Any old specs?

Got an old pair of specs you don't want? The chances are that your local Lions Club will be glad of them. We collect them and pass them on to Chichester Lions Club where they are sorted. If you can't easily get to Chichester, Parcelforce will take them free of charge - see http://www.chilions.org.uk/donating-spectacles.html. They eventually fetch up in developing countries. If you live in Brighton & Hove, we have collecting points at Specsavers in North Street, Brighton, and Asda, Crowhurst Road, Hollingbury.

Money for the air ambulance

The gardens of Brighton's iconic Royal Pavilion provided the setting for a Family Fun Day last month which we organised in conjunction with the Pavilion Gardens café. All proceeds were for the Lions District appeal to raise £150,000 to enable the Kent, Surrey and Sussex air ambulance to operate at night. The takings have been rounded up and a donation of £1,000 made.

Our new President

Lions Club officers change at the beginning of July each year and it was at our dinner meeting earlier this month that the outgoing President, Lisa Dilloway, passed on the chain of office to Bob Brown.

More give-aways

We have made some more donations this month.

One of the charities we have supported for several years is Dogs for the Disabled. We have made annual donations to cover the cost of caring for the two assistance dogs living with local people. One of the two dogs has now retired and is being kept as a pet so there is just the one dog now for us to support. The estimated cost for the next year is £600+ so we rounded up our donation to £1,000.

Brighton Table Tennis Club provides activity for youngsters from some of the poorer parts of the city and we have agreed to sponsor several of their members on a residential coaching weekend to the extent of £1,000.

Then we have also given £275 to MedicAlert, £200 to Macmillan Nurses, £100 to Leo House at Home and £50 for Cancer Research.

Heartfelt thanks

One of our members recently underwent heart surgery and the club wanted to express thanks for its success.  Unfortunately, we would be unable to support the Sussex Heart Charity's sponsored walk as it clashed with our Lilac Lark but we were able to make a donation.  Here is our president, Lisa Dilloway, presenting a cheque for £1,000.

It's a Knockout!

And it was a knockout success!  Last Sunday, Brighton and other local Lions Clubs organised an It's a Knockout day for people with handicaps both physical and mental - a sort of mini Paralympic Games.  Lions (and Leo) were encouraged to wear silly hats.

There was a lunchtime disco and the Deputy Mayor of the City of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Anne Meadows, was on hand to present medals and certificates to all participants.

More donations made

At the recent meeting of the club, several donations were approved:

• £1,000 to Leo House Hospice in the Home;
• £1,000 to the Tuesday Club for blind and partially sighted persons;
• £180 to the Lions Belarus Trust to sponsor two children from Gomel to attend the Dyatlovichi Children's Centre for a period of 18 days;
• £100 to the Lions' Special Olympics appeal; and
• £100 to the Lions Shoebox appeal to provide humanitarian aid to people in Gomel, Belarussia, a town severely afflicted in the Chernobyl disaster.