Issue No. 3 October 2018 DG gets lyrical with quote from a musical District Governor s Diary October 2018 Tues 2nd Oct Rayleigh Lions Club Visit Wed 3rd Oct Chelmsford Lioness Club Visit Fri 5th Oct Wisbech Conker Championships Sun 7th Oct Certified Guiding Lion Course Tues 9th Oct Whitham Lioness Club Visit Wed 10th Oct Bungay Meeting Sun 14th Oct Thetford Lioness, 30th Charter Sat 20th Oct Coucnil of Governors Sun 21st Oct Coucnil of Governors Tues 23rd Oct March Lions Club Visit Wed 24th Oct Long Stratton Club Visit Sat 27th Oct Lioness District Meeting Sun 28th Oct Gt Yarmouth Lions Charter Lunch Mon 29th Oct Wymodham Lions Club Visit Vice District Governor s Diary October 2018 Tues 2nd Oct Reepham Meeting New Club Wed 3rd Oct Wisbech Lions Club Visit Mon 8th Oct Taverham & District meeting Thurs 11th Oct Club Visit awaiting reply Sat 20th Oct Council Meeting Sun 21st Oct Council Meeting Thurs 25th Oct Europa Forum Skopje Fri 26th Oct Europa Forum Skopje Sat 27th Oct Europa Forum Skopje WOW, is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of everything that has happened in the last month!! As the songs says, Start at the very beginning, so that s what I will do. The month started with PDG Paul and I enjoying the District Fun Day, this began at Gt Yarmouth racecourse with everybody enjoying the magic show, Punch and Judy and dancing to all the action songs ending with of course the hokey-cokey!! Then it was onto the thrill of the circus, which really was thrilling. I managed not to get to wet, unlike Jennifer Cawte!!!. Thank s must go to all the organising Clubs and Lion Margaret Woodruff for carrying on the great legacy that PDG David Woodruff started, service at its best. All the families and Lions from across the District thoroughly enjoy the day. Next was the formation night for Reepham Lions Club. It was a great pleasure to be able to welcome 20 new members to the EA family of Lions and I am looking forward to their Charter night on the 10th November. A big thank you must go to Taverham Lions for the help and guidance they have given to these new members and for sponsoring the Club, this is the second Club Taverham Lions have sponsored, Sheringham and Cromer Lions being the other one. From the newest Club we move onto the biggest. I joined Stowmarket Lions for their Macmillan Coffee morning. Where along side over 200 cakes was a very special one, A MILLION POUND CAKE. No, it wasn t a rock cake, it was in celebration of the amazing one million pounds Stowmarket Lions has raised since they chartered. Not only is the amount staggering, but when you go further you realise how many hundreds of people they have helped with that money over the years!! The last two weekends of September held two very important events the first, helping 105E with FEED the 5000, unfortunately I couldn t attend, but many from EA were there to help. Hopefully we will be able to hold one here in EA. The last Sunday was the EGM for the merger of E and EA. More on these evets in next month s roar. September was an amazing month, but this is only a small part of what you all do and why we are Lions. When you see and hear of what we can achieve and the difference we make, why leave!! I know we ve had redistricting/cio/gdpr and other upsets or changes we have had to weather, but what really counts is the difference we make to other people s lives!!! A lot has changed since Melvin Jones initial idea of Lions. Let s celebrate our achievements and move forward into the next hundred years of Lions with new enthusiasm. 2 nd Vice District Governor s Diary October 2018 Wed 3rd Oct Peterborough Lions Club Fund Raising meeting Sun 7th Oct Littleport Lions Club Visit Mandy Hawksley Wed 10th Oct Thurs 11th Oct Chelmsford Lions Club Visit Braintree Lions Club Visit District Governor 105EA
