Thornbury Rotary Swimarathon
Thornbury Active Centre
Thornbury Rotary is delighted, once again, to be able to host the Swimarathon at Thornbury Leisure Centre.
The fun Swimarathon event has been 'run' since the 1980s and has raised over £500,000 for local and national charities and good causes. For 2026, the Swimarathon will take place on the evening of Friday 6th and afternoon of Saturday 7th March.
Teams of up to 6 friends, family members, colleagues or club members swim lengths in turn; each individual - or the whole team - seek sponsorship for their efforts. There is no charge for taking part.
For full details and to book your team’s place visit the Swimarathon website below now.
The Rotary Club of Thornbury thanks all past swimmers and sponsors for the fabulous support given to the annual Swimarathon event. Swimarathon 2026 will be taking place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th March at the Thornbury Leisure Centre.
This major Thornbury community event raises funds for many charities and good causes. The principal beneficiaries for 2026 are local charities Krunch South West and JIGSAW Thornbury. Once again, Panache Steel Band will be playing at most of the sessions, creating a fun atmosphere as the teams enjoy their swims.
Teams of up to 6 members (all ages) swim lengths in turn. Each individual, or the whole team seeks sponsorship for their efforts. There is no charge for taking part. This is not a race, nor an endurance test, but a fun event to raise money for great causes.
For full details and to book your team’s place visit the Thornbury Rotary website then click the ‘The Annual Swimarathon’. Sponsorship forms are available to download, or, for online donations, click onto our: JustGiving page.
Thornbury Rotary Club was formed in the town in 1971 and has contributed to the life of the town and surrounding district by raising monies on behalf of many local charities and community organisations as well as for national and international projects, charities and disaster appeals.
It is one of the more than 45,000 Clubs world-wide within the Rotary International organisation founded over a century ago dedicated to its 1.2 million members in 200 countries working together using their skills and organisation helping to serve their communities both locally and internationally. In Great Britain and Ireland some 35,000 members in 1500 Clubs. The Club’s Fundraising is registered as a UK Charity, Charity No: 1035557.
Locally the Thornbury Rotary Club has 2 styles of meeting for members. The Thornbury Rotary Network allows for local men and women to meet socially to share ideas and plan projects to support good causes. This is sometimes more convenient for people in busy working roles to take part, making friends and networking.
The long-standing Thornbury Rotary Club is the more traditional meeting style with dinner meetings held twice a month at the Ship Inn, Alveston with a variety of speakers.
Both styles of meeting facilitate discussions on community, environmental, youth and international projects. These meetings lead to members working together organising various events such as the Swimarathon, Duck Races, Quizzes, Walkathons, Christmas Fairs as well as organising and supporting youth events and competitions with local schools such as the Young Musicians and Youth Speaks competitions.
Our aim for both styles of membership is all about helping others while enjoying friendship and fun. As a Club we are committed to equality, fairness and respect
Anybody who is interested in learning about becoming a member of either style of meeting is welcome to contact us via our website at www.thornburyrotary.org.uk or contact our Secretary () and after discussion you may be invited at no cost to come along to a meeting to see what we do. For those who do not feel ready to commit you can always become a Friend of Rotary by agreement to being asked to help at a few individual events.
We believe in supporting young people who live in and around Thornbury We run a number of competitions which showcase their talents. Students can develop their communication, self confidence and leadership skills on the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Scheme where we choose and sponsor two candidates annually to attend the Leadership event held away at a specialist Centre over several days.
Our other youth activities include Young Musician, Young Golfer, Young Chef, Mock Interviews at local schools, Kids Day for Special Needs Children. We have also worked closely with JIGSAW and Krunch.
We work in the local community and with other local organisations in the community to assist their efforts Examples include tree planting, JIGSAW fun days, Thornbury Carnival, the provision of Duck Races, a Human Fruit Machine, Thornbury in Bloom, Thornbury Foodbank, the provision of a defibrillator in Oakleaze Road, financial support to local youth organisations and much more.
In addition, we have supported many local charities via our events such as the Swimarathon, bucket collections and fun days. Every donation we raise for charities goes in full to the charities.
We help promote, and when appropriate participate in local environmental improvement projects recognising this is a growing area for concern. Whilst locally we have helped in some efforts to enhance local environments we aim to work with others when we we can assist. One recent example is the Pickedmoor Rhine Project in Thornbury, and we are collaborating with two other Bristol Rotary Clubs to discuss projects with the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust.
Rotary has worked internationally with partners over the past years to raise funds and help provide vaccinations to poorer regions across the world to be part of the global effort to eradicate polio. In Thornbury we raise awareness of the disease and recently used a full-scale simulation of an iron lung device to help this campaign as well as raising funds with community collections, events at schools and in the community. Together with the World Health Organisation and the Bill Gates Foundation this international Rotary focus and fundraising have helped eradicate polio in most countries across the globe.
Locally we are now raising the profile of a global campaign to eradicate and prevent malaria which is currently a major threat of death and disease in many regions of the world .As an educational tool a member of Thornbury Rotary has designed and had constructed a very large model of the female mosquito, which is a dynamic and interactive display of the disease transmission with explanation of the methods for protection and eradication by vaccination of the disease which is being exhibited at local events..
We also participate in the Lend with Care Charity which helps possible entrepreneurs in underdeveloped regions with modest financial loans which assist in development of small sustainable enterprises enabling them to repay their loans and assist the development of businesses within their communities supporting self sufficiency
We have also undertaken raising financial donations for many disasters which can be turned into practical support and help arrange for resources to be provide local Rotarians volunteering support in their affected communities, notably resulting from tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes.
