Our Club Supporting Other Clubs, Districts and MD 2023 - 2024
When any of our club members are Supporting Other Clubs 2023 - 2024 or visiting;
- Another lions club charter, or meeting
- A District or MD Convention
- A European Forum like Europa
- Lion share
- Supporting another club or charity, like the SWANS or Crocus Sapphires
26th - 27th June 2024 Royal Norfolk Show
Mark and Moira helped by giving out Guardian Angel wrist bands to children at the Royal Norfolk show.
A huge thank you to PDG Jim Cawte and Wymondham Lions for organising this and the £50 donation.
Vision Screening in schools
On 11th June 2024 Mark & Moira attended vision screening in schools training at Bulphan
From DG Colins Newsletter 1st September 2024
‘ChildSight UK’
Congratulations to all who are supporting this life-changing project and those who are still working endlessly to encourage greater funding. We have passed the five cameras and on the way to our sixth, this is fabulous as this will, subject to match funding equate to two per region within the district. The Plusoptix Vision Camera is the chosen one for us.
See plusoptix.com for more details.
There are two, both of which must meet the approval of LCI, the cost being just under £5,500 each. Negotiated into this price is a free carrying case, wrist strap and an additional 1-year guarantee.
So, what’s next?
I’m currently preparing a bid for match funding. The deadline is 1st October 2024 for a decision by the Lions Clubs International trustees, for approval on January 25, and if granted they should be paid shortly after that.
Both Lynne and I are on a short break but still finding the time to acknowledge all your efforts by raising a glass and toasting your success. The HCRG Care Group are currently drawing up a schedule of school visits within the Essex area. Once completed, they will be liaising with the clubs to join them to complete the vision screening. These visits will be from October 2024 onwards and clubs will be notified well in advance of these visits.
Currently the multi-District only has two Vision Cameras on loan. To enable this program to commence, East Anglia Centennial 100 Champions will purchase three cameras, these will be removed from our total, however, financially they were never included within our total. Not rolling out in your area? January 25 isn’t that far away. Now is the time to start liaising with the junior schools, mention the project.
As HCRG does not cover all the district enquire which health group provides this service and please let me know. The health care providers do know of the program as do some schools. We are almost there but keep your donations coming in. This will not be a project forgotten once completed but will continue year on year with each new pupil intake.
We contributed £200 towards this project in August 2024
2nd June 2024 Leigh Charter
Sandie, Tony, Robyn and Rick attended Leigh Charter for lunch at Saxon Hall, Aviation Way, Southend
1st June 2024 Crocus Saphires afternoon tea
President Moira, Mark, Sandie, Tony, Robyn and Rick with Sheila and Rosie from the SWANS attended the Crocus Saphires afternoon tea at Sewards End village hall, Saffron Walden
The Crocus Saphires raised £730 towards Brain Tumour Research
25th May 2024 Swaffham Charter
Sandie and Gillian from Chelmsford attended Swaffham's 40th Charter
VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR THE LIONS DISABLED SPORTS DAY JULY 20TH 2024
“YOUR CLUB YOUR WAY”, BUT WE CAN ACHIEVE GREATER THINGS TOGETHER
For several years now, Lions Clubs in South Essex have come together to provide a Sports Day for Disabled people across the south of England. Various clubs for disabled send representatives to take part in various sporting activities including Archery, Javelin and table tennis. They come to a secondary School in Hadleigh, Essex on a Saturday in late July. They all get a badge for participating and the winners of the events receive a medal in a ceremony attended by local Dignitaries, including Local MPs as well as District Officers.
The event is run and financed by a collaboration of the Lions Clubs of Leigh-on-Sea; City of Southend; Eastwood; Castle Point and Rayleigh. Assistance is provided by other clubs across the District including our club, but we also have help from Rotary, Sea Cadets and others.
All volunteers agree that this fabulous event is worthwhile - just seeing the expressions on the faces of the participants. They get a light lunch and drink as well – so it is a proper day out for them to have fun.
This year, the event is booked for Saturday 20th July 2024. If you would like to help out, then contact one of the following: -
Tim Watts - tim@popup.plus.com, PDG Tony Prior - Anthony.t.prior@gmail.com - PDG George Harris - george.eileenharris@sky.com or Robyn Banks - districtdpo@gmail.com
Robyn, Rick, Sandie and Tony will be helping out
MD Virtual Balloon Race 2024
Sarah Banks Little Princess Trust 16th April 2024
On 16th April Rick and Robyn's Daughter / Sandie and Tony's Granddaughter will be having approximately 14 inches cut off her hair in Southchurch.
The hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust to make into real-hair wigs for children and young people who have lost their hair through cancer treatment or other conditions such as Alopecia.
Her target is to raise £500 to help the charity give free access for children to these wigs.
