THE new president of Altrincham Rotary Club is Brendan Bates who has been elected to the position for the second time Altrincham.

Brendan is particularly looking forward to developing the club with more people asking to join.

The club is very active in the local community, supporting school projects with art and speech competitions and aiding local charities and the local Sea Cadets.

The main fundraising event this year will be a swimathon to be held early in December at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, Commonwealth Games pool.

The swimathon is for individuals and teams to help raise money for local charities.

Brendan was born Rotherham, south Yorkshire.

He is married to June, and has two sons and two grandsons Oliver and Harry.

On leaving school, he worked in the steel industry for 10 years as an engineer.

He moved to Manchester in 1969 to join Lancashire County Council's children's department, working in Eccles.

He qualified in social work at Manchester University and joined Trafford Social Services in 1974 working in Urmston, Altrincham, for 13years, and Sale.

In 1997, he joined Wigan Social Services.

Brendan joined Rotary in 1983 and became president in 1993-94 and was club secretary 1994-1999 and 2009-2014

As well as Rotary, he enjoys swimming and walking.

Altrincham Rotary Club meets weekly at the Cresta Court Hotel, in Altrincham.