A FORMER press officer for Coronation Street, who is now president for Whitchurch Rotary Club’s ‘charter year’, says he is looking forward to the celebrations.

This year marks the Rotary’s 85th anniversary in Whitchurch as the founding members first met in January 1938, gaining members through the year until it was officially recognised in October, when this year’s birthday celebrations will reach a peak.

Graham King is the newly-appointed president for the year and says it has changed in those 85 years.

He added: “It’s obviously changed a lot in that time.

“It used to be seen as a sort of select businessmen’s club – but it’s nothing like that now.

“It’s a lively, informal group of women and men who work hard for the Whitchurch community and have some great fun in the process.”

Graham joined Rotary nearly 20 years ago and served in two Manchester clubs before moving to Whitchurch.

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He trained as a journalist and was a crime reporter in Brighton before switching to public relations with West Yorkshire Police where he worked for five years through the Yorkshire Ripper murder enquiry.

He moved to Granada Television where he was press officer for the long-running Coronation Street soap opera as well as the current affairs series ‘World in Action’ and more than 100 other programmes.

For 25 years, he ran his own business as a freelance publicist before retiring to Whitchurch five years ago.

He admitted that as he continues to spend time working for the town, he hopes to see younger members joining the club and help develop the next generation of Rotarians.

“Rotary in this town is definitely a lifetime highlight,” he said.

“It’s a unique group of people who have built a busy schedule of projects that support the community.

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“But, importantly, it also has a social reputation for friendship and banter.

“The old-fashioned view of a starchy gentlemen’s club is a long-gone thing of the past.

“The only improvement we could make is to attract more young members to help us do even more through to our next ‘charter year’ in another five years’ time.

“My last club president in Manchester was 22 years old – the youngest in the world – and I’d like to see that happen here too.”