New president takes office of Oswestry based Rotary club

At a meeting at the Sweeney Hall Hotel in Oswestry, last week, Cathy thanked club members for all of their support as the world emerges from the pandemic.

She said: “I took over when the direction of Covid was far from clear and many of us wondered if we could ever get back on track, but we did and managed to successfully hold all our major events, fireworks, Christmas parade and Mountain Bike Challenge, for the first time in two years.”

Mr Bryan-Smith has been a Rotary member for the last seven years and said: “Lots of Rotary Clubs have really struggled during the pandemic but Borderland is holding steady and I hope that our continued actions and activities will attract others to join us and help with our work in the community.”

Paul Crosby and Nick Gidney.

The first pleasant task for the new president was to join Justin Soper of Borderland Rotary Environment at Oswestry Guildhall to witness Oswestry Town Mayor Cllr Jay Moore signing a pledge to support Operation Pollination which is a Rotary International project that highlights the need to increase bio-diversity across the globe to enhance pollinator habitats.

Cllr Jay Moore said: "Look out for lots more jolly wild flowers across the town – we must all do our little bit for the environment."

Chris Bryan-Smith and Cathy Osselton at the Sweeney Hall Hotel. 

In the meantime, a long-time member of the Borderland and the man that introduced and has been running for 20 years RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership), Paul Crosby, was awarded the Paul Harris Sapphire medal by the District Governor, Nick Gidney.

This medal is presented to the Rotarians that brought a huge contribution to the community with Paul Harris Sapphire going to those that have already achieved the PHF but have not stopped going the extra mile for the club.