Sussex Deaf Association

The Sussex Deaf Association need to replace the fire alarm at their Brighton support centre and Brighton Lions have agreed to donate £500 towards the cost.

East Sussex Association for the Blind

Brighton Lions have provided volunteer drivers for the ESAB Tuesday Club for a number of years and, for the last three years, have donated £1,000 a year to the club to assist with transport costs and to subsidise the Christmas party. At our December meeting we agreed to continue this financial support in 2012.

We have also made a donation of £250 to help launch the new Brighton support group of the ESAB.

Hounds for Heroes

The District Governor has asked Lions Clubs across the south-east of England to contribute towards the cost of buying and training an assistance dog for an injured serviceman or -woman. Brighton Lions are sending a donation of £300.

Dogs for the Disabled

Brighton Lions have supported this charity for several years by paying for the cost of caring for the two dogs the charity has placed with Brighton residents. Unfortunately, one of these dogs - Emy - is very ill with cancer and no longer able to work. A replacement dog is being found and we have agreed to pay £1,500 towards the cost of training Emy's successor.

Fireworks

Our annual display, held on Bonfire Night, is considered to be one of the best in the country.

This year's display will, of course, be on Saturday, 5th November, and will once again be held at the County Cricket Ground, Eaton Rd, Hove. The display, which involves nearly £10,000-worth of fireworks, is scheduled to start at 7.30pm but the gates will be opened at 6.00pm. Refreshments, including a licensed bar, will be available.

Tickets are available through our web site or at the shop at the ground. Admission prices are: adults - £10.00; children under 16 - £5.00; under 5s - no charge. A family ticket covering two adults and two children is available at £25.00.

Mayoral visit

The Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Anne Meadows, visited the Brighton Lions Housing Society properties at Lions Gate and Lions Dene this morning. She is pictured being welcomed by Lion Bill Catchpole, chairman of the Housing Society.

£40,000 spent last year

Our financial year ended on 30 June and the Charity Trust Fund accounts for the year are in course of preparation. However, we do know that over the year we spent more than £40,000 on our various charitable activities. We expect to post full details on our web site within the next few days.

£1,500 for Help for Heroes

The money we raised at our Pavilion Gardens Fun Day last month came to almost £1,300 which we have rounded up to £1,500 to send to Help for Heroes. That's really no more than a drop in the ocean but every little helps.

Welcome, President Doug

At our dinner meeting last night, having passed the President's chain of office to Doug Taylor, Immediate Past President Ron Fowler launched into a scurrilous tale about Brighton Lions Club's new leader.

£600 a week charity spend

In common with other Lions Clubs, our financial year ended last Thursday, 30th June. Obviously it is too early as yet for the annual accounts to be ready but we do know they will show charitable expenditure for the year was once again in excess of £30,000. That works out at an average of £600 a week for the year.

Pavilion Gardens fun day raised £1,200

Our annual fun day in the Royal Pavilion Gardens in association with the Pavilion Gardens Cafe was held yesterday. The beneficiary this year is Help for Heroes and all proceeds from the day will be donated to them. We were pleased to raise over £1,200 - money is still being counted so we are not yet able to report the exact sum raised.

The Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Ann Meadows, attended during the afternoon and was welcomed by Doug Taylor, 1st Vice President of Brighton Lions Club (left) and David Sewell, proprietor of the Pavilion Gardens cafe.

Another new bottle outlet

We have now delivered a supply of Message in a Bottle bottles to Age Concern, 29-31 Prestonville Road, Brighton.

The Lions Message In a Bottle scheme is a simple idea designed to encourage people to keep their personal and medical details on a standard form and in a common location - the fridge. Whilst it is focused on the more vulnerable people in our community, anyone can have an accident at home, so this scheme can benefit anyone, including you. As a minimum it will save the Emergency Services valuable time identifying you and your emergency contacts. By telling whether you have special medication or allergies or not, it is a potential lifesaver and provides peace of mind to users and their friends and families.

This scheme is free to the user.

Boost for Downs View

The Friends of Downs View Special School have been raising funds to provide a completely new playground at a total cost of nearly £34,000. Brighton Lions promised to donate £4,000 provided the Friends could raise the other £30,000. The Friends have now reached that target and the Lions are happy to fulfill their promise and donate the other £4,000.

New carriage for Heron's Ghyll

Heron's Ghyll Driving Group is part of the Riding for the Disabled Association but concentrates on carriage driving. They need a new carriage costing about £5,500 and asked Brighton Lions if we could help finance this purchase. The club was happy to agree and is making a donation of £5,000 towards the cost.

Charter Night

We celebrated our Charter Night - our birthday party - at the Old Ship Hotel last Saturday. Here we see the District Governor addressing the assembly.

Busy week

We are in the middle of a busy week for Brighton Lions. During the last weekend we had our regular monthly book fair (Saturday) followed yesterday by the Lilac Lark, about which we hope to post more shortly. Tomorrow sees our one of our members providing transport for members of the Tuesday Club, a social club for blind and partially-sighted people. On Wednesday and Friday evenings we will be running bingo sessions at retirement homes and also on Friday we will have a team taking part in the quiz being organised by Hove Lions Club.

Lilac Lark

Yes, it's almost here. The 2011 Lilac Lark will be held in Withdean Park, London Road, Brighton tomorrow from 1.00pm till 5.00pm. We have Cuckoo's Nest Morris Dancers, Chichester College student jazz band, a dog show and loads of stalls and sideshows.

