27th April - COL Resolution on Satellite Clubs Approved

Great news from Chicago this morning. JC woke at 4am to call me to say that the Resolution put forward by George M from the Cardiff club on the establishment of Satellite clubs has been approved by COL. This is great news, since George has been trying to get this through for some time. We will have to wait and see if the Board will put new legislation to the next COL but this is the first step. Text from the RI site as follows:


Council of Legislation representatives Tuesday endorsed the concept of a new type of Rotary club, a satellite club, that would allow prospective members to become Rotarians through a host club while they wait for the satellite to gain enough members for its own charter.
Representatives voted in favor of asking the RI Board of Directors to propose legislation for the next Council on creating satellite clubs. Satellite clubs would differ from provisional clubs because there would be no limit to how long they could exist before gaining enough members for a charter. Also, prospective members would be considered full-fledged members of the host club until the satellite club gained its charter.
"Provisional clubs often fail to achieve the number of members they need to get their charter. Years of work by the host club go to waste and the provisional members often lose interest in Rotary, never to return," said John C. Williams of District 1150 (Wales), which proposed the legislation. "If satellite clubs fail, the members are far more likely to remain Rotarians because they are members of the host club."