Sarah works for Olympus Keymed in Southend, and they have agreed to double her donation, up to £1000!
She also held a cake and bake sale and raised £120
We as a club donated £50 + 12.50 gift aid
Sarah raised a total of £1072 + £201.63 gift aid + £1000 from her employers - Well done Sarah and Keymed
Normandy Visit 11th - 15th April 2024
Robyn and Rick joined up with Jaap and Clare De Jong, Richard and Jackie Williams, Ralph and Jan Watson, and Richard and Tina Stannard, all from District 105CW. We headed over to Caen, Normandy to team up with Pascale Grieve and Lions from her club Caen Reine Mathilde from District N103.
Thursday 11th April 2024
Ferry from Portsmouth to Caen.
Friday 12th
In the morning we all picked 4000 tulips between us. In the afternoon the first group of mixed lions (English and French) began selling tulips, whilst the rest of us visited the Bayeux Tapestry. As we walked through Bayeux we were pleasently surprised to see lots of the shops were having art painting on their windows to commemorate 80 years since the Normandy landings, many saying 'thank you for liberating us' in English.
Saturday 13th
Again in mixed groups of English and French lions, over 2 hypermarket sites Hyper U and Carrefour, and 6 x 2 hour sessions, we managed to sell all our tulips and raised €1000, which is to go to childrens cancer research in France.
In the afternoon we visited Gold Beech to see the 1,475 lifesize silhouettes that represent the 1,475 British servicemen and two women who died on D-Day and the British Normandie landing Memorial. The silhouettes are being installed to commemorate 80 years since the Normandy landings.
Robyn and Rick couldn't resist a quick photo oppertunity at Lion Sur Mur (Lion on Sea)! We followed that with a big group dinner in the evening.
Friday and Saturday was glorious sunshine, a welcome break for all of us!
Sunday 14th
We visited Mont Saint-Michel.
Monday 15th
We visited Medico at Le Havre and had a very interesting tour of the glasses recycling facility by Medico President Gerard Chaline. Rick and Robyn also managed to donate 3000 pairs of spectacles (2400 from Chelmsford Lions and 600 from our club)! Afterwards we had a group lunch.
Medico processes and ships out 5 million pairs of glasses each year. The glasses are inspected, and sorted into ok to re-use or damaged. The damaged pairs are recycled, with the glass lenses taken out, crushed in a machine on site, then sold to a glass manufacturing company. Likewise the frames are sold on to a company who recycles them. All the money raised from recycling goes to cover the cost of shipping the refurbished and graded glasses to where they are needed.
The current projects that were being prepared are
- 12000 pairs to Angola
- 600 pairs to Senegal
- 5000 pairs to Congo
Robyn and Rick then spent a few days visiting the WW1 and WW2 battlefields, cemetaries and memorials on our way home via Calais. At Thiepval Memorial we were pleasantly surprised to find a bench donated by lions 105E, with an additional plaque from 105CE in memory of Serge Weibel, who was from the French district that we are twinned with. We tied a poppy to the bench.
Thiepval Memorial Lions bench was placed there by Jean Bowden, John Saynor, Lynne Roberts, Theresa Walker, Alcon Biddulph from Hykeham, and a couple of others.
Tony laminated some coppies of the above poster and took them to the opticians that we collect glasses from.
The opticians, and customers were very impressed and were interested about what actually happened to the donated glasses.
The posters have been put up on the opticians s walls.
Hastings Half Marathon 24th March 2024
Robyn and Rick went down to Sunny Hastings on Sunday to help marshall at the Hastings Half Marathon. They were roughly 10 miles along the 13 mile course and were even trusted with a road closed sign and cones!.
Ethiopan runner Seyfu Jamaal won the race out of 2587 runners. He was trying to set a course record held by a Kenyan runner, but didnt quite make it.
Thankyou to Hasting Lions who donated an amazing £250 to our club to thank us for helping out!
105CE lions Convention at Dunston Hall 15th - 17th March 2024
Rick, Robyn and Angela are attending the 105CE lions Convention at Dunston Hall 15th - 17th March 2024.
Rick, Robyn and Angela attended the Bleed Control bag and Social Media workshops on Friday.
Pictured here at the cops and robbers host night on Friday, Rick won the play your cards right game!!
Their table at dinner, Joined by Ralph and Jan from Rugby Rokeby club in 105CE, Nicola and Karen from Swaffham Lions and Lioness branch club also won the colouring competition.
Rick and Robyn were joined by Young Ambassador Mollie Speed and International guest PID Gary Anderson from Grand Rapids, Michigan to judge the new Lions Bakeoff competition.
President Moira and Mark joined them for the business session on Saturday.
Robyn and Rick made it into DG Paul's District newsletter where he thanks them for helping to judge the Bake Off competition at Convention.
