What’s The Point?
In spring 2025, to mark our Centenary in 2022, our Club unveiled a unique gift to the City of Canterbury: The Point.
Located in Canterbury’s Longmarket, The Point is an eye-catching carved stone column that provides free drinking water (via a water-bottle refill point) to visitors and locals alike.
To download an A4 poster of The Point (PDF), please click here.
The purpose of The Point
This innovative project is an ecological statement and addresses Rotary International’s 7th and newest area of focus – the environment.
The Point will …
… help the environment
Over 1 billion plastic bottles are estimated to be used daily worldwide. Our unique drinking water project will contribute to tackling this horrifying statistic. In addition, through our global Rotary network, we hope The Point will inspire others worldwide.
… save millions of single-use plastic bottles going to waste
Nearly 8 million people visit the City of Canterbury each year to experience its remarkable history, beautiful gardens and literary links. Tourism generates a staggering amount of single-use plastic bottles being discarded, wasting natural resources and contributing to landfill waste and plastic pollution. The Point helps address this problem.
… provide FREE drinking water to millions of visitors and locals
Visitors and the homeless all need an easily accessible way of filling drinking water bottles. The Point will save them time and money and help keep them all hydrated, all while helping the environment.
… serve as a new attraction to our city that we hope locals and visitors will love, revitalising our city centre
This one-of-a-kind structure is located at the heart of the city centre – just a stone’s throw from Canterbury Cathedral. Designed by local architects and created by local professionals and craftspeople, it is a unique piece of public art. It brings stone and steel together in a novel way not done before. Its reflective steel aperture is perfect for capturing pictures to share on social media (#TheHolePointPic) and spread awareness of The Point and how important it is to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles. The Point will thus be a landmark that attracts visitors to Canterbury and sends a loud and powerful message to all – we do not need single-use plastic bottles!
Unveiling of The Point by the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent and the Mayor of Canterbury
In April 2025 The Point was unveiled by His Majesty’s representative, the Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, Lady Colgrain and the Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Councillor Mrs Jean Butcher. Also in attendance, as well as Rotarians and other supporters, were the Lady Mayoress, Mrs Di Baldock; and the Sheriff of Canterbury, Councillor Keji Moses.
Click here to read our article about the unveiling ceremony.
If you’re on Facebook, click here to see our album of pictures from the day.
How was The Point funded?
The project to create The Point was entirely funded by private donations specifically given for the cause, with the last of the funds donated directly or indirectly following a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign.
We’re grateful to all of our donors who made generous donations at a time that was very challenging for many.
Below we list our main financial and in-kind donors, whose names are carved on the column.
- Jennifer Samper – Patricia Goddard, Lord Mayor & Lady Mayoress of Canterbury 1999–2001
- The Brett Family
- The Barrett Family
- The Quinn Family
- Roger Bickerton and family
- The Gichigi Family
- The Red House Nursing Home
We’re also grateful to the many Rotarians, friends, families, and supporters who kindly supported the fundraising campaign and online crowdfunder.
Click here to watch a short YouTube video that we created when fundraising.
Help us tell others about The Point
We’re immensely proud of the design and purpose of The Point and wholeheartedly believe it’s a monumental step in the right direction to reducing pollution.
Now we need YOU to help tell others about The Point – the more people that use it instead of buying a bottle of water, the more it will be helping to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles.
How you can help:
tell your friends, family and colleagues about The Point. - share a poster of The Point on local noticeboards. Click here to download the poster in PDF format. You can then print the poster for placement on community and workplace noticeboards.
- visit The Point and share photos and reviews on social media. You can find The Point on Google maps by searching for “The Point Canterbury”. Don’t forget to take your photo through the hole! We’re using hashtags #ThePointCanterbury #TheHolePointPic #Point_lessPlastic #FillUpAtThePoint. We’re grateful for mentions too (FB: @rotarycanterbury; IG: @rotaryclubofcanterbury; X: @RotaryCantUK)
Our thanks to others…
As well as our donors and in-kind supporters, we would also like to express our deepest gratitude to the following individuals and groups, without whom The Point would never have come to fruition.
Local bodies:
- Canterbury City Council
- South East Water
Professionals and craftspeople:
- Andrew Clague – Designer and architect, James Clague Architects Ltd
- Gary Newton – Stonemason, G A Newton Stone
- Adam Houghton – Construction manager, Astral Ltd
- Duane Harrison & team – Steelwork fabrication and installation, Diva Metalwork Ltd
- Simon Robertson -– Structural engineer, Evans & Langford
- Susan Kitchin – Legal and planning documentation, Brett Group
- Simon Edridge -– Graphic design and printed materials, Simon Edridge Associates
Planning and other support:
Thank you to the many individuals and organisations that have supported us along the way.
Unveiling and reception party:
- Vicki Thwaites – cover for The Point
- Blackbird Catering, Chartham – glassware
- Stephen Thompson, Tony Loughran, Martin Ward – hall set-up
- Sue Thompson, Brenda Hermitage, Jane Loughran – catering
- Nick Finch Gardening Services – man with a van
- Rosemarie Morton/Red House Nursing Home – flowers and extra expenses
And finally…
Our sincere thanks to members of the Centenary Committee, with special recognition to its Chair – Past President Stephen Thompson (2022, our Centenary Year) – for his outstanding leadership, dedication and hard work throughout this project.
This page was updated following the unveiling of The Point.
