Romsey & Waterside Lions support local good causes through various activities including street collections, monthly bookstalls, fashions shows and quiz nights, and we are always happy to welcome anyone, young or old who would like to offer a few hours each month to help raise funds for others in their community. To contact us call 0344 963 2463.
LIONS FASHION SHOW IN ROMSEY
From time to time we have fashion shows where in conjunction with Travelling Trends many clothes are available to buy at a large discount compared to normal High Street prices.
Local volunteers model a wide selection of the available clothes on display before the audience are then able to inspect the racks of clothes available to purchase.
These events allow the Lions to make donations to local charities.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
LIONS DONATE £500 TO MINIBUS APPEAL
Romsey & Waterside Lions Club received a request from Orchard Junior School, Dibden Purlieu, for help in replacing their aged and unreliable minibus. As the minibus is used on a regular basis by the School, and loaned to other local charities, the Lions felt it was a good cause to support. So, from our Charity fund we donated £500 to help the Junior School with their fundraising towards the replacement minibus.
In the photograph Headteacher Carol Taylor is receiving the Lion’s cheque from Lion President Andrew Trowbridge.
LIONS PRESENT BOOKS TO NORTH BADDESLEY INFANTS SCHOOL
Romsey & Waterside Lions Club have presented a series of books about environmental issues to North Baddesley Infant School. The books teach children about environmental issues in a positive and inspiring way with happy endings.
Titled “Meet The Wild Tribe Heroes” the books are a collection of gentle and engaging true stories about animals that find themselves in trouble when their lives are affected by plastic pollution, climate change and habitat loss
Daffy the Sea Turtle, Marli the Puffin, Nelson the Whale, Buddy the Orangutan, Hunter the Polar Bear, Sunny the Koala and Ziggy the Bee are all Wild Tribe Heroes.
The books were presented to Head Teacher Carla Lashmar and English Lead Teacher Megan Welch of North Baddesley Infant School by Lion Lesley Donnison on behalf of Romsey & Waterside Lions Club.
LIONS GIVE A DONATION TO BABY NECESSITIES
We recently gave a donation to Baby Necessities in Romsey which is a non-profit Charity created to alleviate child poverty. The Charity collects good quality pre-loved items which are cleaned and where necessary checked for safety before being distributed to families, with children up to 5 years old, who find it difficult to buy basic needs.
Lion Treasurer Sandra Trowbridge is seen presenting a cheque for £250 to Hayleigh Jarvis of Baby Necessities.
LIONS SUPPORT THE CHARITY "YOUTH IN ROMSEY"
The Charity "Youth in Romsey" supports young people on any issue they may be facing including counselling, employment, education, financial help, sexual health and mental health. The Mission Statement of the Charity is to "Support children and young people at times when they need it most".
A cheque for £250 was presented by Lion President Andrew Trowbridge to Wendy Herbert of Youth in Romsey to help fund their activities.
NURSLING & ROWNHAMS FAIR
This year sees the return of this popular event on Bank Holiday Monday 6th May. Having been invited to attend by the organisers we will be there with our stall selling toys, games, bric-a-brac and books, and our popular keybox game. There are usually several winners of £5. Great fun.
NOMANSLAND VILLAGE FAYRE
This year the Fayre is on Bank Holiday Monday 26th August and we shall be there with our stall. See you there.
VOLUNTEERS FAIR
Our Club participated in the recent Volunteers Fair held in Romsey Town Hall. Thank you to Nicola, Sandra and Andrew for running our stall at the event. An enjoyable day spent in the warmth meeting new faces and briefing visitors about Lionism and the fun we derive from helping raise money for good causes and helping those who need a hand from time to time. The Lion's Motto is "We Serve". Having been in existance in Romsey for over 45 years we have given help to many people and local organisations. We are always seeking more volunteers to help out at our events so if you have time to spare and wish to put something back into the community please call our President on 0344 963 2463
LIONS SUPPORT ROMSEY, NURSLING & WATERSIDE FOOD BANKS
Romsey & Waterside Lions Club recently made a £250 food donation to Romsey Foodbank which included Christmas treats for parents and children. We support three foodbanks at regular intervals, the other two who have received a similar Christmas donation are based in Waterside and Nursling. Over £4,500 has been donated to the Foodbanks since the start of Covid. In the photograph Lion President Andrew Trowbridge is presenting the most recent food donation to Beth Tanton at the Romsey Foodbank.
