Round Table
What is Round Table?
Fun, friendship and trying something new and exciting, that's what Round Table is all about. From sports to arts and nights out at restaurants to family social events, Round Table prides itself on giving its members the chance to embrace life to the full.
Round Table also opens up wonderful opportunities to become more involved in your local community and meet new friends from across the UK and the world.
Helping others while having great fun and enjoying new experiences is at the very heart of Round Table.
Origins and Development of the Round Table Movement
The first Round Table was formed in Norwich in 1927 by a young man named Louis Marchesi. He felt that a need existed for a club where the young businessmen of the town could gather on a regular basis to exchange ideas, learn from the experiences of their colleagues and play a collective part in the civic life of Norwich. Within a year, membership of this club had grown to 85 and interest had been shown in establishing Round Tables elsewhere.
Shortly after the foundation of Round Table in Norwich a second Round Table was established in Portsmouth and subsequent growth was rapid. Today there are some 700 Round Tables across the whole of Great Britain and Ireland.
Round Table also proved itself to be a universal ideal, the first overseas Table being formed in Copenhagen in 1936. Round Table now flourishes in the majority of European countries, throughout Africa and in the Middle East, India, Hong Kong and New Zealand. As a result many Tables in this country have links or are "twinned" with overseas Tables with which exchange visits are arranged on a regular basis.
In addition, Round Table supports a number of community service projects, particularly those in Africa and Asia. Round Table has been instrumental in establishing clinics in Africa, refugee villages in Hong Kong, and in the re-building of schools in India and Sri Lanka following the 2004 Tsunami.
Why "Round Table"?
Round Table owes nothing to Arthurian Legend, deriving both its title and its maxim from a speech made to the British Industries Fair in 1927 by the then Prince of Wales:
"The young business and professional men of this country must get together round the table, adopt methods that have proved so sound in the past, adapt them to the changing needs of the times and wherever possible, improve them".
The design of the Round Table emblem is, however, an adaptation of the table which hangs in the great hall, Winchester and which is claimed to be the Round Table of the court of King Arthur.
Round Table has used the motto of "Adopt, Adapt, Improve" to make it an organisation which is still relevant in the 21st century.
Round Table in Basildon
Basildon Round Table was formed in 1963. It has successfully run the annual Fireworks event in Gloucester Park for many years, along with the Christmas Sleigh collections, and has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for good causes in Basildon.
Basildon Round Table has always attracted local professionals and businessmen, and today's members come from a range of backgrounds including accountancy, banking, plumbing, car sales, and printing. Members include both the employed and self-employed, and all live or work in or around Basildon.
Despite the diversity of backgrounds, Round Tablers all share a common desire to have fun, share new experiences, and help the Basildon community.