Issuu

The International Association of Lions Clubs

District 105SW

NOVEMBER 2023 NEWSLETTER District Governor - Lion James Mathers In this month’s issue DG’s Message Update on Issuu Weymouth & Portland Lions Tiverton Lions Bridport Lions ‘Sendinglovetoukraine’ Foreign Coins Callington Lions Fowey River Lions 105SW Diabetes In Memorium Budleigh Salterton Lions Hearing Aid batteries Radstock & Midsomer Norton Lions Environmental Photo Competition Special Photo Competition 105SW Environmental Project Competition Blackmore Vale Lions Service Reporting Environmental Action

I finished off my schedule for September with a visit to Newquay Towan Blystra (TB) Beer Festival, Callington Lions Honey Fair, and Tiverton 50th Charter, but my arrangements for October haven’t quite gone to plan. I’ve been waiting for an appointment to deal with a cataract, and since you are warned against driving for several hours after they put drops in your eyes, club visits had to be postponed. Fortunately, I now have a date for the procedure in November. I teamed up with PDG Lesley Clarke selling beer tickets. Newquay TB’s Beer Festival has been going for some years and it is very well organised. Even though it was the late morning of the first day, we had plenty of customers, unlike Lion Gail who was serving at the Gin Bar, but I suppose it was a bit early in the day for spirits. The following day it was off to Tiverton for its Golden Charter celebration, which was well attended notwithstanding the fact that it is a small club in terms of membership. I was delighted to present to the Secretary Lion Michael Aspray a Melvin Jones Fellowship award, and he had no idea that

Club news from around the South West Lion James Mathers

he was about to receive it. Then on Saturday 30th September I visited for the first time Callington Honey Fair. Before setting off, I’d dropped down the rear seats and carefully packed my car fit to burst with a variety of items to make their way to Ukraine and dropped these off at the emporium ready for their next convoy. For the first time the Honey Fair was held on a Saturday and Lions from surrounding clubs were there to assist and participate. The general public were also out in force, so the change to a weekend was clearly a successful step likely to be repeated. It was a fun event, and I got the opportunity to hand out certificates for the best shop window displays and was roped in to sell raffle tickets. But my engagement with Callington Lions didn’t end there, because on 16th October Lion Gail and I attended Fowey River Lions Club, where Andy and Emma Burnard from Callington Lions gave a presentation about all the work their club does collecting and transporting items for those in need in Ukraine. Also present at the event were members of Inner Wheel, who were very enthusiastic in working with Lions to add to their supplies. I now to look forward to reading 59 reports in preparation for the October MD Council Meeting in the Midlands.

Club news from around the South West Lion David Fitzpatrick

Tiverton & District Lions Club celebrated their 50th Golden Charter Anniversary on 23rd September at Padbrook Park Hotel in Cullompton.

35 guests enjoyed good food and service from the hotel staff, some travelling from each end of the district to support club members and catch up with friends. Tiverton members wish to thank everyone that came to help celebrate this milestone event. free raffle with quality prizes gave added pleasure to

Lion President Ivor presented the Club bannerette to District Governor James who presented the International Presidents personal pin to the club.

The highlight of the evening though was DG James presenting a MJF award to Lion Mike Aspray for 40 years continuous service which since 2004 following a transfer from Grantham Club has been a Director, President, Membership Officer, and Secretary, he has been a very committed member, with all members voting positively to make the much-deserved award.

the event. Bouquet of flowers were presented to Lion Gail Mathers, Lion Maggie Drew and special guest of the President Ivor, Mrs Mary Collins.

DG James Mathers presenting Lion Mike Aspray with his MJF

Club news from around the South West Lion Kevin Brookes

spectators turned out in record numbers for the racing on Sunday afternoon. This event has always been run jointly with Purbeck Motocross Club and Weymouth & Portland Lions Club. This year there were more trade stalls more charity stalls, and more visitors than ever before. Although the number of riders racing on Sunday remained consistent at about 280, everything else was bigger and better than ever before. There was the usual classic car display by the Jubilee clock, and an incredible 480 road bikes came along for the racing, parking their bikes in an impressive display along the Esplanade.

