A keen traveller and churchwarden, who is part of a global movement to transform the lives of women and girls, has been appointed Rotary Club of Royston president.

Karin Weston is a native of Derbyshire and has been a member of the club for seven years. After a career in the pharmaceutical industry, she is now the club’s second female president.

She said: “I’m honoured to be elected president and although I do feel a little trepidation, I’ve got a great team around me, with plenty of experience to guide me on the way.”

Karin told members at the club’s changeover dinner in Cambridge’s Magdalene College last Tuesday.

She said: “The international strapline for the new Rotary year is ‘Rotary Serving Humanity’ and I know the Rotary Club of Royston will live up to that. We try to serve our local community in various ways – just take a look at our youth activities, such as Youth Speaks, the Technology Tournament and Youth Makes Music. We join with four other local rotary clubs to organise Kids Out, a day of fun for special needs children.

“Our annual Swimathon raises money for each team’s nominated charity and for rotary charities. We organise the superb Kite Festival each year on Therfield Heath and since 1985 we’ve supported Rotary’s global battle to end polio and this is now so close that it may actually happen this year.

“We work hard at these worthwhile activities, but we’ve not forgotten how to party – we organise some great social events throughout the year. Every new club president chooses a special charity for the year and mine is to be Herts Air Ambulance – something we hope we never need to use, but still want to know that it is there.”

When not involved in Rotary, Karin is a churchwarden and a member of the Soroptimists – a global women’s charity. She is also a keen traveller with a taste for unconventional destinations – last year’s trip took her to Sudan. The Rotary Club of Royston was founded in 1962 and meets on Tuesday evenings at Royston Golf Club – see www.roystonrotary.com for more.