Refereeing Anecdotes – Louis Thow – 25 July ‘23

Louis Thow is a name well-known to football fans generally and to Ayrshire fans especially. An established name on the speakers circuit, Louis entertained the members with a host of tales from the days when, as an SFA category 1 referee, he officiated in some 1400 games between the years of 1979 and 1996. Louis’ ... More

Jim Redmond from RNLI

Our guest speaker Jim Redmond, on the challenges and work of the ‘Royal National Lifeboat Institution’ generally referred to as the ‘RNLI’. Jim was born and brought up in Ayr, initially trained as a baker before joining the rescue and fire service where he served for 19 yrs. He then medically retired from the fire ... More

Ron Swanson of the Ayrshire Hospice

The Ayrshire Hospice aspires to ensure that every adult with palliative and end of life care needs and those people most important to them will receive timely and equitable access to high quality service, delivered by appropriately trained staff and volunteers, said Ron Swanson, Assistant Fund Raising Manager at Ayr Rotary ... More

Liz Marquis of the Energy Agency

Liz was our speaker at our recent meeting. Two German exchange students accompanied her on the evening. The Energy Agency is a charitable organisation providing free, impartial and expert advice to households, businesses and communities, covering energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable transport. Our ... More

“Are We Nearly There Yet?” – Bruce Keith – 16 May ‘23

This excellent talk was about milestones and Bruce Keith certainly knew a thing or two, as one would expect from a retired surveyor with a clear passion for measurements of all sorts. Bruce has talked to the club before (about bridges) and his earlier book “Bridgescapes”. His new, companion book “Are We Nearly There ... More

Major Linda Watson of the Salvation Army

The ever charismatic Major Linda Watson was the welcome guest at Ayr Rotary Club's recent weekly meeting More

Ian Watkins on The Changing Face of Terrorism

Using the unassuming title of “spontaneous events from our emergency service,” Ian Watkins mesmerised his audience at the prestigious St Nicholas Golf Club with tails of his lifetime serving his country in various roles including Policing in the Provinces, Serious Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism. The face of ... More

Keep Scotland Beautiful – Barry Fisher CEO – 28 March 2023

Barry Fisher is currently the Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful the national charity charged with creating a cleaner, greener, sustainable Scotland. Since graduating from Glasgow University and studying at Auchincruive, Barry has worked in a number of important roles, mostly in the voluntary sector, and was an ... More

The Glasgow Tobacco Barons

Ayr Rotary Club was privileged to experience an excellent talk from David Vennard on the Glasgow Tobacco Lords, who were a group of Scottish merchants. In the 18th century they made enormous fortunes by trading in tobacco which was supported by the slave trade. Many became so wealthy that they adopted the lifestyle of ... More

Billy McLeod of River Garden, Auchincruive,

Billy McLeod the interim General Manager at River Garden Auchincruive was our speaker on Tuesday evening. He opened by stating they help people to leave behind their drug and alcohol addiction through a model of recovery that is refreshingly different. Based on the most successful self help charities across the globe at ... More