Each club has a committee that helps the club to run efficiently, organise events and fundraising and provide contacts for information. Any club member can stand for a committee post, with voting taking place in March/April. The Rotaract year runs from July to June.

Who does what?

President
The President's main task is to co-ordinate the club for 12 months. They are the "figurehead" of the club and represent the club at various meetings and functions. They are also the main contact for Rotary, Rotaserv and other Rotaract clubs in the District. They must chair both club and committee meetings and attend District and some Rotary meetings. They get involved in all aspects of the club and need to know what is going on to be able to assist the other committee members if necessary.

Vice-President
The main role of the Vice-President is to assist the President wherever necessary, usually involving standing in for them at meetings. Their biggest role though is the organising of the club's Charter Night. This is the evening when the club celebrates receiving it's Charter (i.e. the Club's birthday party). There are many different ways to celebrate the occasion from formal dinner/dance to barn dances and themed discos.

Treasurer
The Treasurer is in charge of keeping the club books up to date and providing balances at the meetings. Along with the President, the Treasurer is in charge of setting the budget for the coming year and helps with the collection of club subscriptions. Each member must pay an annual subscription, set by the Treasurer and President. This money helps towards the running of the club and district. Subs are always due by the first meeting in September. If paid late there is usually a penalty. New members get three free months and then their subs are worked out Pro Rata.

The Treasurer arranges the payment of any bills or expenses for the club. They must also ensure that at the end of the year the accounts are presented for audit and passed.

Secretary
The main duty of the Secretary is to take the minutes at the club and committee meetings. All minutes must be signed by the President and kept in a folder for future reference. The Secretary handles all club correspondence. At each club night the Secretary is usually guaranteed to have "Nothing to say"!

Social
The Social Officer's role is to organise and arrange club social events. At each meeting the Social Officer will have a folder with lists of all the up and coming events for people to sign up for.

Sports
The Sports Officer's role is almost the same as the Social Officer's except they deal will sports events rather than social. They are responsible for getting together teams for any sporting events happening in the District and for organising Challenges against other clubs. They can be anything from sporting events, like bowling, darts, etc to things like chocolate eating challenges, crisp tasting events etc.

International
The role of the International Officer is to organise events on an international level or theme. The aim is to get the members involved outside of their immediate area. This can be done in several ways with day trips abroad, foreign meals or by establishing a link with a Rotaract club in another country.

Vocational
The Vocational Officer is in charge of the educational side of Rotaract, organising events with a slightly educational theme. In the past this has included trips to the Vinopolis for wine tasting, museums, 3D IMAX cinemas, dry slope skiing plus many other events. As you can see the educational theme is very losely fitted around the events!

Publicity
The role of the Publicity Officer is to advertise the club to the public in order to attract new members and raise the awareness of Rotaract. The officer also organises things such as Displays Boards each year in the local Library for Rotary Awareness Week. Publicity is also gained from having photos and articles in the local papers. It is therefore the role of this officer to liase with the paper for a photographer to attend events and to send in Press Releases. Most Rotaract clubs have their own scrapbooks and it is up to the Publicity Officer to keep these up to date. The scrapbook holds pictures, articles, tickets, menus, etc of the events the club has attended.

Membership
The main role of the Membership Officer is to welcome prospective new members to the club and make sure that they understand what is happening. They also work closely with the Publicity Officer in organising publicity events and new members evenings. They produce the membership list and distribute it amongst the club members.

Rotaract/Rotary Liaison Officer
This officer is a member of a sponsoring Rotary Club who can come along to club nights and acts as the main link between the clubs. The Liaison Officer reports back to his Rotary Club about what Rotaract is up to and helps with the organisation of joint events. Our club has three Liaison Officers as three Rotary clubs sponsor us. At the beginning of each Rotaract year the incoming Rotaract committee meets with the incoming Rotaract/Rotary Liaison Officers to discuss the organisation of joint events and how Rotaract and Rotary will interact.

Rotary International is a worldwide association of local clubs for men and women in business or the professions. It's aims are to provide humanitarian service to the community at local, national and international level; encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and work for goodwill and peace in the word. It was founded in 1905 and has over 1.2 million members in more than 29,000 clubs in almost 160 countries. Britain has over 61,000 members in around 1,800 clubs. The three Chelmsford Rotary clubs are Chelmsford (founded in 1927), Mildmay (founded in 1972) and Chelmer Bridge (founded in 1984).