Lions International District 105SW Newsletter July 2019

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER

Aim : HEART Humour, Experience, Appreciate, Respect, Trust.

Welcome to our Newsletter

District Governor Lion B.J. Partridge-Hogbin.

Jim P-H. Welcome, fellow Lions to the new Lionistic year, and to a new District 105SW. Welcome also to the Lions that are now with us from the old District of W and D. We now have a golden opportunity to shape our District for the next 100 years.

By the time you are reading this, I will be in Milan finishing off my training with Rosemary. I am looking forward to leading the District with some trepidation, but most of all I feel honoured that you trust me to carry on the good work of our wonderful organisation.

My theme is PUTTING THE HEART BACK INTO LIONS: • Humour let’s have fun and laughter in our lives • Experience respect and use Lion’s experiences to better Lions.

• Appreciate it costs nothing to say THANK YOU, so show your appreciation for what the Lions have done for the communities we serve.

• Respect each other for what they bring to Lions.

• Trust each other to do the best for Lions; you may not always agree with them, but they are doing their best for this wonderful organisation.

I have been on the Vision camera training with Lion Rosemary. I think most of us need to see it at work, so please keep an open mind on this for the time being.

I have tried to change Cabinet to include new and more female members, but if you are not willing to stand nothing will change. We are all volunteers who do the best we can for Lions.

So, think about taking on an officer’s role at Club, Zone and District.

As the saying goes, WE NEED YOU __________________________________________

The International President is Dr Jung-Yul Choi. His theme for the year is SERVICE BY DIVERSITY.

July 2019 EDITION

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER

Journey of Peace Peace Poster Contest 2019-20 There is still time to get schools and youth groups involved in the Peace Poster Contest for 2019-20.

Please contact me for Peace Poster Kits or for more information.

Lion Theresa Warrell Peace Poster Officer ta.warrell@btinternet.com _________________________________________

Annual Presentations 2019

Fourteen teams of five swimmers, in four heats entered the event, which covered 25 metre lengths being swum by each swimmer in a relay format over a period of 50 mins, with the team covering the most lengths being the winners.

All swimmers of the age 16 or younger were awarded a medal and inscribed to indicate their achievement. A trophy for the winning team consisting of only four young ladies was Team Tanzania for completing an amazing 148 lengths of the pool, comprised of Lily Thorp 14, Jasmine Coleman 15, Evie Saunders 13 and Jess Gerrad 15, all from Callington. (Unfortunately, as the team could not attend the presentation, the trophy and medals will be presented at some later date.) Each team were swimming for a charity of their own choice in addition to the Lions chosen charity with the individual sponsorships being split on a 50 / 50 basis. The charity representatives were each presented with cheques, by Vice president of The Lions Club of Plymouth Lion George Poad, assisted by the Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Terri Beer, they were:- Keep Me Close (the Lions chosen charity), Action Duchenne, an Individual Lady with Sepsis, Plymouth Highbury Trust, Special Olympics Team Plymouth & District, Shekinah Mission, Dame Hannah Rogers, Tanzania 2020 Expedition, Ivybridge Guides, Coeliac UK, and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

In total the charities were awarded the sum of ÂŁ5,000.00 raised by the event.

Back in March of this year the Lions Club of Plymouth held our annual Swimathon Event and just recently (31st May) we have held the presentation of medals and trophy in the Plymouth Lord Mayors Parlour with the Plymouth City Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Terri Beer and our own Club Vice President Lion George Poad officiating.

This year the Lions Club of Plymouth Sponsored Swimathon Event was held on Sunday 17th March at Saltash Leisure Pool.

The Lions Club of Plymouth would like to thank all the teams who took part for their support of this event and also to thank our event sponsors who covered the overhead costs of staging the event, Our Sponsors were, Russells Flooring, Plessey SemiConductors, Moorland Heating, RL Motor Services, GA Solicitors and Francis Stuart HMO Property Management and Acquisitions. __________________________________________

July 2019 EDITION

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER International Youth Exchange 2019 I am pleased to confirm that District 105SW will be hosting one Youth Exchange Student from Denmark this summer.

Mette’s exchange has been sponsored by Cheddar Vale Lions Club. She will be hosted by Suzanne and Richard who are not Lions but have been “Friends” of the Club for many years.

A varied programme of visits and events has been planned for Mette, some of which have been organised or sponsored by neighbouring Lions Clubs. For some of the events, Mette will be joined by two other Youth Exchange students, from Turkey and Croatia, who are being hosted by Lion Colin and IPDG Sally Marsh of Radstock and Midsomer Norton Lions Club (105W). Due to redistricting, all 3 students will actually be hosted within the new 105SW District.

The hosting dates are 29th July to 5th August, after which the students will join all the other Exchange Student from many parts of the world for the Youth Camp in Doncaster.

Disappointingly, not enough Hosts could be found for all of the 40 Youth Exchange Students this year, so some of the young people will only have the experience of the Youth Camp without the many benefits and rewards of spending time with a Host family.

