BIRKENHEAD LIONS' CLUB
Birkenhead Lions' club regularly responds to a wide range of appeals for donations; its grants have included both emergency help made available within a few hours (eg. to replace a door after a house fire and Christmas toys after theft) and money for major items which required sustained fundraising (eg an adapted van for a man part paralysed in an accident and a bespoke wheelchair for a man with muscular dystrophy).
Birkenhead Lions' service activities have included:
- Taking groups of disadvantaged children to a theme park, to Chester zoo and to pantomimes. This year 100 children will see “Cinderella” at the theatre in Port Sunlight.
- Joining the Radio Merseyside/Liverpool Echo toy appeal at Christmas, in which 15000+ toys donated by the public are sorted and distributed to children in care or otherwise known to social services and local churches. Other Christmas work has included bucket-collection tours of the streets with Santa in a decorated vehicle.
- “Message in a Bottle” which aims to ensure that vulnerable peoples' health problems and medication needs are quickly available to emergency services from data in a small plastic bottle which we distributed to pharmacies, doctors' surgeries,sheltered housing etc.
- St. David's day concerts featuring local choirs and soloists plus choirs from N.Wales, proceeds going to recognised charities such as a local children's hospice and the British Heart Foundation.
- Provision of defibrillators to local bodies such as Wallasey Sea Scouts.
- Making games available to children at local fetes and fairs during our summer fundraising.
- Co-operation with community groups in Tranmere and Birkenhead's North End to help make activities available to children during summer holidays, to provide Christmas parties and to respond to the needs of families in difficulty.
- For 9 years Birkenhead Lions club organised a two day Festival of Transport in Birkenhead Park which drew crowds of up to 20000 to see rare steamdriven vehicles in action and to enjoy the associated fair
For its own members Birkenhead Lions club has had social evenings with quizzes and entertainment. Each year the club has a formal dinner at which the club's work during the year is briefly reviewed and the achievements of individual members are recognised.
