About Us
Lions Club President for 2010 - 2011 Stefan Szafran
Immediate past president John Rodgers
Secretary Caroline Johns
Vice President Angela Porter
Fundraising John Rodgers
Treasurer Linda Rodgers
Press Officer David Dobbie
Welfare Sylvia Morgan
Social John Rodgers
We also welcomed 2 new members to our Club in June, George and Simona Ilincuta, but still more members would mean we could do more to help others.....
The Lions Clubs : "ORDINARY PEOPLE - AMAZING THINGS"
Membership is open to both male and female, age is no barrier, and you don't have to hold a high flying job to be a Lion.
We are not a "secret society" we are just people who want to help.
We number among us a cleaner, a handyman, a teacher, a businessman - not to mention several retired members, so you can see that we value the experience of people from all walks of life, we are ordinary people who want to put something into the community, but like to have fun as well.
We spend our efforts on FUNdraising, with the empahsis on FUN.
As individuals we are limited in what we can achieve but, collectively, the impossible suddenly becomes achievable.
If you would like to become a member see our Contact Us page for details, don't be shy, you will be made most welcome.
If you are new to the area, it is a great organisation for meeting new friends.
If you feel that you don't have time to attend meetings, but would like to help us with our FUNdraising events, contact us, we would love to see you.
We also try to organise social activities within the club, be it a meal out, a night at the dogs, 10 pin bowling and other such things (the last full action social saw crazy golf followed by a fish and chip supper in Cleethorpes - some people really do splash out).
People ask : "What do the Lions do?"
Well, basically we raise funds for good causes. (And we have a lot of fun in the process)
The majority of the money we raise goes to local causes, but we also support National and International Lions Programmes.
One important factor about Lions and fundraising is that all money raised for our Charity Account goes to the charity or organisation without any of the monies being used for "Admin etc".
I have to admit, that until I met Lion Stefan, I had never really heard about The Lions and hadn't a clue what they stood for or got up to!
("Are you some kind of rugby team?" was one question I was asked recently.......)
I now understand a fair bit and thoroughly enjoy being part of this organisation.
Gainsborough Lions are one club in a worldwide organisation of Lions Clubs with approximately 1.4 million members worldwide.
Lions Clubs International have raised several million pounds over the years for Campaigns Sight First.
Campaign Sight First 2 officially ended last year.
Gainsborough Lions are proud to say that we supported the campaign with a financial donation.
Worlwide, the total amount of money raised exceeded 250 million US Dollars
The money raised during Campaign Sight First 1 has paid for clinics to be built, doctors and nurses to be trained, along with the associated medical equipment and drugs, cataract operations and a whole host of Eye related work throughout the world.
2009/2010 Fundraising Expenditure
Altogether we handed out approximately £4000 to local, national and international good causes.
Most of the money we raise is intended to help locally, but sometimes things happen in the world where help is needed immediately, and Lions International are always one of the first organisations to help, The Haiti earthquake is a good example of International Lions co-operation. Money raised throughout the world from Lions Clubs donations were quickly put into front line use. Lions created 3 tented camps to help as an intermediate relief for the homeless in ensuring they have some type of roof over their heads.
The Lions of Haiti and other nations in that area are constantly on hand to provide aid where they can, they will be there today, tomorrow, next week, next month and for as lons as aid is required. Gainsborough Lions Club made a monetary donation to the International Lions fund for Haiti, and you can be assured that every penny sent will be spent on helping those in need.
We also helped the following :
Gainsborough Riverside festival
Gainsborough Folk Festival
Cleft Palette and Social Aid Foundation
GAPA
PACS Gainsborough
Gainsborough House Christmas Lunch Committee
Help For heroes
Gainsborough Girl Guides
Megan Ainsworth (World powerlifting Championships, Texas, USA)
Pancreatic Cancer Research
Yitality (excercise for the more mature people)
Old Nick Theatre
And a few other donations were made, including sponsoring a local young man in his cricket career....
So as you can see, we support local, national and international causes.
For a small club, £4000 is a lot of money to raise, that's why we need more members to help us raise even more money to help others in need.