MOTOCROSS 23 Record crowds turn out on Weymouth Beach for Motocross 23 Weymouth & Portland Lions started work on Thursday afternoon to take delivery of approximately 300 crowd control barriers. These were then positioned along the Esplanade to close off the beach in preparation for the 39th Annual Weymouth Beach Race, Motocross 23. Work continued throughout Friday and Saturday to turn an award-winning beach into a twisting, high-flying race track. Course building started in earnest early on Saturday, when the beach was closed off to the public to allow the diggers get to work moving hundreds of tonnes of sand around to create the jumps and the banking for the course. By Saturday afternoon, the course was just about ready. A display from about 20 riders then got the pulses racing and, for about half an hour, they wowed the assembled onlookers. If this was a display, then bring on the racing on Sunday. A few more tweaks were made to the jumps on Sunday morning, then the course was ready to go. The weather forecast for the Sunday was good, with some sunshine, a light breeze, and thankfully, no rain. So it was no surprise when

Deputy Mayor for Weymouth Town, Cllr Alex Fuhrmann as per the tradition, started the first junior race of the day at 1 pm. Three more senior and expert races then followed for the rest of the afternoon. At the end of racing, the Mayor of Weymouth Town, Cllr Kate Wheller, presented prizes to the riders at a short prize-giving ceremony in the Pavilion Theatre ballroom later in the afternoon. Although all invoices are yet to be received and paid and the counting of coins from the bucket collection is still to be finalised, preliminary expectations are that over £9,000 was raised for local and international good causes. Weymouth & Portland Lions Club would like to thank Weymouth Precision Engineers for being the main event sponsor, Andrew’s Plant Hire who provided the diggers to create the course, Events Crew for providing the barriers, plus Weymouth Town Council for the use of the beach for the weekend and Dorset Council for allowing Council-owned carparks to be used for a pits area. We thank Weymouth Scouts for once again helping us to sell record numbers of event programmes on the day, and Weymouth Pavilion Theatre for allowing us to use the ballroom for pre-race registration and for prize-giving at the end of the event. Also, thanks to the spectators who turned out in record numbers to make the event a great success.

Follow the link below and watch the video (5) Weymouth Beach Motocross 2023 - YouTube

Club news from around the South West Lion Kevin Brookes

South West Post available on the Issuu platform in a flipbook format after cabinet funding approval At the last 105SW cabinet meeting approval was given to upgrade my Issu account to enable the newsletter to be up-loaded onto the Issuu platform and then viewed in a digital flipbook format on screen. This enables Lions to view the newsletter without having to download a copy from the PDF distributed each month by the district secretary. The newsletter will continue to be distributed as a PDF document in the normal way each month via the mail drop for those that prefer to receive it in this way. However, I will now add a link to Issuu where it will be able to be viewed on screen in a digital flipbook format. If you haven’t seen the newsletter in this way, l urge you to give it a try.

newsletter in their area, this also can be presented as a digital flipbook. Simply send me your newsletter as a word document, a Publisher document or as a PDF. I will upload it on to the Issuu platform and then send you the link back once it has uploaded. The link can then be distributed to your supporters and friends and also displayed on your website. With this account upgrade we have unlimited uploads. Data from the last thirty days, shows 97 views and each person spent on average 3min 40sec viewing the newsletter. Don’t forget this is a public platform so we are sharing our news far and wide.

For those clubs that produce and distribute a local

Lion James Mathers

Cabinet

Date

1st Cabinet

Saturday 12 August

Location Zoom (Completed)

2 Cabinet

Saturday 4 November

Okehampton

3rd Cabinet

Saturday 10th February

Zoom

4 Cabinet

Saturday 18 May

Okehampton

Club news from around the South West Lion Kevin Brookes

Bonfire Night collection for the Mayors Charity in Weymouth After two very successful bucket collection through-out August for the Mayors Christmas Charity Appeal. Weymouth & Portland Lions have once again arranged do do it all again at the annual Bonfire Night Fireworks Display on Weymouth Beach on November 5th. £448.60 was collected in August. We are hoping to match that on Bonfire Night.

