Membership on the increase

Callington and District Lions are celebrating the old and the new in their club membership. Lions President Don Berrey says that club membership numbers are looking healthy. In the last 2months Lions have recruited 4 new members, with another 3 further potential members in the wings.

With the ‘old’, 5 long service awards were issued.

The members being awarded here by Don are: Hewie Hewitson, 25 years, with Emma Burnard and Ian Robertson, 10 years of service. Karen Toft, 20 years, and Scott Delbridge, 10years, also celebrated their long-term commitment to Callington Lions.

Don added that the Lions motto is ‘We Serve’ and it is good to see so many willing to help in the local Callington and District area whilst having fun doing it. Lions assist by supporting local charities, individuals, and families in need, providing wheelchairs, ‘teddies for tears’, collecting spectacles, mobile ‘phones for recycling and much more.

In March, Yeo Valley Lions were invited to a tour of our local Air Ambulance base. This was to thank the club for the support we have given them over the past couple of years - £6,000 from last year's Golf Day, and a further donation from funds raised at last summer's Beer Festival. The tour was fascinating; the base is situated adjacent to the M5 north of Bristol and as well as the helicopter, they have three Rapid Response cars stuffed full of equipment that you would find in a hospital emergency department. They were between call outs, so we were able to meet the pilot and some of the specialist paramedics. On average they attend five incidents a day, a third of these by helicopter and roughly two thirds by car being so close to the motorway network means it's often quicker to use the cars. Half of the calls are to trauma incidents and half are medical, most of the latter are cardiac arrests, so time is of the essence. The photo shows our group with the green helicopter on a very chilly runway! This year's Golf Day is on 27 April at Tall Trees golf course near Bristol Airport. We still have room for more teams; for details, please ring Derek White 07973 640415.