Christmas Day

It might have been Christmas Day but several members of Brighton Lions Club were out and about visiting elderly people who would otherwise speak to nobody at all during the day - and leaving a pack of goodies for them to enjoy.  It may have been only a couple of dozen people who benefited, but that is 24 older people whose lives were brightened.

Lions provide Life Skills

More than three quarters of primary schools and six out of ten secondary schools in the British Isles and Ireland have used the education materials, which support PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) education within schools and the wider community.

That is the claim of Lions Life Skills, a company formed to provide of those education resources after the previous supplier had gone into liquidation.  A recent circular issued to Brighton schools has resulted in us being asked to provide material to four local schools.  We have been happy to do so at a cost of nearly £400.

MS Centre to receive £500

The Sussex Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Centre needs new chairs in its hyperbaric oxygen chamber.  They are looking to buy multi-purpose chairs with arms and writing tables as well as washable seat pads to provide more comfort as clients spend an hour at a time in the chamber.  The total cost is £507.97 and we have agreed to cover this expense.

This is not the first time we have provided financial assistance to the centre.  Our first donation was back in 2007 when we donated £10,000 towards the cost of refurbishing the centre.  Other smaller donations were made in 2009 and 2011.

St Asaph floods

Picture: Reuters/Phil Noble

It is almost two months since the small north Wales city of St Asaph was severely flooded, and the nearest Lions Club - Prestatyn and Rhyl - are still engaged in assisting the victims.  To help matters, we have made a donation of £500.

Oh yes it is!

The older members of our community benefited last Saturday and today it is the turn of the youngsters.  A bus-load of schoolchildren are being taken to Worthing to see the pantomime.

A pre-Christmas party

Yesterday we held a pre-Christmas party for local pensioners at one of Brighton's sea-front hotels.  Our guests were collected by minibus and each received a present on leaving.  Entertainment was provided during the afternoon.

Did you know...

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with 1.35m members in 207 countries.

The organization was founded in 1917 and has been operating in the British Isles and Ireland since the 1950s.  Today 17,000 men and women are active Lions members belonging to 900 clubs across Great Britain and Ireland.

Over the past four decades, Lions Clubs International Foundation has awarded over £500 million to support humanitarian community projects around the world.

Lions Clubs undertake hundreds of fund-­raising activities in cities, towns and villages with 100% of monies raised going direct to good causes.  Not one penny is spent on administration costs, which are funded by Lions members.

Fireworks

We held our annual fireworks display last Monday, 5th November, at the Probiz county cricket ground.  The thousands of spectators enjoyed a magnificent display.

It's not all thousands

While we are delighted when we can make a significant donation like the one below to Herons Ghyll RDA, there is great satisfaction also in the smaller things.  Like when we were recently able to help two quite separate individuals.  The first was a gentleman who cares for a disabled wife and who now has limited mobility himself.  He has always kept his front garden neat and tidy with the hedge well trimmed but this year found himself unable to undertake the trimming.  We were approached (not by the gentleman himself but on his behalf) and were glad to be able to get the hedge cut for him.

The second gentleman is deaf and relied on a fax machine for communication instead of the telephone.  He is also in receipt of benefits but, due to a bureaucratic mix-up, he found himself without funds and with an empty ink cartridge in his fax.  We bought him a new one.

New web site design

Our web site (there's a link over there on the right) has been redesigned.  Although much of the content remains the same, the site has been given a fresher, more open look.  Do drop by and see what you think.  And if you have any suggestions for improvements, we will be pleased to hear them.

Herons Ghyll RDA

When the club learned that Herons Ghyll Riding for the Disabled needed a new carriage for the pony they had just acquired, there was no hesitation in offering to help by donating £5,000 to meet most of the cost.  We already knew something of this group which provided carriage driving for people with a variety of disabilities.  This week, several of our members were delighted to be able to visit Herons Ghyll RDA to see "our" carriage in operation with Charlie between the shafts.

