Our members were very pleased to see Past President Tony Loughran be recognised as a Paul Harris Fellow* today. Tony has been an active member of our Club since 1997, and served as Club President in 2022-2023. Prior to that he was a member of Round Table and then The 41 Club, becoming Chairman of both organisations.
Even before becoming President of our own Club, Tony helped served the Club and the community in many ways: he’s assisted regularly with the League of Friends of the Kent & Canterbury Hospital‘s annual fete (manning the barbecue), and has volunteered readily for various street and store collections such as in collections for Marie Curie. He is also very active in his church, and is a committee member of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, which helps people experiencing poverty. Currently, Tony chairs the Lord Mayor of Canterbury’s Christmas Gift Fund and continues to highlight awareness of the Skeletal Cancer Trust.
On becoming our President, Tony led the Club very successfully – launching it into its second centenary. He has been a keen supporter of our links with The Rotary Club of St Quentin and the other Pentangular Clubs, forging strong links with them. Tony has played an important role in the organisation of our Annual Duck Race – a complicated job requiring considerable management skills.
As current President Rosemary Doyle said, as she handed him his PHF, “Tony is a very worthy recipient of the Paul Harris award and I am delighted to present him with this honour”.
Picture: Our President Rosemary Doyle presents PP Tony Loughran with his Paul Harris Medal. Picture credit: Rotary Club of Canterbury.
*”A Club can request Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) recognition to recognise either a Rotarian or non-Rotarian who, in its opinion, is worthy of this award. Clubs in Rotary GB&I have traditionally reserved this honour to mark their appreciation for service to Rotary but personal donations to The Rotary Foundation will also accumulate credit towards receiving the award.” (https://www.rotary-ribi.org/districts/page.php?PgID=517978&DistrictNo=1285).