Weymouth Town Mayor, Cllr Kate Wheller with Lewie Hope and Club President Ryan Hope

Lion Shelia Greenaway

Swimarathon is back After a break of four years, Bridport Lions Club held its 27th Swimarathon at the Bridport Leisure Centre on 8th October. The event was started by Mayor Dave Bolwell, and 14 teams swam a total of 944 laps (1,888 lengths!) of the pool. Early indications are that over £3,000 will be raised to help those in need in our community. Winning teams will be invited to a presentation evening at Highlands End to be held on November 28th. Well done swimmers and many thanks to our sponsors. Photo Left to right—New Lion Jaycob James, Swimarathon Chairman Malcolm Young, Mayor Cllr Dave Bolwell & Bridport President Clive Greenaway

The next trip to Poland with aid for Ukraine will leave Cornwall on the 20th November 2023. To donate please follow the link to the sendinglovetoukraine website.

https://sendinglovetoukraine.org 6

Club news from around the South West Lion Lesley Chudley

Club news from around the South West Lion Derek Prickett

Callington Lions Honey Fair a buzzing success

The sun shone and brought smiles to all who attended Callington Lions’ Honey Fair on Saturday 30th September. Following discussions with businesses and the Town Council, Callington Lions decided to change Honey Fair Day from the traditional Wednesday to a Saturday and it proved very popular, with a record number of 138 stalls and over 5,500 people attending.

The Lions were determined to make the event more family-focused with an inflatable theme park, Prim-Raf Theatre providing children’s plays, face- painting and much more. There was even a unicorn for the children to pet – seen here being interviewed by BBC Radio Cornwall!

All this was in addition to the traditional events such as the Beekeepers’ Display, ‘Teas with the Bees’ (500 served), Town Criers’ Competition, and talented singers on both the Main and Town Hall stages. Eight hundred children’s paintings from the local schools were on show and there was a Shop Window Display competition.

Club news from around the South West Lion Derek Prickett

In addition, the Lions wanted to have a greener Honey Fair this year and to be plastic free where possible, so recycling bins were provided by the local recycling charity SHARE and, thanks go to the visitors for using the bins, it helped to keep the streets the cleanest ever. A raffle with a difference was held where local shops and organisations were offered £20 for a prize and money was raised via the Just Giving website; thanks to public generosity over £1,100 was donated. In addition, £5,500 was spent with local organisations. Other innovations included in this year’s Fair was a quiet space in the local church for younger children and a dementia café in the local care home. For more photos and information on Honey Fair Day and Callington Lions, see their Facebook page. Thanks go to the following for their support in making Honey Fair such a success: Callington Town Council and all their hard-working staff; SHARE recycling charity; Callington Cricket Club; Chyvaras Care Home for the Dementia Café, St Mary’s Church for the quiet space, Prim-Raf Theatre, Diverse Events and many more.

Club news from around the South West Lion Lynne Goold

Fin Thurman presentation on high jump—Ramble for Children in Need & Ukraine Appeal consistently and to improve his 100 m and 200 m sprint times. He has just received his club’s competition medal for 2022 for being ranked in the top 25 in the club and is waiting for the presentation of his 2023 medal. He is also the highest performer in the under 20s for his club, Newquay and Par. He brought his spikes and trainers along to show the club, as well as many medals and some of

Fowey River Lions had assisted Fin financially to undertake additional training for his high jump skills and he attended our monthly meeting with a presentation on his training and achievements. Fin started his presentation by telling us that he had used the donation from the Lions to help him with travel to Birmingham, Loughborough and Bath for the Youth Talent Training Programme. This is an England Athletics training programme that runs for two years, and this is his second year. The money was also used to purchase specialist spikes for sprint training, to improve his speed, power and explosiveness for high jumping and trainers for training in. In the past two years Fin has taken part in at least 14 championships, including Cornwall County Championships, South West Schools Championships, South West Inter Counties Championships, English Schools Championships and Welsh Athletics Indoor Championships. He took a first place in 2021 with a personal best of 1.75 m and this year he improved on that at the South West Athletics League where he came first with a personal best of 1.95 m. In year one of the under20s category, he is ranked 20th in the UK, with two more years to improve! Fin shared his training timetable with the club, which showed his determination and dedication to the sport. Fin started high jump at the age of eight years; to begin with, he used the scissors kick to get over the bar, but his trainer showed him how to use the flop. He found it difficult at first but has now been practising it for five years. His aims for the next year are to qualify for the English Schools Championships, to improve his personal best to jump over 2m, to perform more