Pavilion Gardens Fun Day

Not exactly June weather, but on a cold and blustery day last Saturday we held a fun day in the Royal Pavilion Gardens and raised nearly £850 for Leo House at Home.  Appearing to entertain were the Maestro Academy Players who proved a great hit with one regular visitor to the gardens - and one newcomer!

Lilac Lark

This annual event is to be held in Withdean Park, London Road, Brighton, on Sunday 13th May from 1.00 till 5.00pm.

Stalls and sideshows will include bowling for a pig, a coconut shy, books, sweets, tombola, jewellery, handicrafts of all sorts, plants and - of course - refreshments.

There will be Punch & Judy shows at 2.30 and 4.00pm.

The dog show will be taking entries from 12.30pm. See www.rescuedogshows.co.uk for full information.

PAUL

Lions Clubs across south-east England are raising funds to buy PAUL machines. Portable Aqua Units for Lifesaving waterpacks, each one capable of producing a daily constant supply of up to 1200 litres of clean drinking water from contaminated water, will be available to be sent to areas suffering from natural disasters.

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, rivers and wells are frequently contaminated by pathogenic bacteria causing diarrhea, cholera and other diseases, or the piped supply, if it previously existed, is destroyed, resulting in many victims, especially children.

No energy – no chemicals – no frequent maintenance - no skilled operator is needed for these lifesaving units which, weighing 20 kgs, are entirely portable by one person and can be dropped by parachute if necessary. Polluted water is simply poured in at the top and the unit, by filtering out 99% of germs, provides a ready supply of clean water in a few minutes.

Brighton Lions Club has just agreed to donate £1,000 to buy one of these units.

Pavilion Gardens Fun Day

On Saturday, 23rd June we shall once again hold a fun day in the gardens of Brighton's world-famous Royal Pavilion in conjunction with the Pavilion Gardens Café. In 2011 the beneficiary was Help for Heroes and we raised more than £1,200 for this charity. This year we will be donating the proceeds to Leo House at Home, the children's hospice service founded by us when we were celebrating our 50th anniversary.

No commercial stalls are accepted so that all the profit can be given to our chosen beneficiary but we extend an invitation to other organisations such as Lions Clubs, Rotary and Round Table to take part in this event, thereby increasing the funds raised for the beneficiary charity.

Lilac Lark

The Lilac Lark is a Brighton Festival Fringe eventwhich we organise in conjunction with the Friends of Withdean Park. It is held in Withdean Park, London Road, Brighton, on the second Sunday in May each year. The next Lilac Lark will be on 13 May 2012. Arrangements are still in hand but we do know that there will once again be a dog show.

Toad in the Hole

The Lions Clubs in our Zone (a group of, typically, 6 or 7 clubs in geographic proximity) each organise a social activity for the other clubs in a friendly competition. These activities range from quizzes to shuffleboard, from curling to toad in the hole. Last night we enjoyed an evening of toad in the hole.


As well as a dish of sausages cooked in batter, toad in the hole is an old Sussex game. Players stand six feet away from a lead-covered stool in the centre of which is a hole approximately two inches in diameter. They throw metal toads which have to land cleanly on the top of the stool or, better, drop through the hole to score points.



Being a Lion means more than just helping others: we enjoy social get-togethers as well.

Youngsters too

Brighton Lions don't support only the elderly, although it might seem like that looking at the last few blogs. This month we have also agreed to help cover the cost (to the tune of £480) of 8 guides and their leaders travelling to Romania to carry out humanitarian work and we have also made a grant of £500 to the Brighton Table Tennis Club to help with the costs of some of their young members attending a residential training weekend.

Martlets Hospice

Brighton Lions have supported the Martlets Hospice since it was built, having supported the Tarner Home before than. A further donation this month of £10,000 brings us up to £75,000 donated over the past ten years.

St Dunstans

Brighton Lions contributed £6,000 to the project for Lions Clubs across Britain to fund two day rooms at the new St Dunstans centre at Llandudno. This sum represented £100 for every year of Brighton Lions existence as the first donation made by the club was of £100 to St Dunstans.