Newcastle Lions Club

Buddy Bag Foundation

I have seen a lot of changes and the service completing more preventative work from the late 90s has seen our communities become a lot safer and this is something I feel every one of us should be proud of. The fire service has been a great career to me and has provided me with a life that I will cherish.

Jason now plans to swap fires for files as he sets up his own joinery and carpentry business. He said: Outside of the fire service that was always my passion so that will be my next step. I am not sure if any of my children will follow in my footsteps into the fire service but I know two of them may consider it.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Rob Barber praised Jasons contribution. He said: Jason has been a credit to the service and to his community and will be missed by those that have worked with him. He has made a difference to the lives of so many community members during his career and that is something that he and his family should be proud of.

Newcastle Lions Club has shown its generosity since the start of the pandemic, handing almost £5,000 to support services since March 2020.

The group has been unable to fundraise for a whole year due to the Covid-19 pandemic but this has not stopped them from giving much-needed cash to charities.

Newcastle Foodbank, the Donna Louise Trust and Parkinsons are just a few of many services which have received financial support from the Lions.

In total, £4,800 was handed out over the past 12 months.

Lion President Sandra Hambleton said: We were bitterly disappointed that Covid restrictions stopped all our Christmas events, as we desperately wanted to cheer people up at that time of year. It has been amazing to see the number of people volunteering to help out others during the last twelve months, and we would appeal to anyone who has enjoyed helping their community to consider joining us as we plan our future events to build up our resources once again.

The former Mayor of Newcastle continued: Newcastle Lions Club is not a secret organisation, any person of legal majority and good moral character may be granted membership in a Lions Club. Persons interested in becoming members are usually asked to attend a number of events prior to being invited to join. Meetings are usually held twice monthly on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month starting at 8pm though we are currently meeting using Zoom

The Newcastle Lions Club are also in need of storage facilities for their fund-raising items, preferably close to the town.

Many of these items are small, so any unused household garage would be most helpful.

Those who wish to help in this too, or would like to know more about becoming a member of the Lions e-mail newcastlelions@lions105cn.org .uk.

Information about the work done by the Newcastle Club can be found on www.newcastlelions.co.uk.