the kit from a competition in Loughborough. Fin thanked the club for their support. There were several questions from Lions members and they were delighted with his performance and determination and wished him well. The President thanked Fin for coming and looked forward to receiving further updates on his performance. Countryfile Ramble for Children in Need Thank you to our stalwart group of walkers who turned out on a lovely sunny Sunday to walk from Polruan to Bodinnick along the beautiful Hall Walk. Ther efforts collected £102 for Children in Need. Ukraine appeal We were delighted to welcome Andy, Emma, Jill and Phil from Callington Lions, who gave us a presentation on their trips with aid to the Ukrainian border. The first trip was conceived by Darren Taite, a local taxi firm owner from Callington. Word travelled fast, support grew, and the Lions joined forces with him. At Easter 2021 they sent 13 vans of donated goods. It is a

Club news from around the South West Lion Lynne Goold

journey of 2.5 thousand miles, through five countries, taking five days, ending in Poland where the goods are transported onward to the Ukraine. Meeting them in Poland is a 21-year-old university student called Irena. She organises all the distribution and onward transportation of the goods. She has also set up a safe house for women mistreated by their oppressors. The return journey brings sponsored Ukrainians to this country, as well as parcels for families already living here. So far 150 van loads of aid have been sent and, what started out locally, now covers Cornwall, Devon and into Somerset, involving some 25 Lions Clubs. The audience for the presentation comprised members of local Lions clubs, people who had donated, members of the Inner Wheel, who are keen to support the initiative, and two Ukrainians now living and studying in St Austell. The support and interest in the project were immense and the Lions Clubs present were grateful for the support of their local communities. President: Lion Tony Bartlett

Treasurer: Lion Tony Bartlett

Secretary: Lion Lynn Goold

email: foweyriverlions@gmail.com facebook: foweyriverlions Tel: 0345 833 7484

Lion Peter Rowe

It is with sadness that we announce the passing to higher service of

Lion Lionel Clark Bodmin Lion John Webb Bridport Lion James Beer Minehead

Lion Philip Greenwood Plymouth There are special people in our lives who never leave us, even after they have gone

Please contact the respective Lions Club president or secretary for further details

Club news from around the South West Lion Tom Miner

The MD diabetes officers met on 6th October via Zoom and here are the main points from the meeting: We discussed Service Activity Data for MD105, and diabetes awareness serves the least number of people compared with the other global causes: Diabetes served 21,599 people (0.72%) Environment served 447,772 people (14.97%) Hunger served 413,259 people (13.82%) Vision served 581,330 people (19.44%) Childhood Cancer served 25,329 people (0.85%) Other causes 1,501,284 people (50.20%) So, there is a need to reach out to more people and raise diabetes awareness. Although, in fairness, the South West served 12,068 people, compared to the MD total of 21,599. We then discussed promotional material for World Diabetes Day, and I attach a World Diabetes Day ‘Know the Risk’ poster, an events poster and ‘Project Ideas for Diabetes Events’ poster. Pull-up banners are very informative and a simple and effective way of demonstrating diabetes awareness. A photo is attached. The banners are available from Lions HQ for about £80.Tthere are different designs, and clubs can alter the design to suit their needs. Some club members who suffer from diabetes have complained of the lack of suitable dessert choices at Charter Night Dinners. This was discussed and as members are usually asked to provide dietary needs when making their menu choices, this was deemed sufficient. But I do feel a sugar-free healthy dessert should be on the menu, partly to demonstrate that we are promoting diabetes awareness, and it may also be the choice of non-diabetics. We then discussed Facebook as a means of promoting diabetes awareness and members can join the ‘Lions Fighting Diabetes’ Facebook page of Lions International. However, it takes several days for posts submitted to appear on the page. I suggested we create our own MD diabetes page, but it was regarded as difficult to keep updated. Maybe it is something we could do on our the 105SW district Facebook page. The meeting concluded at this point. I would like to thank those clubs that have events planned for November, especially those who are doing this for the first time. Please contact me if you need any help and I will try to visit some of the events.

Finally, if you need some bedtime reading, ‘The Case Against Sugar’ by Gary Taubes might be a good read or simply send you to sleep. Regards Tom Miner 105SW District Diabetes Officer.