News from King s Lynn n Lion President Paul Southerton presents a cheque for 100 to Staff Nurse Claire at the QE hospital Neonatal dept. Looked on by other staff members and fellow Lions. n The first of the Craft fairs that we are organising. we have 3 more to go. Oct, Nov, Dec. The profits will go to local causes. Stowmarket Lions celebrates raising 1 million with coffee and cake The fundraising event was attended by Councillor Linda Baxter -Stowmarket Town Mayor, Councillor Derrick Hayley - Chairman Mid Suffolk District Council, Lions District Governor - Mandy Hawksley. Councillor Linda Baxter Mayor of Stowmarket paid tribute to the magnificent achievement of Stowmarket Lions in having raised 1,000,000 in and for the local community and congratulated them for all their efforts in serving the local community. There were many cakes on offer, sponsored by local companies. President Andy Manning took opportunity was also taken to present Nicola Clark, MacMillan Cancer Support Fundraising Manager Norfolk and Suffolk with a cheque for 3,000 to Nicola Clark, which was raised at the Stowmarket Lions Suffolk Villages Charity Bike Ride earlier in the year. Other cheques were presented for 1500 to Leading Lives which provides social care support for people across Suffolk. A further cheque for 1,500 was given to Barnes Amend UK one of the nominated charities from the Club s Golf Tournament earlier in the year. Stowmarket Lion President Andy Manning said what better way to celebrate achieving 1,000,000 of fundraising than having coffee, cake and a chat with the people who have both supported us in the local community and those we have had the privilege to help n Stowmarket Lion President Andy Manning shows the 1 million Cake at their MacMillan Cancer Support Coffee and Cake Morning at the United Reformed Church, Stowmarket on Saturday 15th September. * Please Note: When sending in photos with your press releases DO NOT embed them into your Word Documents but send separately... Before we can use your articles we have to remove the photos and this takes time. In future articles with photos embedded will not be used.
News from Clacton-on-Sea In many ways it is sad to see the end of Summer, as September begins, but truthfully members of Clacton on Sea Lions Club, will be glad of a rest. In the 12 weekends since mid June to 1st September, Lions members have been out and about on 12 occasions. The first 9 outings being spent in glorious sunny weather with Temperatures in the upper 20 s. Then when you needed a good day, the Clacton Air Show, heavy skies appeared, temperatures dropped and the thought of brollies sprang to mind. But the never say die attitude of the Fundraising team carried on. The crowds, many arriving by train, had to pass the Lions stall set in the Town Square, on their way to the seafront. By Mid Afternoon and the time the Red Arrows had completed their show, the sun shone the skies had cleared, and the Lions stall was completely sold out. A few MIB s were distributed and quiz sheets raising funds for the local First Responders were also sold. Leo did his best mixing in with the crowds and pleasing them with photos. He even made an appearance at the Blood Bike stall and although managing to get on one of the machines, they refused to give him the keys to start it. Earlier in the week 28 Clacton Lions members and friends attended the Summer Show held at the local Westcliff Theatre. Clacton s President, Jim Godden, couldn t wait for a photo with some of the glamorous showgirls cast members. He had to ask for permission from his wife Liz first though!! n Clacton s Leo enjoying day out at the Clacton on Sea Air Show New bin for specs n It s a tough job!!! Pictured right: President Jim tries to recruit two new members The main collection point for all the spectacles that Clacton on Sea Lions club, recycle is the Specsavers store in the town centre. They have just uprooted sticks and moved to a larger premises about 200 yards away. Using one of the Clubs redundant fundraisers, Feed the Lion a beanbag throwing game, it was turned into a new collection point for the specs and sits pride of place at the front of the new shop. The only problem for Andrew our spec collector, is that he will have to make more frequent trips as its capacity is smaller than the other one. nthe Fundraising team at the Classic Car show, prior to the heavy rain It had to be at the penultimate outing of the year, the 2nd Classic Car Show of the year, when the weather turned bad. The Clacton Lions Fundraising team, bravely endured about 3 hours of intermittent showers before finally shutting up shop. It was however different the following Saturday, the sun was out and hundreds flocked to the Gt. Bentley Autumn Show. The shelves are now ready to be re stocked for another hopefully super sunny 2019.
