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.