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

Beach Litter-Pick with Otterton C of E Primary School Pupils

On Thursday 21st September Lion Graham Burch arranged for the children at Otterton Primary School to borrow the Budleigh Lions Club set of children's litter-picking equipment. Lion President Richard Allen met teacher Emma Cocker, other teachers and parents on the seafront at Budleigh. Emma Cocker from the School said, “The youngest children at Otterton C of E Primary School ventured out on a beach-clean this week, with the help and support of Budleigh Lions. The children are passionate about keeping our local environment clean and are courageous advocates of promoting the importance of looking after our world. The children managed to collect a lot of waste. They were pleased to have cleaned up the beach, but disappointed that the waste was there in the first place.

They are now designing posters to put up around Otterton to encourage others to watch what they drop!" Lion President Richard Allen showed the children the debris from barbecue and fire sites and explained how the heat from the beach fires is causing pebbles to crack open, leaving sharp edges which are dangerous. The children also looked at the nails and screws from burnt wood and other debris left behind.

Budleigh Lions Club has since decided to sponsor an environmental poster competition, which will binitially be carried out at Otterton Primary School, Drake's Primary School and St Peters' Primary School.

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

Club news from around the South West Lion Lesley Chudley

THERE’S SILVER IN THEM THEIR BATTERIES

Button batteries contain a small amount of silver. A member of Southend Lions has the ability to extract this and dispose of the rest, environmentally safely. One kilogram of batteries will yield £50 of silver at today’s prices. Please collect these from care homes, medical outlets, chemists, hearing aid providers or anywhere that will save them for you, and bring them to zone meetings, cabinet, or post them to Lesley Chudley. All monies generated will go into the MD Vision Screening Programme. SO we are helping the environment and vision in one go!

WIN! WIN!

Club news from around the South West Lion Shelia Greenaway

Four new members for Bridport Lions Club It was a highly encouraging October meeting, The club welcomed four new members, bringing the membership from nine to 13! All four were sponsored by Lion Lucy Paull and were inducted by President Clive Greenaway. The club looks forward to new and exciting times.

Photo left to right—Lions Jaycob James, Mandy Pearson, Lucy Paull, Emma Cormack, Jo Dorman and President Clive Greenaway

Sensory garden still blooming lovely “We would like to thank David the Town Warden for all his hard work”

Radstock & Midsomer Norton Lions are delighted that the sensory garden at Midsomer Norton Park is not only still blooming lovely, it is seeing plenty of footfall. The club always wanted to leave a legacy for the town, where people could enjoy the quiet and reflective sensory garden behind St Chads Surgery at the entrance to the Town Park. The club would like to thank David the Town Warden who has worked hard to keep it looking fabulous all year round. David has had to replace a few plants over the years, and we understand that the deer also enjoy the garden, especially nibbling the roses! Despite these gardening challenges, it looks amazing and has become a great community asset. The garden is easily accessible and a delight to the senses. Those that haven’t visited yet are in for a treat. Lions are happy that many people have spent time enjoying this delightful garden and it will continue to blossom for future generations.

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

Community organisation ‘Launchpad’ receives £1,000 donation from Budleigh Lions

Budleigh Salterton Lions continue to support the Budleigh Community Food Larder and the Exmouth Food Bank. On Thursday 21st September Budleigh Lions presented a cheque for £1000 to Carole Brown from 'Launchpad', which manages the Community Food Larder and is based at Wesley's next to the Methodist Church in Budleigh. The donation will pay for a weekly delivery of food from Fareshare for a whole year. This is the second year running that Budleigh Lions Club has done this. Since the Budleigh Community Food Larder was established in 2022, Lions Club members, partners and others have been volunteering to collect surplus food from local shops, growers and individuals. They take it to the Food Larder, where

it is offered free of charge to anyone who would like it (people can make a donation if they wish). The Budleigh Lions have also been volunteering at the 'pay-as-you-can' supper evenings held at the Food Larder. The Community Food Larder is primarily an environmental project, with a view to reducing food waste. However, the Community Larder can also be a vital resource for local people who may need to access cheaper or free food to stretch the budget. A community larder does not replace a foodbank, but it can support people so that they may not need the support of a foodbank. Carole Brown, Launchpad Manager, said, "We have calculated that the Food Larder is currently turning over about a tonne of surplus food a month! This is not only saving a tonne of food

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

from being wasted, but also putting it into the hands of the individuals and families who need it the most." She added, "We thank the Lions for their ongoing support, which enables us to run the Larder and the community suppers. We know that both of these ventures are making a difference to local people and we are very grateful for your support.”

