Saint Cloud Quadrilateral May 29th-June 1st 2025
One of the very special aspects of our club is our long-standing ‘Quadrilateral’ agreement with our sister Rotary clubs from Bonn in Germany, Tivoli in Italy and Saint Cloud in France.
Each year in late May one of the clubs takes its turn to host the others. This year between 29th May - 1st June, Saint Cloud on the outskirts of Paris hosted a group of 15 from Maidenhead, and in total nearly 100 Rotarians and partners from all the clubs were represented. Weekend events We were honoured to be offered warm hospitality by our French hosts. Alongside visits to Fontainebleu and Notre Dame, we dined in fellow Rotarian’s homes and at a gala dinner at Cercle National des Armées in central Paris. The four Presidents were able to meet and exchange gifts (ours being a painting of the Sounding Arch). Our hosts were delighted their football team Paris Saint-Germain won 5-0 against Inter Milan! Our visit was very special as it marked the completion of a whole Quadrilateral cycle since COVID restrictions were lifted. Our Quadrilateral is founded on the Rotary ideals of dialogue, international cooperation, and friendship in the service of peace. Our visit enabled us to build joint projects, exchange ideas on our respective actions, and strengthen human connections. We were delighted to see one of six specialist disabled sport wheelchairs our clubs have jointly funded in Paris. As Rotarians we sincerely believe peace is not born solely from treaties, but also from relationships formed between people. In 2026 it will be our club’s turn to host our international friends, as part of our club’s centenary celebrations. If you’d be interested in finding out more about Rotary and getting involved, please do get in touch! Matthew Burdett President 2024-25 |