A project to assist visually impaired pupils is among several initiatives the new executive members of the Hamilton Rotary Club plan to pursue in the months ahead.

At a ceremony yesterday, Cathy Bassett, who was elected president of the organisation, said the executive would work in the best interest of Bermuda.

She told a gathering at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club: “I am very humbled to be here and I will give Rotary 150 per cent as we work as a team.”

Ms Bassett said: “If we can all work together as a dream team, it’s amazing what we can do.

“We are going to be positive and optimistic. We are going to encourage each other to create balance and we are going to strive for excellence.”

She said the executive would pursue a number of goals as it carried out its mandate over the next year.

They include fostering a closer relationship with members, working towards increased diversity and inclusiveness, and further enhancement of the body’s image through an active public-relations campaign.

The executive will also work to enhance youth development in the community.

Ms Bassett said there were many young people on the island who did not possess “proper skills” after completing school.

She added: “We really have to hone into this reality. That is what our club is going to be doing this year. We are going to try to find avenues to target this part of the population.”

Beverly Daniels, a youth director on the new executive, will work on a scheme to help visually impaired children.

She said: “My project is one that is dear to my heart because it is associated with a population that I have a lot of empathy for. That population is the visually impaired, some of whom may have other disabilities.”

The retired educator said she would partner with the charity Inspire Bermuda.

Aymori Duncan, the club’s director of sustainability, is working to create a mobile application to reduce waste by enabling food establishments to sell surplus stock at a discounted price, hours before it is thrown away.

With the support of Hamilton Rotary Club, he plans to team up with organisations such as the charity Home, to ensure residents in need benefit from the project.

Mr Duncan said he was undertaking awareness campaigns to highlight “how we use food, how we can utilise it and make food-use better and change our practices on our island”.

Noelle Young, a youth advocate, will work on a project to gather information that can, in turn, help young people. She said the project had a broad mandate but would benefit the island in the long term.

She plans to submit a report on her project to the United Nations in time for the UN’s Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties, scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, later this year.

Meanwhile, Greg Soares, the outgoing president of Hamilton Rotary Club, told the new executive about the importance of social media and how it would benefit the organisation in the future.

He said that under his presidency, he had embarked on a project that used social-media platforms to keep the island’s residents informed about the club’s work.

Mr Soares said: “I want to encourage the new board. Rotarians, if you’ve got projects, get it out there.”

As well as Hamilton Rotary Club, Bermuda is home to the Rotary Club of Pembroke, the Rotary Club of Sandys and the Rotary Club of St George’s.

The four organisations fall under the umbrella of the Rotary Clubs of Bermuda, which is celebrating 100 years of service to the island.

Rotary International was founded in 1905 by Paul Harris, a Chicago-based lawyer.

The island’s clubs started in 1924, under the sponsorship of the New York branch, and today are part of Rotary District 7230.