The Lions Club of St. Austell give £1000 to Cornwall Hospice Care, from Easter Egg Raffle 2019 The Lions Club of St. Austell has given Cornwall Hospice Care £1000 from the proceeds of the Club's Grand Easter Egg Raffle 2019.

Jane Appleton, Community Fundraiser of Cornwall Hospice Care, said: "We are so grateful for the generous donation of £1000.00 from the Lions Club of St Austell following their very successful Giant Easter Egg Raffle this year. This donation will fund over 50 hours of nursing care, which shows why support from groups like the Lions is so important.

It costs over £5.12m to run our services each year and with very limited funding from the NHS we really do rely on the support and generosity of our local community.

The Lions Club of St. Austell would also like to thank the many businesses in the St. Austell area who had one of our Easter Eggs and Raffle Boards: The Western Inn, the Polgooth Inn, the Ship Inn, Pentewan, the White Pyramid, Trewoon, the Holmbush Inn, the Carlyon Arms, the Queens Head, St. Stephen, the Fountain Inn, Mevagissey, the Taj Restaurant, the Hewas Inn, Sticker, Trewoon Village Store, Polgooth Post Office and Store, Penmellyn Vets, and also the New Inn, Goonhavern.

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In photo, left to right: Jane Appleton, Community Fundraiser of Cornwall Hospice Care, Lions Club of St. Austell Vice President Tony Pickup and Sharon, Healthcare Assistant at Mount Edgcumbe Hospice.

July 2019 EDITION

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER

The Lions Club of St. Austell 50th Charter Anniversary

The Lions Club of St. Austell recently held its 50th Charter Anniversary at the Bristol Hotel, Newquay.

Special 50th Charter Anniversary awards were presented by Lion District Governor Peter Rowe to Lions Club of St. Austell President Michael Collins, who was one of the original Charter Members when the Club was formed 50 years ago.

Lion’s Bagging of Sleeping Bags The Lions Club of Plymouth bagged the remaining stock of 19 sleeping bags from a local store for the Soup-Run to donate to the homeless of Plymouth.

At their recent club business meeting the Lions Club of Plymouth answered a plea from the Soup-Run volunteers to the Lion Chair of Community Services Lion Philip Greenwood for sleeping bags for the homeless. The meeting agreed unanimously to purchase as many sleeping bags as possible locally for a given sum and present them to the Soup Run organised from the Shekinah Mission premises for distribution during their regular Soup-Run in the city. Nineteen bags were purchased and presented by the Lions Club of Plymouth Vice President Lion George Poad, ably assisted by Lion Phil Greenwood to Hilary Knight, Dawn Stiles, Norma Fry, Martha Paisi and Mandy Lauchlan of the Soup Run, on Sunday evening the 2nd June for distribution.

(Ladies named L to R with Vice President Lion George Poad in the Centre).

The Distinguished Guests included DG Lion Peter & PDG Lion Christine Rowe, Soroptimists President Brenda Morton & Soroptimist Carole Gardner, our local MP Steve Double & Anne Double.

Other important guests were PDG Lion Robbie Bhonsle, PDG Lion John Sims, Bodmin President Lion David Truran, Newquay President Lion Susan Dyne, Roche Secretary Lion Heather Vaughan and other visiting Lions From Newquay, Towan Blystra, Truro and Bodmin Clubs.

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A good time was had by all, with the proceedings followed by dancing to the Fascination Duo. __________________________________________

July 2019 EDITION

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER Hawksmoor Investment Management and PJ Print of Newquay sponsor other associated costs.

Royal Cornwall Show Once again Lions members from the 19 Clubs in Cornwall provided an invaluable service at this year’s Royal Cornwall Show, giving those attending the chance to have a simple test to see if they may be at increased risk of diabetes.

Despite the atrocious weather, courtesy of Storm Megwell, qualified nurses and paramedics gave their expertise free of any charge to assist the Lions in testing the blood/sugar levels of almost 1,300 individuals - a procedure that takes just a couple of minutes. As a result, over 80 people were advised to consider arranging a check-up with their GP to see whether they would be advised to receive any further medical attention.

Organiser, Lion Barry Merrifield, of St Austell Lions Club said: “It was interesting to note that several people who took the opportunity to be tested had been having thoughts about seeing their GPs anyway but hadn’t got around to making an appointment. If the chance for them to have a quick check like the one, we provide at the Royal Cornwall Show has resulted in an earlier diagnosis of a potential problem then that’s exactly what we always hope to be the case.

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PLANET 105 SW - RECYCLING PLASTIC MILK BOTTLE TOPS Recycling isn’t a new concept for Lions: we already collect used spectacles, hearing aids, batteries, inkjet cartridges, clothing and many other items for reuse as part of our commitment to service.

However, a new idea to recycle plastic milk bottle tops for environmental reasons came to us from a Lions Club in Spain about 3 years ago. Problems caused by the widespread use of plastic were welldocumented even before ‘Blue Planet 2’ was screened, so Crewkerne Lions Club investigated possibilities and the collection of these tops for recycling became the Club’s latest venture.

