April 2025 and Convention Newsletter by Lions105SW

We have just celebrated our 6th Annual Convention at Croyde Bay where next year’s DG Team were selected. Lion Richard Allen became District Governor Elect; Lion Phil Bunt stepped up to 1st VDG Elect and Andy Burnard becomes our next 2nd VDG.

Convention—Flag Ceremony

The Belgian and Lions flags were received by International Director Marcel Daniels whilst District Governor Kevin received those of the UK, USA and Ukraine.

As always I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this issue of the SWP. As you will see I have combined the April newsletter to include the events of Convention but by its very nature it has to be depicted with photographs rather than text. The deadline for the May issue will be the 25th April. To jamesmathers@lionsclubs.co.uk

Fowey River Lions

Our meeting in March Lion Malcolm Trethowan was presented with a Lions Certificate of Appreciation, signed by the Duchess of Edinburgh, our Patron and supporter of Lions Clubs International, for his 50 years of service. St Austell Lion James Mathers (pictured on left of picture) a past Lions district governor, visited our Club and made the presentation assisted by Fowey President Steve Jones.

At the same meeting we were then delighted to welcome Fowey couple Christine and Simon Marsh to join our club. President Steve presented them both with Membership packs and Lions badges.

The club also discussed future fundraising and community service projects. We continue to collect goods for Ukraine and hope to make another trip to Callington

Lion President Brian Richards is pictured here with Mr Michael Hailstone, the first winner of their Easter Egg draw sold by Lion Dave Rickard in aid of Hospiscare. This egg, which is one of twenty in circulation locally, raised £100.

Honiton Lions

Truro Lions

On Friday the 21st of March we are very pleased to announce that Lion Keith Wellington of Truro Lions Club received a Truro Civic Award following our nomination below. Lion Keith was also nominated by Councillor Chris Wells . Congratulations Keith!

Lion Keith has served the Public of Truro surrounding areas extremely well in the years has been a member of the Lions Club of Truro. Major achievements include overseeing the installation of over 50 Defibrillators in the area in recent years plus being Chairman of the 50/50 Appeal which celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Club, by raising £44,000 equally shared between Cornwall Hospice Care and Children’s Hospice South West

He has always been very conscientious about helping those in need and has involved the Club helping the Memory Café in Highertown

The Award was presented by the Mayor of Truro Cllr Carol Swain and Malcolm Bell ( Truro Civic Society)

On Saturday the 1st of March Truro Lions kicked off their Easter Fund Raising with a cash collection day at Tesco Truro for St.Petrocs and other local good causes. The collection raised an excellent total of just under £300.

There will be another Tesco Collection on the 5th of April. These collections will complement our usual Grand Easter Egg Draws at the Pannier Market starting on the 2nd of April each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday culminating in the draw on the 19th of April plus Easter Egg Draws at many pubs and other locations in and around Truro. Many thanks to all locations for agreeing to host our Easter Eggs.

Featured in our photos are Lions Alan Downie, Steve Powell, Mick Pawlak , Richard Lewis and the amazing and terrific Roary the Lion( aka Lion Anna Stenning)

City of Wells Lions

City of Wells Lions celebrated the 50th Anniversary of their Charter with a dinner at the Burcott Inn. Whilst consisting of eleven members, they make a significant impact with their voluntary work, including the annual Moat Boat Race, the Tree of Life on which local people can place a light each Christmas in memory of a loved one, recycling old mobile phones and arranging free prostate tests.

At the event, District Governor Kevin Moore, accompanied by his wife Catherine, presented President Mary Ellis with a certificate of celebration and recognition for the club's 50 years of service. Also present was the Deputy Mayor of Wells, Louis Agabani.

Paignton Lions

Paignton Lions presented a selection of biscuits, coffee, and teabags to our local Coastguards for their help on our Lions Boxing Day Walk into the Sea 2024. People in the picture are Coastguard Rachael, Lion Alan Tozer, Lion Ian Snell, Lion Diane Goff, Lion Suzanne Davis ,Coastguards John and Alex, Lion President Carol Beasley and Lion Patrick Beasley.

Convention—Exhibition Displays

A selection of the exhibition displays at Convention with valuable information about many of the projects and appeals undertaken by Lions in our District

Lions Club of Plymouth

LONG-SERVING Lion Janet Kelly has been rewarded for her service to Lions International by being honoured as a Melvin Jones Fellow.

The award is named after Melvin Jones, the founder of Lions Clubs International, and represents humanitarian service to the highest degree.