News from Dereham n Dereham Lions last batch of PC Teds dressed by Lion Janet ready to be dispatched to Norfolk Police HQ at Wymondham. News from Great Yarmouth The Lion s Club s District Fun Day recently took place, hosted by Great Yarmouth Lions Club at the Racecourse. 11 Lions Clubs from across the district, as far South as Mersea Island, to North Walsham in the North and West to Swaffham. Proceedings got underway at 11.00am. Over 200 Children and helpers were entertained in the morning on a nice sunny warm day. Packed lunch boxes were provided, before moving on to the Hippodrome Circus Show, for the afternoon show. Then for many mini buses back to their various destinations. The organising team are extremely grateful for the sponsors and establishments for their support to the event. The Gorleston-on-sea Heritage Group have placed a Blue Plaque on the former Great Yarmouth Lions Holiday Home for the Blind. The house is situated on Avondale Road, Gorleston. This was the first holiday home for blind people in England and opened its doors in 1959. Lions Clubs from all over the country would nominate people from their area to stay in Gorleston for a holiday. The home was reliant on Great Yarmouth Lions Club for its running costs, the income for this was generated by an annual win a car competition. Tickets being sold, throughout the summer season, from a permanent site on the Seafront. The introduction of instant lotteries, made it difficult to sustain the level of income required and the home was closed and sold in 1992. However Great Yarmouth Lions were able to continue providing holidays for a few years after this, by using local hotels. Picture shows Lion President Rod Holland-Merten with GoSH Chairman Les Cockrill
Southend Lions Twinning Southend Lions recently took part in their 29th Lions Twinning event with Duisburg Lions (Germany). They had a fantastic afternoon on the wagon (pictured) meandering, through the wonderful countryside of Germany, singing a variety of old songs. Members were also treated to great hospitality, including beer, wine, coffee and cake. What is Lions LifeSkills? It is a not for profit organisation publishing and distributing resources mainly for schools, aimed for use with children aged between 5 and 16 years of age. The resources are aids for teachers used for promoting young people s health and wellbeing. The most recent of the resources are entitled Life Changes 1 (for children aged between 3 and 11 years old) and Life Changes 2 (for young people aged between 11 and 16 years old). The resources deal with Loss, Change and Bereavement. Everyone will experience aspects of loss and change throughout their life, but there are some loss and change experiences which do not happen to everyone. These may be called circumstantial losses and include situations such as a family breakdown, homelessness, the death of a relative or friend and long term consequences particularly for children and young people. School communities will have to support children and young people who have faced loss in one of its myriad forms. These resources adopt a proactive and a reactive approach to loss and change and will enable staff to make an immediate considered response to a loss and change situation, including bereavement. It is my opinion that these resources should be made available to every primary and secondary school in the country, especially with more and more traumatic things occurring in our world. For more information please contact Derek Rutter (District Lions LifeSkills Officer) Peace Poster For the past 31 years Lions clubs around the world have proudly sponsored the Lions international peace poster contest in local schools and youth groups. This art contest for kids encourages young people worldwide to express their vision of peace. The theme of the 2018-2019 Peace poster contests is Kindness Matters. Students ages 11, 12 and 13 as of November 15th are eligible to participate, there is also a special need section. To learn more please ask Peace poster officer or take a look at the website. Could all of the winning posters and entries be given to DG or peace poster officer before 11th November ready for judging at cabinet meeting on November 18th. Email or call for more information peaceposter@lions105ea.com Peaceposter officer Melanie Godefroy. Running the extra mile... well 13.1 miles! Lion Club of Ipswich s Immediate Past President Lion Wendy completed her first Half Marathon on Sunday 16th September. Having only started running in January, Lion Wendy crossed the finish line of the Great East Run in just under 3 hours, and along with a fellow runner, Natalie raised almost 1400 for the MS Society in the process. I did find it hard going but I knew I had to finish. said Lion Wendy, Training had gone really well but I picked up an injury to my ankle the week before and on the day things didn t go to plan, but I got to the end and did it, I ran a half marathon! The support from friends along the route was overwhelming. Plus knowing I was running for such a great charity really helped keep me motivated. Lion Wendy has just signed up to run the Colchester Half Marathon next March, there s no stopping her now! When sending in your Lion s Roar reports it would help if you could put the following in the Subject Title of the email: Roar Club Name and Event for example: Roar - Ipswich - Cheque presentation. Thank you so much