Knit-N-Natter 14th March 2024 Maldon District Councilor Kevin Jennings
At the Knit-N-Natter session on 14th March 2024 Moira and Mark invited Maldon District Councilor Kevin Jennings (a former Maldon Leo) to come and talk about the proposed closure of St Peter's Hospital.
He also helped some of the members to complete the rather long consultation questionnaires.
SWANS quiz 4th March 2024
A very credible 5th place at the Witham and Maldon SWANS quiz on Monday 4th March 2024 at the RAFA club, Witham!
Robyn, Rick and Angela with members of the Crocus Sapphires from Saffron Walden
January 2024 Stroke Unit at Brentwood Community Hospital
Louisa heard of a lady in Tiptree who works at Stroke Unit at Brentwood Community Hospital. She wanted less than 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles with an adult theme, books with large size text and board games, so that family members can spend quality time with the patients.
Louisa has found some suitable items in our stock, 7 jigsaw puzzles, 8 games and 6 books, and has donated them.
January 2024 Worry Worms and Octopussies
Louisa met a SEND Coordinator from Woodham Walter Church of England primary school.
The school buy in 'Worry Monsters' to help calm nervous or upset children, but these are too bulky to fit in a pocket discretely. Louisa offered to make 'Worry Worms' which are much smaller, and would fit in a pocket. Well done Louisa!
The school have asked for 20 at least, and have asked for Octopussies as well.
By 1st April 2024 Robyn had knitted 18 Octopussies - Well done Robyn!
17th - 18th November 2023 New Century Lions Club charter
Rick and Robyn had a lovely weekend attending the New Century Lions Club charter at the Imperial Hotel Great Yarmouth
Robyn and Rick joined up with Chelmsford Lions for the Friday night quiz and found time to walk arround The Venetian Waterways and Gardens
6th November 2023 SWANS Quiz
Rick and Robyn attended the SWANS quiz night at the RAFA club in Witham. We came 8th in the quiz, but Rick did win a nice hand bag in the raffle, which we think goes lovely with the new club t shirts!
5th November 2023 Poppy Appeal stall
Rick and Robyn have been out doing a poppy appeal collection again in Hadleigh Morrisons today!
31st October 2023 Poppy Appeal stall
Rick and Robyn have been helping out the Castle Point Lions on the Poppy Appeal stall today at Morrisons in Hadleigh
Global Winning Women
Global Winning Women – our group in Zambia
Winning Women is a franchise run by a very sensitive, strong woman called Allison Marlowe. There were twelve groups UK wide at the peak. Allison was delighted for Rosemary Cunningham to start the Southend group and we launched in October 2014 with fifty women at Leigh Community Centre.
Ten percent of Winning Women fees goes to the Mumba Children’s Project and at our launch we bought goats, chickens and maize seed for a women’s group in Zambia. Fees now go to support a tiny school, feeding the children each day and helping pay teacher’s wages.
We had an evening meeting with speakers each month and grew to have monthly morning meetings in Chelmsford, Brentwood and central London too.
We donated 4 suitcases to this group in october 2023 to help transport goods out to a school in Africa.
This is also the lady who donated all the wool to our club that we turned into blankets for the homeless, and the school books, which we hope to send to a school in Africa.
7th October 2023 Autum Forum, Peterborough
President Moira, Robyn and Rick attended Autum Forum at Peterborough on Saturday 7th October 2023.
Robyn finished the edging on a blanket, whilst Michelle and Lynne from Trinity Branch Club of Peterborough Lions sewed some squeres together to start the next blanket, and Moira made 7 Worry Worms.
All whilst listening to everyones ideas for fundraising.
Fashion Show 30th September 2023 John Lewis, Chelmsford
Some members accompanied by some of the SWANS attended a Fashion Show at John Lewis, Chelmsford run by Chelmsford Lions on Saturday 30th September 2023.
It was supporting Grapevine, a club for adults with learning disabilities in Chelmsford, and was run in conjunction with John Lewis.
9th September 2023 Lions Apple Gleaming
Rick and Robyn helped pick apples at a farm in Nottinghamshire, that would otherwise have gone to waste.
This is a projest that Rick and Robyn had heard PDG Chris, who is also the MD Hunger Officer, speak about often.
The apples were donated to a foodbank
8th September 2023 Lions charity shop in Wroxham
Sandie and Tony found the Lions charity shop in Wroxham, Sandie is pictured here with Lydia who was volunteering in the shop and also with her items purchased!
The police visit to Knit-N-Natter group 7th September 2023
Mark and Moira run a weekly Knit-N-Natter group on behalf of Julie from St Peters Hospital, Maldon.
It is weekly on Thursdays at Maldon Methodist Church.
The group also make squares for our blankets.