District Rotary Foundation Committee 2025 – 26
In this issue of the newsletter, we give an overview of different types of grants.
1. District Grant
District grant fund is for relative small-scale, short-term activities that address needs in your community and communities abroad. The projects should be finished within the same Rotary year. The deadline for applying for district grant fell on 31 August 2025. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact AG Adrian who is the Chair of the District Grant Subcommittee. His email is:
2. Global Grant
Global grants are larger international activities with sustainable, measurable outcomes in Rotary’s 7 area of focus. They should have a minimum budget of US$30,000 and a maximum award of US$400,000. Global grants are designed for at least two or more Rotary Clubs in different countries to work together. In order to have more understanding to global grants, District Global Grant Sub committee held a global grant workshop at RIC and members showed enthusiasm to apply global grants. If you have any queries about global grants, please feel free to contact PP WT Wong who is the Chair of District Global Grant Subcommittee. His email is:
3. The Rotary Foundation Programs
In addition to district grants and global grants, there are other TRF programs as follows.
(a). Scholarship
The Rotary Foundation (“TRF”) and clubs invest in our future leaders and philanthropists by funding scholarships. Clubs and districts offer scholarships for secondary, undergraduate, or graduate study. These scholarships can be supported with funds raised locally or with TRF district or global grants. Rotary Club of Kowloon East has recently nominated a candidate and succeed in granting scholarship to the candidate to study in Scotland, United Kingdom. The candidate is able to purse a Master’s in Social Worker in Scotland, which help him become a licensed social worker. With this professional knowledge, we hope he can promote peace in Hong Kong by addressing the challenges faced by ethnic minorities and fostering better understanding between communities. The course will last for two years and the candidate is expected to finish the study and return to Hong Kong by October 2027.
At Club level
Rotary club scholarships are given by individual clubs and are open to anyone except Rotarians and their families. Individual clubs can determine whether they offer such scholarship and prepare their own selection criteria.
At TRF level
At TRF level, Rotary Clubs can apply to TRF for District and Global grants to support scholarships.
- District grant scholarship
District grants can be used to sponsor secondary school, undergraduate, or graduate students studying any subject, either locally or abroad. The scholarship may cover any length of time, from a six-week language training program to a year or more of university study. Individual Clubs can determine the scope, selection process, and amount, etc. and apply for a District grant for scholarship purposes. District grant’s rules and procedures are applicable.
- Global grant scholarship
Global grant scholarships are for graduate students studying abroad in one of the seven areas of focus, familiar to Rotarians, namely, peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; community economic development and environment.
Scholarships last from one to four years and can include an entire degree program.
(b). Vocational training team
Vocational training team (“VTT”) is a group of professionals who travel to another country either to learn more about their profession or to teach local professionals about a particular field. Our district is currently planning on forming a VTT. A group of Hong Kong cardiac doctors will fly to Ulaanbaatar around 3 months later to train young Mongolian doctors there about the cardiac knowhow and how to utilize cardiac equipment to save lives in Mongolia.
(c). Rotary Peace fellowship
TRF offers scholarships for college graduates and professionals to study peace and conflict resolution. Each year, Rotary awards up to 130 fully funded fellowships for dedicated leaders from around the world to study at one of the peace centers. The Rotary Peace Fellowships are available to candidates who want to participate in a master’s degree or professional development certificate program at one of the partner universities. These peace centres are located in Bangkok Thailand, Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Bradford England; Tokyo Japan; Brisbane Australia; Kampala Uganda; Uppsala Sweden and Istanbul Turkey. The 2026-27 Rotary Peace Fellowship application is now closed. The 2027-28 application will be available online (www.rotary.org) in February 2026. If you have any queries about the different kinds of TRF programs, please do not hesitate to contact The TRF Programs Sub Committee Chair, PP Thomas Yeung. His email is:
Events in August 2025
On 13 August 2025, a workshop was organised by the Global Grant Committee at the Rotary Information Centre for those Rotary clubs that are interested to apply for global grants.
On 16 August 2025, a special make-up session of the Foundation and Grant Management Seminar was arranged for those Rotary clubs that was chartered after the last Seminar held in November 2024.
Last but not least, do bear in mind the following important event dates.
| 19 October 2025 | End Polio Walk & Run in Macau |
| 31 October 2025 | Cutoff date for donations to qualify as Every Rotarian Every Year (“EREY”) Club |
| 8 November 2025 | Foundation & Grant Management Seminar (!!!) |
| 18 December 2025 | Intercity Meeting |
| 1 March 2026 | Ultramarathon 2026 cum End Polio Walk |