Welcome to the South East London area website for Rotary in London. On the evening of 23 February 1905, Paul Harris invited three friends to a meeting. Silvester Schiele, a coal dealer, Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor, and Gustavus Loehr, a mining engineer, gathered with Paul Harris in Loehr’s business office in Chicago. They discussed Paul Harris’ idea that business leaders should meet periodically to enjoy camaraderie and to enlarge their circle of business and professional acquaintances. The club met weekly; membership was limited to one representative from each business and profession. As they continued to convene, members began rotating their meetings among their places of business, hence the name Rotary. Club membership grew, making it difficult to gather in offices, so the members shifted their meetings to hotels and restaurants, where many Rotary club meetings are held today. These early “Rotarians” realised that fellowship and mutual self-interest were not enough to keep a club of busy professionals meeting each week. Reaching out to improve the lives of the less fortunate proved to be an even more powerful motivation. Rotary hence became the world’s first "service" club organization in 1907. Rotary’s popularity began to spread throughout the USA and subsequently the world and now has some 1.2 million members worldwide in over 32,000 clubs in 200 countries. Rotarians used the phrases “Service, Not Self” and “He Profits Most Who Serves Best,” which became the organisation’s mottos. “Service, Not Self,” was later changed to “Service Above Self” and has since been adopted as Rotary’s primary motto. South East London benefits from several Rotary clubs. This site aims to promote networking and information between the local area Rotary clubs. Members of these clubs comprise leaders in their respective professions and businesses in the local area of their club. There is a great opportunity for members, friends and you to network, make new friends and build lasting friendships. Clubs broadly have a common purpose and they regularly organise a whole range of events covering a wide range of interests - quiz nights, golf events, sporting events, dinner and dance events, fundraising events, etc. There are currently 8 Rotary Clubs in the South East area of London. The clubs comprise people who live or work in South East London and the surrounding areas. The following clubs are featured in South East London.  Bermondsey Crystal Palace & Norwood Deptford Dulwich & Peckham Greenwich Lewisham Penge Woolwich. You will find useful information on the activities of the Rotary Clubs. If you are member, please use the information to participate in Rotary activities. If you are not a member but would like to join in the local activities, you would be more than welcome to come. All you need to do is get in touch! We hope you find this website useful not only for an introduction to the activities of The Rotary Clubs but also to Rotary International in general. "Few there are who do not recognise the good work which is done by Rotary clubs throughout the free world," former Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain once declared.