Maria becomes Rotary club’s first female member
A Shropshire Rotary club has inducted its first female member, in a socially-distanced ceremony.
After 33 years of being an all-male club, Shrewsbury Severn Rotary has announced that Maria Jones has joined its ranks, representing a significant break with tradition.
The recruitment of Maria is regarded by the club as "a great boost to their membership campaign".
The club hopes that now Maria has joined they will attract more female members.
Maria is well known in the county as Shropshire fundraising executive for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, which she joined in 2008 having previously worked for the Black Country Mental Health Trust.
Her first role with the charity was as a tin collection officer covering Staffordshire, Shropshire and West Midlands. The job at the time involved re-organising, accounting and placing new tins across the region – a total of nearly 5,000.
In 2010 she was invited to become regional fundraiser covering Staffordshire, Shropshire and the West Midlands. The decision was later taken to have a fundraiser executive in each county and she was invited to keep Shropshire.
Maria said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining and I like the way everyone interacts with each other.
“The members perform like a team and it seems to me they are a very connected group.”
