Purley Rotary Club this week welcomed its first woman President in its near-100-year history.

Pam Tibbles receives her Purley Rotary badge of office from Frank Hardiman

Pam Tibbles took over from Frank Hardiman on Monday. “I am tremendously honoured to be appointed the club’s first female President since it was formed in 1923 and look forward to building on our excellent service to communities – local, national and international,” she said.

Tibbles has been a member of Purley Rotary since 2015. She has spent her working life in nursing, including qualifying as a psychiatric nurse, and she was Director of Nursing Practice for the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals when she retired.

She says that what she loves about Rotary is “like minds wanting to do things for others, enjoying fun and good friendship and fellowship”. She is also a member of Purley Rotary’s “sister” organisation, the Inner Wheel of Purley.

After receiving her President’s badge from Hardiman, Tibbles said that she is looking forward to “re-energising” Rotary in Purley, with an emphasis on good communication and teamwork, and she will be encouraging more women to join.

She has already chosen two of her three nominated charities for her presidential year: MIND in Croydon and the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation. She will also be involved in identifying and planning projects to celebrate Purley Rotary’s centenary in 2023.

Meanwhile, Hardiman, having completed a second term as club President, has become assistant governor responsible for the 12 Rotary clubs in the south area. He is already working on bringing back the popular Classic Car Fun Day in 2020.

• Under The Flyover – The Inside Croydon Podcast: Episode 1, Mark Butcher on music, racism and Ashes cricket. Listen here

• Become an Inside Croydon supporter today. For £5 per month enjoy access to exclusive content and money-saving special offers, while helping to support the borough’s only independent news outlet. Click here for more details

• Inside Croydon Events: click here for details of hundreds of other events in and around Croydon

• Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
• Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and BBC London News
• Inside Croydon named Journalist of the Year at 2018 Anna Kennedy Online Autism Heroes Awards
• ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: For two consecutive years, 2017 and 2018, Inside Croydon has been the source for two award-winning nominations in Private Eye magazine’s annual celebration of civic cock-ups
  
• In 2018, Inside Croydon had 1.6million pages viewed by more than half a million unique visitors
• If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or what to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com