Janet was for a number of years a stalwart member of the Plymouth Tamar Club, which ceased operating last year. Following the closure of Plymouth Tamar, Janet has continued her membership of the organisation with a transfer to the Lions Club of Plymouth.

Lion Janet Kelly (centre) receives her award from Lion Rosemary Gates, who was the President of Plymouth Tamar, watched by Past District Governor Lion David Rosson.

THE Lions Club of Plymouth has boosted its membership by receiving the transfer of Nuwan Fernando from his previous club in Sri Lanka, which has increased the Plymouth Club’s membership to 31.

Nuwan worked as an architect in Sri Lanka, where he was a member of the Lions Club of Moratuwa. He moved to Plymouth last year and spent some time with the Plymouth club as an Associate member.

He has been joined in the city by his wife and six-year old son and has now completed his transfer as a full member of the Plymouth club.

DONATIONS totalling £3,000 were made to four local charities by the Lions Club of Plymouth at their February business meeting.

Woodlands School, which caters for children with physical, sensory and medical difficulties, along with the Children’s Hospice South West both received £1,100, the proceeds of bucket collections run by the club at local supermarkets during the Christmas period.

Presenting the cheques, club president Lion Lionel Marsh said: “We are grateful to the people of the Plymouth area for their generosity in supporting our bucket collections, which made these donations possible.”

Two other donations were made from a legacy provided by the late Lion Henry Felgate, a former club President. That resulted in £400 each going to the Chestnut Appeal for men’s health and the Primrose Foundation breast care charity.

Lion Nuwan Fernando is pictured receiving his membership badge from Plymouth Club President Lion Lionel Marsh.

Lions Club of Plymouth

A Special Medal for a Special Lion

Lion Eric Parkes was presented with the International President’s award by International Director Marcel Daniëls in recognition of the great work that he has undertaken in 48 years as a Lion including holding the post of President 7 times. There was a resounding cheer by all when it was announced. Indeed this was a special medal for a special Lion

Budleigh Salterton Lions Club

School goes wild for local Lions’ donation

Budleigh Salterton Lions Club has generously provid-

in the Exmouth area. This initiative, undertaken in collaboration with Exmouth Rotary Club, aims to inspire and educate young readers about environmental issues through engaging, real-life stories written by children's author Ellie Jackson.

Lion Lawrence personally delivered the books to Lympstone Primary School, Littleham Primary School and St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and said: "Budleigh Salterton Lions Club is delighted to provide these wonderful Wild Tribe Heroes books to our local schools. These true stories help children understand important environmental issues in a positive and inspiring way."

Diabetes awareness in Budleigh Salterton gets ’

It’s Lions Clubs International's mission to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and improve the quality of life for those diagnosed. To help achieve this goal, Budleigh Salterton Lions Club are busy educating the community about diabetes and developing community environments that inspire and support healthy lifestyles.

Led by Diabetes Officer Lion Tom Miner, the club have been involved in numerous local and regional events, the latest of which was a stand at the recent Pensioners’ Advice Fair held at Budleigh Salterton Public Hall.

£1000 boost for Exmouth beach school

Four members of the Budleigh Salterton Lions Club presented a cheque to the Charlie Duignan Foundation at Charlie's Beach School in Sideshore, Exmouth.

The donation will help buy essential equipment for the school, which offers educational seaside experi-

The Charlie Duignan Foundation was set up in memory of Charlie Duignan, an Exmouth boy who died in January 2024 at the age of eight.

Charlie, who loved the ocean, is remembered through the foundation's work, which reflects his passion for the beach, marine life, and environmental care.

Charlie's Beach School provides both local and vis-

Local MP David Reed is pictured (second from left) meeting representative of the Lions Club.

Budleigh Salterton Lions Club

iting children with engaging and informative access to the seaside.

The school aims to encourage children to explore and enjoy the coastline, particularly those who may not have had the opportunity before.

Blooming good result for Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal

Budleigh Salterton Lions Club sprung into action this month to help Marie Curie raise money for their annual Great Daffodil Appeal.

Members of the club hit the streets to help the cause and raise a few smiles along the way

A typical two-hour collection shift raises £85. That’s enough to fund almost four hours of expert nursing care or five calls to their Support Line, so every shift can make a real difference. In 2024, the Great Daffodil Appeal collections raised almost £1.3m and Marie Curie need your support to raise even more this year. Anyone can join in and help, and you can

£120

Could help fund the heating in a hospice for a day

£207

Could help fund nine hours of overnight nursing care in someone's home.

