INNER WHEEL IN SRI LANKA

Inner Wheel was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1965 by Mrs. Gerty Billimore and Mrs Jerry Nilgiri when the Inner Wheel Club of Colombo was formed. The pioneer club received its Charter on 1st February 1966 at a ceremony held at Hotel Taprobane. Amongst the speakers at the event were Mr. Jabir A Cader, Mayor of Colombo and Rtn D.B. Ellepola, President of Rotary Club of Colombo.

We initially belonged to District 320 and 321 which included Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In 1985, Sri Lanka bifurcated and thus District 322 was formed With Mrs. Nirmalie Gunatilleke as the first leader of our District. As at today we have 20 Clubs with a membership of over 465.

Since the year 1987/88, 08 Sri Lankan members have been International Inner Wheel Representatives and Board Members and 11 Sri Lankan members have been elected as International Inner Wheel Board Directors. Mrs. Nirmalie Gunatilleke of Colombo West was one of the first recipients of the Margaret Golding Award bestowed by International Inner Wheel for highly commendable personal services and was followed by Late Mrs. Annie Samaranayake of Ja-Ela/Kandana, Mrs. Kumari Kulatunge of Inner Wheel Club of Kandy, Mrs. Mala Weerasekera of Inner Wheel Club of Colombo West and Mrs. Radha Sundarampillai of Inner Wheel Club of Colombo.

Charter Members of Inner Wheel Club of Colombo at the Bolgoda Lodge

LIST OF CLUBS, CHARTER DATES AND NUMBERS

IW Club of Colombo
15th July 1965
1186

IW Club of Colombo West
1st August 1966
1219

IW Club of Kandy
14th February 1969
1452

IW Club of Negombo
18th February 1972
1636

IW Club of Ja-Ela/Kandana
15th October 1975
2000

IW Club of Matale
8th August 1976
2054

IW Club of Colombo Mid Town
15th November 1978
2251

IW Club of Colombo Central
20th July 1980
2430

IW Club of Katugastota
15th May 1986
3804

IW Club of Wattala
18th March 1989
3801

IW Club of Maharagama
1st August 1986
3489

IW Club of Mount Lavinia
12th June 1990
4956

IW Club of Colombo South
21st March 2000
5173

IW Club of Trincomalee
21st November 2002
5173

IW Club of Ethugalpura
12th February 2004
5253

IW Club of Kandy Metropolitan
14th October 2004
5277

IW Club of Colombo Nawa Udana
8th January 2013
5978

IW Club of Jaffna
29th May 2014
6141

IW Club of Anuradhapura
27th February 2019
6708

IW Club of Badulla
17th March 2019
6737