The three-day event is supported by Lloyds Pharmacy who provide the Lions with all the medical equipment free of charge. In addition, local businesses, including FAC Group Financial Services,

July 2019 EDITION

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER As word spread, so did Club involvement in our District. Several began to collect. Some Clubs also approached other organisations, such as Tesco in Launceston, an industrial estate in Exeter, guest houses and clubs in Paignton, an Estate Agent and Nursing Home in Budleigh Salterton and the U3A in Cheddar, as well as individual friends and neighbours. Over time, it evolved into a whole District project, with about 13 Clubs contributing to its growth.

So far, approximately 1,184kgs of plastic milk bottle tops have been handed over to Crewkerne Lions.

Each 5kg bin bag contains about 3,500 tops, so we have already saved around 826,000 from being sent to landfill. This equates to roughly 236 bin bags full, which is a hugely bulky amount to dispose of and only a tiny proportion of what the whole of South West England would normally throw away. Such figures really highlight the enormity of what is happening to our planet as a whole, so by recycling just this one type of plastic, 105SW is definitely making a difference.

The tops are recycled by GHS Recycling in Portsmouth (www.ghsrecycling.co.uk or info@ghsrecycling.co.uk). They granulate the tops and sell the granules to specialist granulated plastics companies, who sell on to manufacturers of other plastic products, such as children’s beach and garden toys and even new milk bottle tops, which can be recycled 4 or 5 times.

for the charity. We’re also collecting trigger sprays from inside cleaning product containers and these bring in 4p per spray. We estimate that so far (May 2019) our milk bottle tops and trigger sprays have contributed about £71 and £9 respectively towards MS Society funds, so we are fulfilling another valuable service to others as well as protecting the environment.

Now that ‘Environment’ is one of our 5 Global Service Areas, it is hoped that more District Clubs will consider participating. Updates will be given from time to time in the District Newsletter and 105SW will be given recognition on GHS Recycling’s website in due course.

Meanwhile, to enable this environmental initiative to run smoothly as it expands further and to avoid any misunderstandings about what to do, especially for Lions not yet familiar with the scheme, an instruction sheet is attached for Clubs to keep and refer to as necessary and for members to hand out to any friend or organisation interested in taking part. For any other information, please contact Lions Fred, Lesley or Wendy on 01460 72305 or Lion Jean on 01934 643924.

Our planet matters, so grateful thanks are extended to everyone who has helped to transform what 3 years ago was merely an idea with potential into a truly worthwhile District endeavour. Planet 105SW is working well.

We don’t go to Portsmouth. Instead, the tops are taken to a property in Yeovil, which acts as a collecting point for GHS in Somerset. Here, everything brought is checked, unwanted items are jettisoned, and the required tops are bagged to await periodic pick-ups by GHS. The Company also pays £30 per 500kgs to their outreach collectors for their chosen charities and the money raised from our tops goes to the Yeovil and Sherborne MS Society (on Facebook under Yeovil and Sherborne Charity Recycling). Payments seem quite small in comparison to the quantity of items dealt with, but they provide significant help

July 2019 EDITION

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER HOW TO RECYCLE YOUR PLASTIC MILK BOTTLE TOPS • COLLECT only supermarket-type ones – usually coloured red, green and blue, but occasionally lilac or gold • CHECK that on the inside of individual tops or identical batches there is a triangular recycling symbol showing a number 2 or 4 • Milk bottle tops with the name ‘Arla’ on the top (usually in yellow, blue or red) and some tops with an extra rim inside (blue, red or dark green) are also acceptable, as long as they show the 2 or 4 recycling mark • THROW AWAY all differently numbered tops and anything with a 2 or 4 symbol which does not come from a milk bottle top • REMOVE all inserts, including the little white tags and the white circular bases that often stick to the inside of the tops • WASH them thoroughly • DRY them • STORE them in containers suitable for the quantity collected but no bigger than what a black bin bag can hold • DO NOT INCLUDE ANY OTHER PLASTIC TOPS, even if they look similar, because tops of Coca Cola, squash, fruit juice, mineral water bottles and all other types of plastic are not required • When ready, PUT YOUR NAME, LIONS CLUB NAME OR COMPANY NAME on sticky labels on the outside of your bags or boxes • DELIVER them to a Lions Club member or designated collecting point for onward transport, initially to Crewkerne, then to Yeovil and finally to Portsmouth where GHS Recycling processes them

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District 105SW Cabinet Meeting Dates 2019 – 2020 First meeting Saturday 3rd August 2019 Second meeting Saturday 2nd November 2019 Third meeting Saturday 1st February 2020 Fourth meeting Saturday 16th May 2020 All meetings will be held at Okehampton Conservative Club at 9:30 am for 10:00 am.

David Fitzpatrick Vice DG SW Appointments in July 2019 8th Keynsham Club official Visit 15th Clevedon Club Official Visit 21st District Handover Exeter 21st Portishead Club Presidents Handover 26th -27th Council of Governors Birmingham

Newsletter Editor Please note articles to be received by the 10th of each month. I will be on holiday from 12th July, so no late articles can be accepted.

July 2019 EDITION

LIONS 105SW DISTRICT NEWSLETTER

July 2019 EDITION