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Useful Information

The purpose of this page is to gather together some information that you may find useful in preparing for and during your year as an Ambassadorial Scholar or Peace Fellow in Great Britain and Ireland.

Bank Accounts

The money laundering regulations for opening new accounts in the UK will apply to overseas Scholars. In order to open an account on the day of registration, the scholar would need to produce:

  • A passport
  • A confirmation letter from the University (on its stationery) sent to the Scholar at their UK address, stating their name, date of birth and the details of the course on which they would be enrolled. If the letter is sent to the scholar’s overseas address this would not be acceptable. It must be the UK address they will be staying at. If the University wishes to send this to the overseas address then that address should only appear on a covering letter, not the letter of confirmation.

    • A further practical problem to bring to the scholars attention is the difficulty in clearing cheques drawn on an overseas bank account. These could take up to several months to clear before the scholar could draw funds against the cheque. This inevitably leads to frustration and financial difficulty. It is recommended that an account is opened in the UK (under the money laundering regulations) and that funds are transferred from abroad into the UK account so that access is permitted without delay.

    The local area manager from Nat West Bank is very concerned that they provide the scholars, new to this country, with stress free banking arrangements in the most professional way possible. To support this, there will be a team from Nat West Bank present during the registration for the Link Weekend on the Friday afternoon at the Clarendon Suites. If you are able to bring the above items with you, they will be able to open a bank account for you. It is understood that the letter from the University sent to your UK address may be difficult to obtain in time though.

    Dress Code

    Various Rotary events will state a dress code to indicate what people are expected to wear to the event. Many of these terms are peculiar to Great Britain & Ireland and can be confusing to those who speak a variation of the English language.

    For the Link Weekend itself, we will not expect anything more formal than "Smart Casual". On Saturday, comfortable shoes are important, as is being prepared in case it rains!

    Business Dress

    The sort of clothing that would be expected at the regular meetings of the majority of Rotary Clubs (many Breakfast Clubs being an exception). This generally means what would be worn for a traditional office job here. Men would be expected to wear a jacket and tie, or a suit (female readers of this page will soon come to realise that it has been written by a man).

    Smart Casual

    This would generally be for a more relaxed occasion, where men are not expected to wear a tie. However, jeans would be excluded for men or women.

    Black Tie

    "Black Tie" really means "Dinner Jacket (DJ or Tuxedo)" for men and does not require a black bow tie to be worn - any range of colours or patterns is quite acceptable and often encouraged.

    Women have the challenge of working out if the event requires a "ball gown" or "cocktail dress" - which could be either "full length" or "knee length". The best advice is to ask someone else who is going along, to find out what they are wearing to the event.

    Fancy Dress

    No, this is not the same as the previous item! In our terms, "fancy dress" means a "costume party" or "masquerade" and is where people get the chance to be a little creative. There is normally a theme and for large events, such as a Rotary District Conference, the overall theme may be quite wide, with Clubs chosing a more specific version of the theme. As an example, an overall theme may be "musicals", with Clubs perhaps choosing "Cats", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", etc.

    In this case, it is always worth asking if you are expected to join in with your Counsellor's Club or with the other Scholars in the District.

    Rotary Protocol

    The section contains a few hints and tips that may come in useful when attending Rotary meetings and events.

    Grace

    The traditional way to start a Rotary meeting. This is equivalent to the "invocation" often used in Rotary meetings in the USA and takes the form of a short prayer of thanks. Some Clubs or Club Presidents opt for a "Thought for the day" as an alternative.

    Loyal Toast

    Always save something in your glass!

    A "toast" in this case is simply a small drink in honour of someone or something. The "Loyal toast" will generally be "The Queen" in the United Kingdom or "The President of Ireland" in the Republic of Ireland.

    For more formal events that cover a wider area, we can have both toasts, possibly with a third "The heads of State of those countries here represented".

    Final Toast

    Another reason for keeping something in your glass, although miming with an empty glass is an alternative!

    This is practiced by a large number of Clubs, who close their meeting with the "Final Toast" - "Rotary and Peace the World over".

    Vote of Thanks

    After the speaker - which could well be you, one of the members of the Club will "propose a vote of thanks", which can vary from a short thank you to a summary of the speaker's talk. Very occasionally the "vote of thanks" can be longer than the original speech!