WEST LINDSEY VOLUNTEER BUREA have, this July, recruited their 1000th volunteer. To celebrate this milestone, they have decided to send the young lady on a days sailing experience on a tall ship from Southampton. Knowing this would cost a fair bit of money, they contacted Gainsborough Lions and we were more than happy to assist their fundraising by pledging them £100 towards the total they need.
Lions Eye Health Programme
Some of the monies raised during the worlwide Campaign Sight First has been utilised here in the UK.
The LEHP, Lions Eye Health Programme, was set up as an initiative to allow Lions Club members to encourage members of the public to visit their local opticians for eye examination.
Yes, even in the UK people lose their sight when it could easily have been saved.
Problems people encounter with eyes are mainly Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Degeneration.
Most of the problems can be treated, but if left unchecked can lead to deteriorating eyesight and even blindness.
We have published leaflets with information relating to these problems which will be circulated very soon via your Doctors Surgeries and other establishments.
As someone who has diabetese, I am well aware of these problems, and my local surgery makes sure I attend the Diabetic Retinopathy screening every year.
Several years ago, (while in my forties) I began to have problems with my eyesight. Being intelligent, I went to a supermarket and purchased a cheap pair of reading glasses. I could read a little better, but I eventually had to conceed that I had a problem and went to an optician.
After examination I was informed that I had in fact got cataracts in both eyes. Scary!
It transpires that these were caused as a side effect of medication I had been taking. I was referred to Lincoln County Hospital and within a matter of a few months, had both cataracts removed - a painless surgical routine.
Now believe it or not, I thought that we had yellow curtains in our kitchen. After the cataracts had been removed, I realised they were in fact brilliant white, and the sky was a brilliant blue! What a change it made for me.
That is why I urge you to have your eyes checked regularly, and make sure relatives, especially the elderly ones, also have the checks carried out.
So we do as much as we can to help those who need it, and let's face it, eyesight we take for granted.
Other people are not so lucky, so it is a wonderful thing to be able to give sight back to someone who would otherwise miss the wonders of this world of ours.
SPECTACLES COLLECTION
We have also started collecting old donated specatacles from Opticians in Gainsborough.
These are sent to Chichester Lions Club down there in Sussex.
They are sorted and cleaned and end up being sent all over the world where there is a need for them.
So if you have any old spectacles lying around abandoned in drawers, drop them into your local optician. You will know that they will go towards helping someone somewhere in need.
A look at Chichester Lions Club website, www.chilions.org.uk ,will open your eyes when you see just how much work has gone into this arm of Lions Charitable works and how many thousands of pairs of spectacles have been recycled instead of dumped.
What can we do for you ?
If you have a project that needs a little help, contact us and have a chat.
We cover quite an area around Gainsborough, so don't think that we can't help anyone who doesn't live in the town.
If you live in or near any of the following places, we would be more than happy to see you at any of our meetings:
Sturton By Stow
Stow
Willingham By Stow
Torksey
Marton
Laughton
East Stockwith
Harpswell
Hemswell
Upton
Saxilby
I must dig out my atlas to make sure I haven't missed anyone........if I have, Sorry.
I think we have looked and found that some 29 villages and hamlets are covered by Gainsborough Lions Club which is a large area and I will update the list very soon, honest.
In the past, with the aid of local people supporting our charity events, we have helped out various organisations and groups.
Ace inclusive sports club had a wish list of specialist sports equipment.
Gainsborough Lions were pleased to be able to purchase all items on the list.
L.I.V.E.S approached us for a donation towards the purchase of a Resuscitation Model for their training.
Again, we were in the position of being able to actually purchase a "Child Model" for their training - an invaluable piece of equipment for a group of people dedicated to saving lives.
Without the generous help of the peoples of Gainsborough and the surrounding area, we would not be able to raise the funding for such items.
We have helped others albeit on a smaller scale, one young lady from the area was raising funds to help her reach the finances required for her to take part in the world famous Tall Ships Race. We made a donation towards her target. Having actually crewed a tall ship myself, it is something that you will never forget and a wonderful experience for any youngster to be able to participate in.
Gainsborough Womens Aid and the George Henderson Lodge (St Barnabus Hospice) each received a cheque for £500.
We, as Lions, find it incredibly rewarding to be able to assist people to realise their dreams.
Lion Ralph Jones
Editor
