Rotarians. The fun, the fellowship, the sheer enjoyment of meeting so many people, the satisfaction, the knowledge that everyone has been part of a great worthwhile effort, the raising of Rotary’s profile – all these have combined to produce one of the best things we have ever done as a club. And the after-effects will be long lasting too. Rotary also now has a group of new supporters and friends it hopes to call on to get involved in future community projects. People know us now as People of Action and facilitators of volunteering in our wonderful community."