LIONS DONATE £500 TO ROMSEY YOUNG CARERS
Romsey & Waterside Lions have presented a cheque for £500 to help the Romsey Young Carers Charity buy Christmas presents for the young carers they support who are aged between 8 and 21 and live in Romsey and the Southern Test Valley area.
In the photograph Lion Chris Birkett is presenting the Lion’s cheque for £500 to Chris Hall and Lisa Treasure of Romsey Young Carers.
LIONS RE-CYCLE SPECTACLES
This year the Mayor's Picnic is being held on Sunday 7th July.
LIONS FUN DAY AT PAULTONS PARK
Every year Romsey & Waterside Lions organize the raffling of Giant Easter Eggs in numerous pubs and other outlets to raise funds to buy tickets to send disadvantaged children for a Fun Day at Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World.
Paultons Park, which opened in 1983, has over 70 rides and attractions within 140 acres of beautiful parkland on the edge of the New Forest National Park. There are children’s rides, family rides, roller coasters, water rides to name a few.
There is no charge for those deserving families invited to join the Lions on this Fun Day as all tickets are paid for by the Lions from the profits generated by the Easter Egg Raffles, and children who are less than 1 metre tall go in free. This year Romsey & Waterside Lions Club were delighted when over 200 children and carers/parents went through the turnstiles.
Thankfully the weather is usually good enough not to spoil the fun, and the sight of many smiles on children's faces is a fine reward for the time and effort put into organising the event.
The following pictures are of families and carers to joined us for the fun day in 2023. This year the event takes place on Sunday 9th June.
LIONS AT NORTH BADDESLEY VILLAGE DAY
This year's annual Village Day is being held on Saturday 18th May. There will be many stalls and varied entertainment which can include face painting, a falconry display, martial arts, dancing, BMX bike display, Romsey Old Cadets, dog show, classic cars, ferret racing and circus skills.
We have a stall selling toys, games, bric-a-brac and books, plus our very popular keybox game where for a donation of 40p you can choose a key from many in a bag and if that key opens the door to the keybox there is a prize of £5 waiting inside. Last year there were 8 lucky winners of £5.
LIONS PRESENT SUN UMBRELLAS TO THE HORRILL CENTRE
A shady spot on a hot summer’s day is a welcome relief. Romsey & Waterside Lions donated sun umbrellas to the Horrill Care & Wellbeing Centre in Dibden.
The Centre aims to help older people to continue living independently in the community as well as providing much needed respite for families and carers.
Members can benefit from dementia support, hot lunches, transport to the Centre, craft activities, reminiscence sessions, daily exercises, music therapy, table tennis, entertainment and much more.
In the photograph Pat Geere is presenting the umbrellas to Donna Best of the Centre. Seated on the bench are Derek, Sally and Margaret who were at the Centre on the day.
A TAIL WAGGING DONATION
LIONS SUPPORT SOLENT DOLPHIN CHARITY
We provide financial support to the Solent Dolphin Charity in Hythe which runs boat trips on the Solent to give disabled passengers a 2-hour trip up and down the estuary.
The Solent Dolphin Charity boat is crewed entirely by experienced mariners who freely give their time to help entertain others who are less fortunate than themselves.
LIONS GIVE A DONATION TO THE ROMSEY FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP
We recently gave a donation to the Romsey Family Support Group. The Group is for parents of pre-school children, from birth to four years, who may be experiencing a difficult time and in need of friendship and support.
LIONS CONTRIBUTE TO BRAIN TUMOUR RESEARCH
In 2020 we agreed to provide an annual donation to support the Lions Brain Tumour Research Appeal, which aims to raise £1 million. The Appeal has been set up to help fund research into brain tumours, and supports one of the UK’s largest collaborative groups of laboratory-based scientists. We felt it was important to improve the lives of brain tumour patients and their families and know that with our donations we can help to make a difference.
Our Club has so far donated £2,100 to this worthy cause.
LIONS SUPPORT THE POD CHILDRENS CHARITY IN SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL
Romsey & Waterside Lions Club continues to give financial support to the POD Children’s Charity at Southampton Hospital.
The POD Children's Charity is a non-profit organisation, providing live entertainment for children in over 150 hospitals and hospices around the UK. It has been sowing the seeds of magic, fun and laughter to sick children for over 45 years. POD isn't an acronym - David Jamilly the founder of POD came up with the name when he and a few friends did some shows for children at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1978. He felt that out of a pod come seeds of fun, laughter and feeling better and the name has stuck.