News from Ipswich What is the project Young Leaders in Service? It is probably one of the simplest and most rewarding of all our projects, once set up it almost runs itself with help from the organisation coordinating it for us. It rewards young people for doing voluntary service to help others, for a total of 25+ hours in a year the young leader receives a Bronze Seal certificate, for a total of 50+ hours service in a year the young leader receives a Silver Seal certificate, and for 100+ hours service in a year the young leader receives a Gold Seal certificate. All of the certificates and accompanying letters have the actual number of hours done printed on the certificate. All of the Young Leaders need to be aged between 11 and 18 years of age. Where can we find likely candidates? You can find Young People helping others on a voluntary basis, in Scout and Guide groups, Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes, Youth Clubs, Schools, in fact almost anywhere there are Young people in an organised setting. The other almost untapped area is Young carers, but from my experience this is a very difficult area to get into, often the young carer doesn t want any sort of recognition for what they do, the one young carer I did manage to persuade to take part was doing nearly 500 hours a month, either caring for parents or siblings! What do we have to do to take part? Contact me for log books and leaflets explaining the project. Each year send the completed log books to your Young Leaders in Service Officer, they will get the details sent to the Multiple District Officer who will then send the Certificates, letters and pins or badges to the club contact. What can our Lions Club get out of taking part in the project? If you organise an annual presentation evening, invite a local dignitary to the event (we find that with sufficient notice the local Mayor, and maybe the County High Sherriff will be pleased to attend), the parents or guardians of the young people, and maybe organise a small buffet evening, you will get the opportunity to talk to the parents, put a display of your activities on show, and maybe get some new members. Because it is involving young people the local press will almost always give you coverage in the local paper. What does it cost the club? Almost nothing, the certificates, letters and pins / cloth badges are provided free of charge, all you need to do is maybe get frames for the certificates, and provide refreshments for the presentation evening (obviously there may be a charge for the venue). I look forward to receiving your requests for information. Derek Rutter (District Young Leaders in Service Officer) The Lions Club of Ipswich recently presented a cheque to Fresh Start New Beginnings for a whopping 3597.84! Fresh Start New Beginnings was the charity chosen by last years Club president, Lion Wendy Cook as her presidents project and the money raised will help the charity start a brand new girls group, which will provide ongoing counselling sessions that will be the next step for young girls that have been victims of child sexual abuse. Members of the Lions Club of Ipswich raised the money throughout the year by holding a number of events, including their annual art show, quiz nights, Christmas raffle, attendance at the Copdock Motorcycle show and more Lion Wendy along with fellow member Lion Jacqui even paddled a marathon distance in a canoe to help boost the final total! Immediate Past President Wendy, along with fellow club members proudly presented the cheque to Patsy Johnson- Cisse, a representative from Fresh Start New Beginnings, at their September social meeting. Patsy was overwhelmed by the amount raised, Thank you Lion Wendy and thank you Ipswich Lions for all your hard work and support over the last year. It was a lovely evening at your Club and a fantastic amount of money raised which really will make a difference to our charity. The money raised for this project was in addition to the other funds raised by The Lions Club of Ipswich and donations to local charities and good causes through out the year. Alpha Leos Alpha Leos is the junior branch of Lions for 12-18 year olds. As a District we have just one Leo Club sponsored by New Century Lions of EA. This was established as an MD wide Club to enable small groups of Leos to setup and build their Club in their own area before they have the minimum numbers required. This is key as it enables Lions and Leos to increase their service whilst still building membership. It s a little like a Club Branch. We currently have Leos based in the areas around Ely, Lowestoft and Ipswich. Each area runs its own events and the Lion Club in their area take responsibility for each branch. They meet up a least once a year as a whole group. They have helped at Lions events at Christmas,taken part in District PR events, raffled Easter Eggs and cleared path ways. This year s President is Isaac from Littleport. Any Club can start a Leos; you just need enthusiastic teenagers - and there are plenty of those around if you contact local youth groups e.g. Scouts, if you ever have a Young Ambassador, have contact with schools for Peace Poster. There is also the Omega Leos for 18-28 year olds. They are obviously more independent and can operate in a similar manner to a Lions Club - but for younger people. They don t have to pay the same fees as Lions and this may be attractive to younger people on a low budget or with young families. They can meet as often as they like and where they like. Flexibility is important to some people.they don t have to be tied down to the Lions once a month pattern. They may even use the conference calls and social media platforms to meet. It s up to them to find a way that works for their group. If you d like to know more please contact me, Sue Hibbert, for a chat and we ll work out what will work in your area for your local people. Articles for the next issue of the LIONS ROAR should be with the Editor before the 20th of the month. Send to (email preferred): lionsroar@lions105ea.com. If you do wish to post: Mark Keable, Lions Roar, 69 Brunswick Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 4BS Telephone enquiries 07921 720792 (if no answer please leave your name and message)
