Manchester Trailblazers Rotary club has broken the mould and gone against the organisation’s image by electing the UK’s youngest president.



Having turned just 22 in April, Martin Judd is also believed to be the youngest serving Rotary president in the world and among the youngest in Rotary’s 112-year international history.



Manchester Trailblazers – the latest of the city’s three Rotary clubs - was formed four years ago and is proud of its reputation as a ground-breaking new club.



“Rotary is often thought of as a club for older men but this is just not true,” says Martin. “So the idea of breaking the mould and helping to change the image appeals to me a lot.”



That goes for Martin’s 18-year old girlfriend Nicole Harris too. She is the newest Trailblazers recruit � along with becoming the youngest female Rotarian among the UK’s 50,000 members.



“Age has become a big issue in Rotary,” Martin added, “because the average age of a UK Rotarian is 72 and so the pressure is on to generate the next generation who can take our international network into the future. Without younger members the proud history of this great humanitarian voluntary organisation could grind to a halt.”



Martin Judd was born in Tokoroa on North Island, New Zealand, the son of a racehorse trainer, and grew up in nearby Cambridge and the UK before moving here permanently in 2012.



It was in New Zealand that he became interested in Rotary when schoolfriends joined a sponsored youth exchange group to Brazil. So, in 2014, he joined the newly formed Manchester Trailblazers and was elected ‘President Nominee’ within a year.



Martin lives in Oldham, works in customer services at Manchester Piccadilly’s Waitrose branch and is studying for an Open University degree in economics and mathematical sciences.



His targets for the club during his presidential year are to raise membership, boost the charity fundraising programme and launch his own personal education and literacy projects.