Then on Friday 22nd September the Budleigh Lions visited Exmouth and presented a cheque for £1,000 to the Exmouth Food Bank. Shirley Newcome, part of the Exmouth Food Bank Team, said, "This is an extremely generous donation and I am absolutely delighted, this money will go a very long way to support our service and help to ensure that all of our clients have the choice of a wide range of staple foods. The Food Bank has seen a huge increase in demand, particularly from large families during the summer holiday period, so we have been at full stretch. The ongoing support of our service by the Budleigh Salterton Lions Club is invaluable."

“This is an extremely generous donation and l am absolutely delighted” Shirley Newcombe, Exmouth Food Bank

£1,000 donation to Exmouth Food Bank

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

Visit to The Deaf Academy in Exmouth

On Friday 29th September Lions Richard and Gill were invited to visit the Deaf Academy in Exmouth following on from an earlier visit prior to the summer break. At the first meeting the Deaf Academy gave a copy of its book, 'The Amazing History of the Deaf Academy to Budleigh Lions Club. This time Lions Richard and Gill took the opportunity to present a set of the Wild Tribe Heroes books to a group of young learners at the Academy. Richard and Gill were then invited to address the school assembly and tell them about Lions and the Young Leaders in Service Awards. The Deaf Academy later said, "A special thank you to Richard and Gill from Budleigh Salterton Lions Club who visited our students on Friday to donate a series of books called the Wild Tribe Heroes. These books will help our students to learn about how we can protect incredible animals, plants and sea creatures. Our library now has seven of these books and we are looking forward to reading them!"

Club news from around the South West

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

Litter-Picking in Sidmouth

Two Budleigh Lions, Richard and Tony, visited Sidmouth on 4th October and met Sidmouth Lions Club member Jim Metcalf to do some litter-picking. They were joined by a Young Leader in Service, Thomas, and his mum. The group had a very enjoyable afternoon on the beach and on the esplanade, finding various bits of litter and rubbish, as can be seen in one of the photos. This was followed by a welcome pot of tea and a good chat!

Club news from around the South West Lion Kevin Brookes

In an earlier South West Post Weymouth & Portland Lions Club, together with other local groups reported that they had made a relatively small donation of £100 towards travel and competition expenses for a young local man Elliott Gover who was a rising Jiu-Jitsu star. This is a report from the sports pages of the Dorset Echo of his recent progress.

Club news from around the South West Lion Lesley Chudley

Club news from around the South West Lion Alan Sanderson

Lion Alan Sanderson SW105 Environmental Co-ordinator One of the five global cause areas that unite our organisation is the environment. The work that is being done by Lions to preserve our planet in recognition that the health of local communities and environments affects us all is exemplary. However, we are all beginning a journey that can be informed by new initiatives that further enable us to do all in our power, both individually and collectively, to protect our natural and built environment. Thus, as the District’s Environmental Co-ordinator, I have sent a short questionnaire to all club presidents to establish their club’s current service activity and plans in relation to environmental issues. Replies will then be collated into a report to be presented at the November Cabinet Meeting. Subsequently, it is envisaged that the newly available information will result in clubs being offered new plans of action, which they may adopt to enhance their environmental interventions. I would also like to draw your attention to Veronica Whittle’s Environmental Project – details were published in the September Edition of the South West Post – that offers clubs an opportunity to show what has already been achieved. Additionally, there is an Environmental Photo Competition that provides a fun way of showing what has been done. I hope you will all become involved.

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

On Saturday 7th October five members of Budleigh Salterton Lions Club stood in Budleigh High Street collecting donations for the charity 'Young Lives vs Cancer'. The Lions collected a total of £396.54. The Club decided to add further funds to make a total donation of £500 to the charity. Young Lives vs Cancer's vision is that everyone under 25 with cancer, and their families, will get the support and help they need during their cancer treatment and beyond, including bereaved families living with emotional pain. If you would like to find out more, please visit the thewebsite www.younglivesvscancer.org.uk. As we all know, Childhood Cancer is one of Lions Clubs International's five global causes and Budleigh Salterton Lions Club has also been helping to raise funds for Children's Hospice South West (CHSW).