The Charity’s specialised team of local magicians, musicians, puppeteers, storytellers and clowns provide happiness and diversion to sick children, their families and carers. They perform in the playroom, on the ward or at the bedside alleviating the trauma of a hospital stay by sowing the seeds of fun, laughter and feeling better. A few moments with an entertainer can brighten up their day or help them through a hard time. This is now recognised to be of crucial value to these children.
A parent recently sent grateful thanks to the POD entertainers at Southampton Hospital in bringing joy to her son who had been in hospital for 4 months. Here is her letter and a picture of the entertainers who brought magic to the Children's Ward.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
We know from local feedback that Message-In-A-Bottle save lives. Bottles can be obtained free of charge from many Surgeries and other outlets that support the scheme. They can also be picked up at our monthly bookstall.
LIONS BOOKSTALL IN ROMSEY MARKET
Usually you will find us outside Bradbeers department store in the Cornmarket on the second Saturday in the month with our very popular Bookstall. We have thousands of good quality paperbacks on offer each month at £1 each covering titles such as romance, thrillers, war, sci-fi to mention a few. We also have a selection of bric-a-brac, toys, games and jigsaws. We also have a selection of children's books, many at only 50p.
At our stall we also collect used spectacles to send away for re-cycling.
Our next bookstall, including bric-a-brac, is on Saturday 13th April 2024 between 9:00am and 2:30pm.
FAME FOR TWO OF OUR LIONS
Lions Nicola and Sandra have put in an appearance in Kate Jackson's YouTube Music Video entitled "You are always on your phone". It is nice to have natters in moderation!
FINALLY – A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY AND THE WHITE CANE
In 1917 a group of independent social clubs gathered in Chicago to join forces to help their communities, and so with the birth of the International Association of Lions Clubs a whole new era began. Lions Clubs spread across the world, and currently there are over 1.4 million members.
Lionism arrived in the UK after the Second World War and from then on has flourished. The Lions motto is “We Serve”.
Romsey Lions was formed in 1979 and so is over 43 years old. It is a registered charity governed by the rules of The Charity Commission. Anyone over the age of 18 is welcome to join by invitation.
Our Patron, who is also a Lion, is Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
And the white cane? The white cane is the international symbol of independence, mobility and safety for people who are blind or visually impaired.
The white cane came into wide use beginning in 1930 as two caring problem solvers stood on busy street corners thousands of miles apart—one in Paris, France, and the other in Peoria, Illinois.
Throughout history, visually impaired people have carried canes, staffs and walking sticks to help get around obstacles. But increasingly they faced terrifying new challenges in the 20th century as cars, vans and lorries multiplied. The plain, walking stick still worked as a way-making tool, but was useless as a warning sign to motorists. A blind Englishman named James Biggs claimed to have found an answer in 1921 when he painted his walking stick white. A decade later, this simple invention began to gain ground.
The white cane crossed first to continental Europe through a one-woman campaign. A wealthy Parisienne named Mme. Guilly d’Herbemont would watch nervously as sightless students commuted to a nearby school for the blind. So, in November 1930, she wrote a letter to a leading Paris newspaper urging the use of attention-getting batons blancs, similar to those carried by French traffic police. A few months later, Mme. d’Herbemont arranged for the French president to ceremoniously present one white cane to each blind war veteran and blind civilian. She then made personal gifts of 5,000 more white canes to the city’s blind and visually impaired residents.
Meanwhile, one day in 1930. in Illinois, Peoria Lions Club President George Bonham, like his Parisian counterpart, noted a blind man tapping his cane helplessly as traffic swirled around him. No one seemed to notice the man’s dilemma, which set Bonham thinking. The answer again was the white cane, this time with a red band for even greater visibility. Bonham shared his idea with club members who immediately voted their endorsement and began painting white canes for the blind and writing letters to city officials. In December of that year the City Council went one step further by passing the nation’s first “white cane safety law,” giving blind citizens the right-of-way and other protections when carrying a white cane.
At the 1931 international convention in Toronto, Lions heard a detailed presentation on the white cane programme and received copies of the Peoria ordinance to take home. And so by 1956, with the help of a full-scale awareness and advocacy campaign, every state in the United States had enacted white-cane safety laws.
Every October 15th, on International White Cane Safety Day, many Lions wear a white cane lapel pin, as a reminder as to how far visual impairment awareness has been recognised since 1930 and the introduction of white canes.
LIONS ARE ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING AMAZING THINGS