News from Swaffham & District Swaffham Lions were only too pleased to help Swaffham & District Swimming Club with a 100 donation towards their transport costs. The group of 24 travel each Tuesday to the Dereham swimming pool for their weekly exercise. Jazz Train Swaffham Lions and Lionesses took a trip on the Mid-Norfolk Railway s Jazz Train, with music by DixieMix. The group played in the carriages, much to the delight of the passengers. The train stopped at stations on its way to Wymondham where the jazz group got off to play on the platform. This allowed the guests to stomp their feet and dance. A wonderful night was had by all. PR MATTERS This month I d like to talk about press releases again, I know it s something I ve been going on about for months, however it is so important to get correct, as the right press release really can get your club noticed. So here are my top tips for writing the perfect press release 1 - Don t use Lion s jargon Yes, we all do it, but when you are writing a press release for a local publication you need to ensure that the reader knows what you are talking about. 2 - Write in the third person If you want your press release to sound professional ensure that you always write in the third person. Publications will thank you for it! 3 - Never embed photographs into word documents Always attach any pictures separately in your emails. You need to make it really easy for the publication to use what you send them. If an editor opens a word doc on a busy deadline and its full of embedded images, they will just delete it rather than spend valuable time sorting through it. (I know this as I ve done it in my day job I use the delete button a lot ). Caption you pics clearly to show what they are, however publications will have there own editorial style and will layout your piece to suit available space and may not use all of your images. 4 - Remember the W s Who, what, why, when, where should all be included in the first paragraph. In a busy press office this is all that a reporter may read and will make a decision on this as whether or not to use your piece. Be punchy and concise, you want to grab their attention. 5 - Know who to send it to This seems obvious, but you d be surprised at how many press releases come into our office at work on the general email, only to get missed. It is always a good idea to telephone, introduce yourself and get the contact name and email address of the best person to send your editorial to. 6 - Use the BCC Always ensure that you Blind Carbon Copy your emails if you are sending to multiple publications. If they know you have sent the same piece to many they will just delete it, no publication wants something that another has also published. Plus, under GDPR you should not be sharing email addresses. As always if you need help to putting press releases together, you are stuck for ideas for publicity or you need help with social media you know where to find me. Lion Wendy Cook, Press Officer 105EA 07867 973504 wendy@fizzwigdesigns.co.uk Following a trial run a few weeks ago, Swaffham Lions took the opportunity to use the Petanque Court at Narborough Community Centre for a Boules competition. Under the watchful eye of David and Bobbie Elsom, who are seasoned veterans of the game, the singles matches were played with varying degrees of skill. Lion President, Alan Jude, remained undefeated during the afternoon and was crowned champion. The Boules are in your court Time has run out to submit a candidate for the Young Ambassador 2018 / 2019 as the District Finals will be held in November - but it s not too early to look for the 2019 / 2020 candidates. This fantastic competition recognises the accomplishments of passionate community champions aged between 15-18 years old. Who? - You should be looking for any young person (in the age range), who is making a difference in their local community. They should be confident and be capable of speaking enthusiastically in public about their project as they will have to speak for 3 minutes at the District and MD finals. Where? - The Youth Groups in your area are a good place to start, Last Year s District winner Charlie was a member of the Guides group. Keep an eye on the local papers too as they very often have articles praising young people that might fill the criteria. Why? - If the candidate is chosen to represent the District, they win a Bursary of 500 to spend on their project, and if they are then chosen to represent MD they win a further 1,000 bursary. This money is to be spent on the project and not just a cash gift to the charity. If you would like more information on what is involved in this inspiring scheme, please contact me by email at youthaward@lions105ea.com Liz Godden - YA Officer