The Club does this by collecting used postage stamps. It has asked local businesses and households to donate their used stamps, which can

then be given to the Lions at any of their events, or they can be dropped off at local collection points. When the Club has a good quantity, it will deliver them to CHSW. CHSW then forwards them on to its stamp dealer, who pays CHSW for the discarded stamps by weight, and even more for special stamps and albums. Lion President Richard Allen said, "This is a relatively easy way to help raise funds for the CHSW; it involves the local community and businesses and helps to spread awareness of the fantastic work that the CHSW does".

Club news from around the South West Lion Richard Allen

Two new members At the October Business Meeting, Budleigh Salterton Lions welcomed two new members into the Club, Lion Jo Jamieson and Lion Tony Bott. Richard Allen, President of Budleigh Salterton Lions Club, said, "I am delighted to welcome Jo and Tony to our Club. I am sure that they will both be excellent Lions and help us to carry out even more service activities. Both Tony and Jo have already joined in with a number of Club activities and are already making a difference in our local community." The induction of new Lions Jo and Tony coincided with a Club visit from Vice District Governor Lion Kevin Moore. Lion Kevin was delighted to have the opportunity of being involved in the ceremony and read out the 'purposes' of Lions Clubs International.

Lion Derek Prickett

Callington Lions are still buzzing Callington Lions have not been resting on their laurels since their very successful Honey Fair – see pages 6 & 7 in this SW Post. Since the big day, they have had a full house for their Honey Fair Bingo night where £700 was raised for local charities. In addition, Lion Robin Gold is seen here delivering over 5,800 spectacles to Lion Sue Boucher of Chichester Branch, where they will be sorted and sent to countries in need.

By the time SW Post goes to press, Callington Lions will have led the next convoy to Poland for the charity Cornwall and Devon Sending Love to Ukraine. This will be with much needed humanitarian goods for onward transmission to Ukraine. This will be the 16th convoy with over 150 vans to date. Callington Lions wish to thank the many Lions clubs that have helped in raising funds, providing items and delivering the aid. Seen here are Fowey and St Austell Lions loading up ready for the next trip. If any clubs would like to provide goods for Ukraine, please see Cornwall and Devon Sending Love to Ukraine website, to see what is most needed.

https://sendinglovetoukraine.org

Club news from around the South West Lion Tim Otter

Blackmore Vale Lions continue to keep Lions in public sight (KLIP) One minute there seems to be nothing on the horizon, then, like London buses, everything comes at once. The late summer has been busy for Blackmore Vale Lions Club (BVLC). To start with, we were visited by the DG, Lion James Mathers and his wife Lion Gail. In the last edition, James kindly drew attention to our presence at the Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival. This is a major charity and social event in our local calendar.

were a credit to their parents and the school. Next on the agenda was a stall at the Sturminster Big Welcome, an event to welcome newcomers to Sturminster Newton and the surrounding area. The objectives from our point of view were raising our profile and introducing ourselves to the newcomers and maybe recruiting some new members. We seem to have raised more than a passing interest with some of the newcomers. We will have to see if they join. Our ever-present buckets collected some money, and we got a chance to chat with other local volunteer organisations to discuss other events and activities with them.

BVLC runs one of the entry gates to the Cheese Festival and has its gazebo there too. We use the gazebo to raise funds via a tombola, and publicise “plugsters”, message in a bottle and spectacle collections. All of which helps our visibility and, most importantly, our local community.

Finally, the big one! At our last business meeting we debated how to handle the charity money we will raise from the 2024 Blackmore Vale Half Marathon and associated Fun Run. This year we are going to donate a percentage of our profits after expenses to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) and are publicising this before the event. Many of us live close to Henstridge Airfield and often see their helicopter, “Peggy”, disappearing off to help the victims of accidents or medical emergencies. We are working with DSAA on publicity, and a series of separate releases will cover this.

