Wednesday 15th July saw the annual performance by the Wolverhampton Music Service Jazz Big Band, Youth and Youth Wind orchestras at the Wulfrun Hall. A packed audience was thrilled by the amazing talent shown by all the young musicians. The concerts run for the whole week under the title ‘Summer Sounds,’ involving students from 55 schools.

Every year at this event, Rotary in Wolverhampton presents the Fraser Dukes Award to the student gaining the highest marks in the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) examination.

The award, created to honour the memory of Past District Governor Fraser Dukes, an enthusiastic supporter of young musicians, was won this year by 18 year old Grace Carden who achieved a merit in her grade 6 flute examination, obtaining 80 marks out of a possible 100.

The award was presented by Sally Woods, President of the Rotary Club of The City of Wolverhampton.

Speaking after the award, Ciaran O’Donnell said “Grace is one of those students who works hard and is extremely committed. She has never missed a single lesson in her many years of study with her flute teacher, Mrs. Fletcher. She is a worthy recipient of the award, not just in the achievement, but in demonstrating the values that Fraser clearly embodied in his own work.”

Shown in the photograph left to right: Phil Leivers, Deputy Director of Education, City of Wolverhampton Council, Sally Woods, Grace Carden, Rotarian Don Lovejoy, District Governor, Rotary International District 1210.
PDG Richard Green

We are delighted to welcome Justin Gomersall into the club as the new Headmaster of Tettenhall College.  Justin has taken over from Chris McCallister, who has been the College representative for several years.  We have been involved with the College, which is one of our corporate members, for a number of years and believe that the relationship has been beneficial to both parties. We  are looking forward to working with Justin and Tettenhall College in the future.

Honorary Life Membership Awarded

It was a pleasure to award Peter Wright with an Honorary Life Membership award at my recent Valedictory meeting. Peter has been a stalwart of the club for nearly 35 years contributing to many committees and activities over that time as well as being a regular participant in the club’s quiz team. We look forward to seeing him, and his wife Cynthia, at future events and activities”

John Hollingsworth President 2025-26

President John Hollingsworth marked the end of his highly successful year at the conclusion of his valedictory address with the presentation of a Paul Harris Fellowship to former Wolverhampton Wanderers football star Rotarian Mel Eves who has been a member of the club since 2003, serving as President in 2012/13.

John made reference to Mel’s tremendous work in the community at large, which includes his role as player/manager of the Wolves All Stars Charity Football team which has raised around half a million pounds for numerous good causes; as well as being a sports journalist, Mel founded the Sports Parents Association, set up to provide impartial and informed advice regarding every aspect that a child could encounter throughout their sporting journey, with the wellbeing of the child being the overriding concern. He is also a Performance Master Coach helping to transform people to play and perform to their maximum potential.

In the last year Mel has taken over as Chairman of the Rotary Young Citizens Award, a joint venture involving the local clubs to recognise individuals aged 13 to 25 who demonstrate outstanding community service by acts of kindness, fundraising and supporting their neighbourhoods.

A truly justified honour paid to a tremendous Rotarian who demonstrates, in the words of the Rotary motto, Service Above Self.

On Saturday May 9^th the Rotaract club of The University of Wolverhampton club successfully completed a major cleanup program in partnership with the Street Cleansing and Public Realm team of the City Council.

Rotaract President David Nduaku writes:”With 14 members on site, the Rotaractors were able to make a tangible difference in the local area around Whitmore Reans. The feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positive, and their efforts even caught the eye of a new prospective member who has now pledged to join the Rotaract ranks.

A huge thank you to Past District Governor Richard Green for his guidance in organizing this effort and to everyone who showed up to lend a hand.”

The Rotary club of The City of Wolverhampton and several other clubs were delighted to host a team of visiting young people from Vechta, Germany under a programme pioneered by our District 1210, entitled Vocational Study Exchange. (VSE.) This followed a visit by our outgoing team to Vechta in the previous October.

VSE gives young people the opportunity to study their chosen career in another country for 2 weeks as well as visiting places of local interest and Rotary clubs. The participants are non Rotarians under the leadership of a Rotarian and they stay in Rotarians homes.

Rotarian Stefan Warnking the team leader said, at the conclusion of their visit “thanks to you we were able to gain many insights and vocational knowledge that a typical tourist would never experience. The VSE programme is a fantastic project and I consider these exchanges to be one of the most important development programmes within Rotary, offering maximum benefit and new friendships to everyone involved!”

Past exchanges have been held with groups from Finland, Norway and many other European countries. Plans are underway for an exchange in the next Rotary year. For further information contact John Mottram at  l_mottram@hotmail.com

Once again, the purple crocus corms that the Rotary club of the City of Wolverhampton planted in Bantock Park in October ‘25 in support of the Rotary International campaign to eliminate the scourge of polio have given bloom to a colourful springtime display.

We were supported by local schoolchildren and representatives from the Wolverhampton Fair Trade Association and the Global Diabetes Initiatives. It takes the total number of corms to 50000, helping to raise public awareness of the campaign and provide funds for the purchase of vaccines.