The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) (originally named the Colonial Society, later re-christened as the Royal Colonial Society, the Royal Colonial Institute and lastly as the Royal Empire Society) is an international educational charity and a private members' club. Its mission is to support and promote the modern Commonwealth, its culture and core values. The RCS’s London home, the Commonwealth Club, acts as a centre for the exchange of ideas and, through the Society’s broad-ranging public affairs programme, offers a forum for the debate, research and development of Commonwealth thinking on key international issues. The Club also acts as a centre for the celebration of Commonwealth art and culture, and leading artists frequently exhibit their work in the Gallery space.
Through its educational, youth and outreach programmes, the Royal Commonwealth Society seeks to encourage young people to develop their skills and, with an increased understanding of their role as global citizens, to engage with challenges facing the international community. It aims to bring alive the fundamental principles of the modern Commonwealth-–tolerance, diversity, freedom, justice, democracy, human rights and sustainable development-–to a generation living in an increasingly interconnected world. RCS projects seek to enable young people to engage with their counterparts across the Commonwealth in youth leadership programmes, creative writing and film-making projects. Through its range of charitable programmes and through its international network of members, honorary representatives and affiliated branches and societies, the Society’s remit is to work towards the continued growth and resilience of Commonwealth civil society.
Read more about Royal Commonwealth Society: History, Library Collections
Famous quotes containing the words royal, commonwealth and/or society:
“Although my royal rank causes me to doubt whether my kingdom is not more sought after than myself, yet I understand that you have found other graces in me.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“Was I not born in this Realm? Were my parents born in any foreign country?... Is not my Kingdom here? Whom have I oppressed? Whom have I enriched to other’s harm? What turmoil have I made to this Commonwealth that I should be suspected to have no regard of the same?”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“Being dismantled before our eyes are not just individual programs that politicians cite as too expensive but the whole idea that society has a stake in the well-being of children down the block and the security of families on the other side of town. Whether or not kids eat well, are nurtured and have a roof over their heads is not just a consequence of how their parents behave. It is also a responsibility of society—but now apparently a diminishing one.”
—Richard B. Stolley (20th century)