Dundee Rotary Club honoured local businessman Charlie Kean at a special dinner held to mark the end of the club’s 90th birthday celebrations.
Mr Kean was awarded one of the organisation’s highest awards a Paul Harris Fellowship. The award named after one of the founders of the Rotary movement is normally given to Rotarians for exceptional service.
However, it can be given to non-Rotarians, and Mr Kean became the first person in the history of the Dundee club to be given the accolade.
Presenting the award, Dr Bill Macfarlane Smith, past president of the Rotary Club of Dundee and immediate past district governor for North East Scotland, described Mr Kean as the epitome of Rotary’s motto Service Above Self and its commitment to help others less fortunate.
He said, “Charlie is a person with a real heart of gold, who recognised a desperate need in society. Through his Kean’s Children’s Fund, he is well known to thousands of children, not just in Scotland but in other parts of the world.
“In over a decade of activity fighting cancer, he has raised a quarter of a million pounds and he has provided clothes, computers, TVs, and games for sick, disabled and disadvantaged children.
“His annual Christmas party has benefited more than 35,000 children during the past 13 years.
“Patients, their families and staff alike who are particularly involved with the oncology and paediatric Wards 29 and 30 at Ninewells Hospital, where he has done so much to help, think the world of him.”
When he tried to leave the stage, Dr Macfarlane Smith was given a surprise of his own, when he was also presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship by John Minhinick, vice-president elect for Rotary International Britain and Ireland.
Dr Macfarlane Smith is only the 17th member of the club to have been given the award in the last 30 years.
The dinner attracted 200 guests, including representatives of many of the other clubs throughout the district.