Book fair

Tomorrow is the first Saturday of the month so we will be holding our regular book fair at Lions Dene from 10.00am till 12 noon. Hundreds of books, CDs, DVDs and jigsaw puzzles at prices from 50p.

View map of BN1 5AZ on Multimap.com
Bird's Eye view of BN1 5AZ
Get directions to or from BN1 5AZ

Another twinning?

We are in discussion with the Lions Club Angers Roi René in France about the possibility of twinning with them.

Lilac Lark

Arrangements for the annual Lilac Lark are coming together now and our A-boards advertising the event will shortly be placed in the park alongside the main London Road. Here we see Bob putting the finishing touches to one of the posters...

...before standing back to check the finished work.

Speakability

Today being the third Tuesday in the month, one of our members will be providing transport for the Speakability Club. This is a service activity which our club has undertaken for many years, collecting members of Speakability from their homes, taking them to their meeting and then returning them to their homes afterwards. Speakability provides both a social activity and therapy for people who have suffered strokes and Brighton Lions have not only provided transport but also paid for posters displayed in doctors' surgeries around the town.

Help for the local community

A year ago, Brighton Lions pledged a grant of £3,000 to Downs View School, a special school for autistic children, to assist with the cost of the project they had to renovate the playground. The school is getting close to raising the money needed and, to help things along, we have increased the amount we have promised to £4,000.

We have also donated £1,000 to Dogs for the Disabled to cover the cost of looking after an assistance dog in Brighton for a year as well as paying towards the care of another disabled person's dog which is seriously ill and unable to work.

International aid

Although Brighton Lion Club spends most of its money (about 90p in every pound spent) on local charitable works, we do support the International Association in its efforts to bring help to other parts of the world, especially when they are struck by natural disasters. This week we have donated £500 to assist with the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, and £1,000 for the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Charter Night

Details of the Club's 60th Charter Night have now been released.

The event will be at the Old Ship Hotel, Kings Road, Brighton, on Saturday, 11th June. Reception will be at 6.30pm with dinner being served at 7.15. The menu is:

Tomato and Mozzarella Salad with Basil Pesto

Chicken Supreme with Chorizo and Red Wine Sauce
(Vegetarian option available)

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry Juices

Coffee and Mints

and the meal will be followed by dancing to HI-SOCIETY with carriages at 12.15am.

Pre-ordered (and pre-paid) red or white house wine is available at £13.75 (£16.50 on the night).

Dress code: black tie or lounge suit.
Price £28 per person.

A booking form may be downloaded here.

Busy weekend

This last weekend was a busy one for Brighton Lions. On Saturday we held our regular book fair - the first Saturday every month from 10.00am till noon at Lions Dene - when we took a near-record £80. Given that every book costs no more than 50p that represents a lot of books going out through the door in just a couple of hours.

Then on Sunday it was time for the annual "It's a Knockout" organised together with other local Lions Clubs for slow learners. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the fun and games and the lunch-time disco with the Mayor and Mayoress on hand to present the medals, trophies and certificates.


The whoopee cushion race.

Easter egg raffles

Watch out for the fifteen giant Easter eggs that we will be putting in various pubs and other places to be raffled to raise funds for Leo House. They should be in place very soon now. Our aim is to raise £99 from each egg with chances selling at £1 each.

Leo House

The club continues its support for Leo House, the children's 'hospice at home' service we launched to celebrate our golden jubilee some ten years ago. A further donation of £1,000 has just been made.

Best web site

For the second year running ours has been judged the best club web site in District 105SE.

More help for the blind

We maintain a rota of volunteer drivers and every month one of us provides transport (in our own cars) for local blind people to the meeting of their social club. Depending on just where the Lion driver lives and the meeting venue, this can involve the Lion in being out for up to 6 hours and driving a round trip of up to 80 miles. As well as providing drivers, we support the club for the blind financially. At our meeting this week it was agreed to make a further donation of £500 towards the cost of transport and another £500 to subsidise the Christmas celebrations. Both donations will be made later in the year.

Australian floods

A donation of £500 has been made to the Lions Clubs International Foundation Australian floods appeal.

Whenever a natural disaster strikes, Lions Clubs are in the forefront when it comes to providing help - and they are there long after most other organisations have left the area. Most importantly, 100% of any donations such as ours are used for humanitarian work. There are no deductions for salaries or any other administrative expenses. Furthermore, distribution of the funds is handled by Lions in the area where the disaster occurred so we know that the money is being used for its intended purposes.

Martlets Hospice

The club has supported Martlets Hospice since even before it was built and, before that, was supportive of its predecessors. This week a donation of £10,000 is being made to the hospice, the second of the three promised annual donations of that amount. This money is intended for the hospice's Samaritan Fund which is used to fund treatment for people who are unable to afford to pay.

Classic Motorcycle Run

After a full discussion, the club has decided not to take on the organisation of this event which has been run in the past by Hove Rotary Club.

Classic Motorcycle Run

The Rotary Club of Hove has organised a classic motorcycle run for the past thirteen years but have decided they can no longer do so. They have approached Brighton Lions with a view to us taking over the event. Discussions are due to be held very shortly with a decision expected within the next two weeks.

Lilac Lark again

The Friends of Withdean Park have once again approached us to help organise the Lilac Lark, a fair held among the lilacs of England's former national lilac collection in Withdean Park. As always, the event will be held on the second Sunday in May - 8th May this year.

Full details will be posted on our web site when they become available.