Budleigh Salterton Lions Club goes from strength to strength

Welcome to Budleigh Salterton Lions Club new members Mark Godsland, Ken Malone and Louisa Malone. The addition of four new members makes the club the largest in the South West.

£17

Could help fund a Support Line call or webchat, meaning someone in need can receive practical information and emotional support.

£23

Could help fund an hour of nursing care and emotional support for someone living with a terminal illness, in the comfort of their own home.

Babbacombe and St Marychurch Lions

It was lovely to officially welcome four new Lions at tonight's meeting. Welcome Audrey, Alan, June and Bethany, with their sponsors, Graham, Janet and Norman, with President Phil.

We were pleased to donate a replacement TV and DVD player to the Children's A &E department at Torbay Hospital. Lions Frank and Phil are here handing it over to staff.

Torpoint & Rame Lions

A Blooming Success: Daffodil Sales Support Charities

Torpoint and Rame Lions Club raised significant funds for charity through daffodil sales at Kernow Mill and Windy Ridge in Trerulefoot. Their success was made possible by the generous permission of Jeremy and Sarah Oatey, who allowed Lions members to handpick and bunch daffodils from their fields.

This annual event has been taking place for a number of years and the Lions would like to express their thanks to both the Kernow Mill and the Windy Ridge for their support and also to the Oateys for their generosity.

They received a very warm welcome from members of the public and are grateful for the kind support.

The event organised by Lion Helen Willoughby allowed Torpoint and Rame Peninsula Lions to raise funds to assist local charities as well as supporting wider global calls by Lions Clubs International to provide assistance during world wide disasters.

Torpoint & Rame Lions

Torpoint & Rame Peninsula Lions Club presented a Certificate of Appreciation from the people of Ukraine to The Rame Group Practice, Community Nurses and the Staff for the magnificent help support and donations they have given for the past 3 Years.

The Certificate was accepted on behalf of the Rame Group Practice, Community Nurses and Staff Senior Partner Dr Lawrence Barnes.

Lion President Paul Goodall said “On behalf of Torpoint & Rame Peninsula Lions Club I would like to thank Rame Group Practice for supporting our collections.”

The Lion President Paul Goodall presented the certificate and was accompanied by with Lion Secretary

Lion Richard Pymm and Lion Graham Evans.

Blackmore Vale Lions

They’re Off and what an event it was. Blackmore Vale Go to the Races.

One of the joys of living in the Blackmore Vale is the rich variety of events and venues there are to visit and attend from music and arts festivals (Glastonbury is nearby) to Knob Throwing and food festivals, to one of the best horse racing venues in the country at Wincanton. Slots to hold bucket collections are highly prized by charities. Blackmore Vale Lions Club had managed to secure a slot to do an exit collection on one of the race days. The planned first one last sea-

son was cancelled because the frost had made the ground bone hard and as slippery as anything. A race meeting ten days before our scheduled opportunity was abandoned due to torrential rain and floods, yes

more. Given the weather this year we lived in trepidation for our event.

However cometh the event cometh the sunshine but the March winds did blow, and it was very cold. Wrapping up well to stand on top of the exposed hillside that is Wincanton Racecourse was absolutely the order of the day. A bunch of 5 hardy Blackmore Vale LIONS were advised to be there for an hour before the last race and an hour after it finished. With advice from other Lions of “collect what you can and put in on the nose for the favourite to win the last race” we positioned ourselves at the two exit gates. The tapes rose and we were off. Nothing happened. Hardly anyone went through the gates then as the last race finished the rush began. First the backers of the fallen and “also ran” horses then the average betting man and woman who had bet their pocket money and finally, about 20 minutes after the finish, a mass of happy people who owned or had bet on the placed horses in the last race or who had otherwise had a successful afternoon or perhaps had just been to the bar.

Torpoint and Rame Peninsula Lions President Paul Goodall, Lion Richard Pymm, Lion Graham Evans, Dr Lawrence Barnes along with other representatives of the Rame Group Practice.

Blackmore Vale Lions

For thirty minutes the teams at the two gates were as busy as anything

and by the time we had finished we had lost count of how many times we had said “Thank You. Have a safe trip home”. The crowd were positive, cheerful, humorous, one man offered his shirt because that

was all he had left as the bookies had taken the rest. The result most people had a really good day and Blackmore Vale LIONS club gathered a goodly sum of money for charity. Just as well we did not bet on the favourite in the last race. It was well down the field.