At the gate most people pay by “tapping their card”. This year the connection between the web’s servers and some banks failed. Not many people carry cash, resulting in no entry. This could have resulted in very disappointed cheese aficionados, even more cheesed off children wanting to get to the Punch and Judy, and a huge loss of revenue for the stallholders, for our colleagues in Rotary who run the festival and for the local charities and good causes that benefit. Members’ quick thinking and electronic nous enabled a work around with barely a hiccup. It was a meltingly hot day. Queuing would have been stressful for children, their parents and the elderly. Technology is wonderful until there isn’t any! Lions’ bytes to the rescue!

The Blackmore Vale Half Marathon (BVHM) is on Sunday 4th Feb 2024 at 11.00 at Bishop’s Caundle. To sponsor or help (we always need more sponsors and helpers) see https://bvlions.yolasite.com/ or take part (we always need more runners) see https://bvlhm.yolasite.com or RUNBRITAIN.COM/RACES.

Some of the money we raised in the tombola and other events has gone to help Stalbridge Primary School setting up an outdoor music area. A group from BVLC went to the school and presented a cheque for £1,500.00 to the head teacher and the school’s house captains, who impressed us with their ambition, aspiration, enthusiasm, knowledge and confidence. They

Please tell your friends and colleagues and pass the information on. We look forward to seeing you and them.

Club news from around the South West Lion Tim Otter

Cheese Festival and The Tombola. Helper Ros Browning and LION Ian Simpson sell tickets.

And Some are Born Lucky. A Happy family with their winning Teddy Bears.

Cheese festival entrance or not! When the electronics and IT break the result is unhappy people. LION Bill Brown having an Alan Turing moment to break the Enigma code of the broken machines. LIONS to the rescue. Lucky we can Byte!

The Big Stur Welcome gave BVLC the chance to tell people what we do and how we do it. LIONS Colin MacLeod and Bill Brown about to explain how we can help them and how newcomers to the area could help us do it. There was publicity for the BVHM.

Blackmore Vale LIONS with the Head Teacher (Mr Simon Elledge on right) and the four Team Captains at the cheque presentation for Stalbridge Primary School outdoor music area9

Club news from around the South West Lion Roger Dovey

On Monday 16th October members of St Austell Lions Club attended a presentation at the Ship Inn, Par, hosted by Fowey Lions Club, together with members of the Inner Wheel, some Ukrainian guests and members of the public. Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, a group was set up called ‘Cornwall & Devon sending love to Ukraine’. It was set up by Callington taxi firm owner, Darren Tait, and very soon an ever growing group of volunteers got together to collect, pack and drive aid to the Poland/Ukraine border on a monthly basis. Almost 19 months on, and the group have delivered 150 vans of medical and humanitarian aid and 5 Ambulances, over 16 trips, averaging every five weeks, including the Christmas period. They also deliver items for a thousand orphans looked after by Warsaw Lions clubs. On trip 2, Lions Andy and Emma Burnard from Callington Lions joined the group and are now collecting with the team from 25 district Lions clubs from Penzance to North of Bristol, as well as helping in the collection centre at the Emporium, Tavistock Rd, Callington, and driving the aid to its destination. Each trip takes five days, over six countries, 2,500 miles and the group is all self-funding. After the presentation, they were given a van load of supplies to take on their next trip on 25th October, including sanitary items, nappies, sleeping bags and much more.

Next Ukraine collection St Austell Lions will be holding their next collection for Ukraine on Saturday 28th October between 10.00 am and 11.30 am at the car park of St Mary's Church, St Blazey Gate. Items particularly requested include warm children's clothing, nappies, ladies' sanitary products, sleeping bags, small tents and paracetamol. We look forward to seeing you there!

Club news from around the South West The Roar Team

ROAR National Awards Day 2023 The Roar 2023 National Awards day can be viewed on Zoom on 6th December at 10.30 am until 12 noon. Join us through the following zoom link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89147579192?pwd=cDF3VEJaSld3aitPZ0pmMVZwSC9GZz09 The meeting ID is: 891 4757 9192 The passcode is: 623155

If your Lions club is interested in seeing how this exciting new youth programme engages children, then please join us on the day.

The ROAR Team

www.lions-roar.com/

Lion Kevin Brookes

Thank you to everyone who has contributed this month’s South West Post. Deadline for articles and photographs for next month’s newsletter is 20th November 2023. Until then... 33