AS the Rotary Club celebrates its centenary, clubs in Ledbury and Colwall are looking back at their achievements.

With fundraising for charity and work in the community and overseas, each club has a lot to be proud of.

The Rotary Club of Ledbury is 50 years old in 2006 and plans to hold a large charity fun run to mark the occasion.

Spokesman Ian Stoddart said the club had developed over the past six years. Membership has increased from 23 to 34, including three ladies and it is currently involved in several exciting projects.

"It's really been a good time," he said.

"We have a good atmosphere in the Ledbury club and a good mix of people from all sorts of backgrounds."

Over the past few years the Ledbury club has twinned with a Rotary club in Tobago, West Indies, where it set up two projects to help tackle community problems.

By arranging for breakfasts to be served in schools, pupil attendance was upped by 64 per cent.

The club has also supported a footcare clinic that has reduced diabetes-related amputations by 50 per cent. Both projects have now been adopted by the government.

The tsunami disaster has been a recent focus of fundraising, with the club raising around £7,500 for its victims.

Closer to home, the club has been involved in devising a strategic plan for Ledbury's future, led by the Market Towns Initiative and the Ledbury Partnership. It supports a different charity each year; in 2005 it is Acorns Children's Hospice.

Meetings take place every Wednesday at the club's original meeting place, the Feathers Hotel, at 7pm.

Anyone who would like to join the club should contact Una Morgan 01531 631 347

The Rotary Club of Colwall was set up in 1986 and has around 32 members from a 10-mile radius of the village.

Spokesman Peter Haynes said it was a bit different to other Rotary clubs because it attracted younger members.

He described the rebuilding of Colwall Village Hall, one of the club's first projects, as among its most important achievements.

"Members helped with site clearance to prepare for the new building which has been a great asset to the village," he said.

On May 30 the club is holding one of its Colwall Village Fun Days, which it holds every other year, when around 35 Colwall organisations will run stalls to raise cash for their own funds and village projects.

At Christmas Colwall Rotary ran a Tree of Life in the village for the first time, raising more than £1,200 for St Michael's Hospice.

Raising funds to build a house for a family in Sri Lanka, whose home was destroyed in the tsunami disaster, is a current project. The club has organised a race night in Colwall Village Hall on March 5 to raise funds for this cause.

The club meets at the Malvern Hills Hotel every Thursday at 7.30pm. Contact Mr Haynes on 01531 890129.