The Rotary Club of Leicester, a distinguished service organisation dedicated to community service, has long been a source of hope and progress in the city. At the heart of their efforts is the Impact Group, a dedicated team of volunteers dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of those around them. The Rotary Peace Pole initiative, which promotes community harmony and understanding, is one of the group’s most impactful projects.
Understanding the Rotary Peace Pole Initiative
The Rotary Peace Pole is a simple yet powerful symbol that reflects the human desire for peace and cooperation. These poles, imprinted with the inscription “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in many languages, show the Rotary Club’s dedication to creating a more peaceful world. By placing these poles in strategic areas around the city, the Impact Group hopes to establish a network of peace-promoting centres that will inspire and involve the community. With this in mind, the group decided to build a Peace Pole at the Communities Food and Wellbeing Garden at the Hilltop Allotments in Evington, Leicester.
The money was raised by assigning tasks to four young Impactors aged 11 to 14 years old. Over the course of 7 months, they collected fruit, produced jam, soap, and candles, and sold them to friends, relatives, and at Rotary meetings. A four-sided pole with four languages was chosen based on the three most commonly spoken languages in Leicester. Japanese was the fourth to represent the origin of the Peace Pole concept, which began in 1955 in response to the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On Wednesday, July 17, the Peace Pole was built, with each language facing north, south, east, and west. Purple lavender was planted, and purple crocus bulbs are scheduled to be planted in 2025 to commemorate the End Polio Now campaign. District Governor Chris Knight and his wife Jane, as well as Rotary Club members and friends, attended the pole-revealing ceremony.
How the Peace Pole initiative creates a positive impact
The Impact Group is creating hubs of peace and dialogue in public spaces by strategically placing these poles, which will eventually become part of the community’s fabric.
- Promoting Intercultural Understanding: The Peace Poles serve as a visual depiction of the city’s diversity and entice people to engage with and discover various cultures and belief systems thanks to their multilingual inscriptions.
- Facilitating Interfaith Dialogue: For interfaith events, where religious leaders and community members come together to exchange their viewpoints, find common ground, and pursue a more harmonic coexistence, across the globe poles have become the focal point.
- Promoting Peaceful Conflict Resolution: Emphasising the need for open communication, empathy, and cooperative problem-solving, the Rotary Peace Pole project has motivated the community to take a more constructive attitude to handling problems.
- Improving Community Cohesion: The Impact Group has strengthened the ties among many members of society by gathering people around the common objective of peace, so promoting unity and shared responsibility.
Future plans and goals of the Rotary Club of Leicester’s Impact Group
As the Rotary Clubs’ Peace Pole initiative gains traction and recognition, the Impact Group sets its sights on a bold and visionary future. Driven by a relentless pursuit of progress and a deep commitment to their community, the club will erect a Peace Pole in 2022 within the multi-sensory garden of Neatherhall School in Leicester. There are plans to erect a new pole at another community focal point in 2025, serving as another beacon of hope in Leicester.
If you want to learn more and get involved in what we do and in the Peace Pole initiative, contact us and please visit Rotary Club Leicester. Together, we can create a brighter and more peaceful future for our community and the world.