Time with the International Director

As IPDG it was my privilege to accompany our International guest, International Director Marcel Daniëls and his wife Marie-Louise who arrived on Thursday afternoon but without their luggage! It appears that Frankfurt Airport has something of a reputation in that respect. However, since it was the third time in recent months that this had befallen them it wasn’t necessary to make an emergency trip to a supermarket!

Over breakfast on Friday it was decided that a trip to Arlington Court and their carriage museum would be a suitable venue although I relied upon Satnav to show me the way as I’d not been there before. Well the most direct route can sometimes be challenging but at least our passengers had the opportunity to see the Devon countryside whilst travelling along narrow lanes most of which had vegetation growing in the middle!

Arriving at the venue we inspected the gardens where Marie-Louise was in her element as a keen gardener, identifying several flowers and plants. We moved on to the Carriage Museum which was fascinating and we were all absorbed inspecting and reading about the various forms of transport used by those “well to do” long ago. Marie-Louise recognised

something similar to that her grandfather used when she was a child.

Then it was on to the house where the influence of Miss Rosalie Chichester was quite evident, amassing huge collections of shells, model ships, pewter, stuffed animals, greeting cards and objets d’art and it was also clear that she was a feminist.

Finally it was time to have a little something to eat and a cream tea was the perfect solution. While we were in Devon there was no doubt about it: jam first!

Marcel Daniëls and his wife Marie-Louise were great company and Lion Gail and I greatly enjoyed sharing

Diabetes Awareness

This month we have a recipe submited by the wife of Colin Roland. Colin is a Budleigh Lion who has Type 1 Diabetes. This year he will have lived with the condition for 60 years, and…. this year, he will be participating in the TCS London Marathon for the 15th time and is doing so to raise funds and awareness for Type 1 Diabetes. It is difficult to live with diabetes, it is relentless, but Colin runs to inspire others with diabetes to live a full and active life despite the constraints.

The Lions Club of Budleigh have been very generous in supporting Colin and he is pleased that our Club’s pro active endeavours are raising awareness of a healthy lifestyle to compliment the LCI’S Global Cause initiative.

Colin is running on behalf of Breakthrough T1D, formally JDRF. For parents Type I is a nightmare when first diagnosed, a nightmare that never really goes away. I have spoken to parents of children with Type 1 and it is the story of Sophie https://youtu.be/ uTiAFA3I3g0?si=oqXi0bKQt62ZsdWw which inspired me to promote diabetes awareness.

The Recipe for All Bran Cake.

Its easy to bake, may not look great, but it maintains blood glucose levels and has loads of fibre good for keeping the digestive system ‘in motion’

Ingredients:

Note for your diary

100g All bran ( wheat or oat)

100ml Semi-skimmed milk

50g Sugar substitute ( I use Stevia)

100g Dried fruit and nuts ( I use chopped dates, flame raisons, and a mix of nuts and seeds)

100g Self raising flour.

Method:

Except for the flour, put all the other dry ingredients in a bowl and add milk, stir well.

Leave to soak for at least an hour.

Then add the flour and stir well, may need to add a little more milk.

Spoon into a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake for 1 to 1.5hrs on gas 3 or 170C.

Keep an eye on the cake because it can burn easily and test with a skewer to check it is cooked through.

It has quite a short shelf life, maybe three days at the most.

The total cake carbs is 300g.

It is an acquired taste but we love it and bake it every week. So thanks to Di for the recipe and I am sure you will all join with me in wishing Colin the best of luck with the Marathon. But please Colin, make this one the last one.

District Handover is scheduled to take place at Padbrook Park Hotel just off the M5 near Cullompton on Sunday 27th July where afternoon tea is planned. Padbrook Park is situated just 1 mile from junction 28 off the M5, at the southern end of Cullompton. The postcode is EX15 1RU.

For anyone interested in the venue this is their web address www.padbrookpark.co.uk

St Austell Lions

In late February St Austell Lions took the opportunity to thank a number of their helpers without whom it would have been impossible to accompany Santa on his sleigh throughout the streets of our town. We had come to recognise that with advancing age and infirmity we needed help so we launched an S.O.S (Save Our Santa) appeal and the response from the public was tremendous. Amongst those who came to our rescue were those pictured below who braved the horrid weather several times each week over the 3 week period.

In early March St Austell Lions celebrated their 56th Charter Anniversary with Sunday lunch at the Carlyon Bay Hotel where First Vice District Governor Richard Allen brought along the Vision Screening Camera to demonstrate to members the equipment their contribution helped to secure.