Club Projects

Message in a Bottle                 

• Do you take medication for an existing medical condition?
• Are you allergic to any particular drug?
• If you were suddenly taken ill at home, who would have this information?

Early treatment can save lives!

Lions Clubs Message in a Bottle is a simple but effective way for people to keep their basic personal and medical details where they can be found in an emergency on a standard form and in a common location – the fridge

Message in a Bottle (known within Lions as MIAB) helps emergency services personnel to save valuable time in identifying an individual very quickly and knowing if they have any allergies or take special medication.

Paramedics, police, fire-fighters and social services support this Lions life-saving initiative and know to look in the fridge when they see the Message in a Bottle stickers, supplied. The initiative provides peace of mind that prompt and appropriate medical assistance can be provided, and next of kin / emergency contacts can be notified.

How to obtain a Message in a Bottle?

Members of the public and other organisations can obtain a Message in a Bottle kit by contacting their local Lions club

More than 6 million Message in a Bottle kits has been distributed by Lions Clubs International (MD105) British Isles to people with conditions such as diabetes, allergies, disabilities and life-threatening illnesses.

Clubs are able to provide Message in a Bottle within their local communities free of charge thanks to fund-raising and generous donations from the public and businesses. It is not just vulnerable people who benefit from Message in a Bottle. Anyone with health conditions could have an accident at home.

The Message in a Bottle kit includes a form, where personal and medical information is detailed. This is placed in the bottle (with its distinctive green branding), which is stored in the fridge. Two stickers are provided: one for the fridge door and the other for the inside of the front door of the premises.

Simply enter the details on the form provided, pop the form in the bottle then put the bottle in your fridge.  Stick the special Green Cross symbol provided on your front door so the emergency services will know! Easy!

Look in your doctor’s waiting room or your local chemist or Health Centre for your FREE Message in a Bottle

SpecTrek/Sight First

Spectrek is a Lion’s project that collects unwanted spectacles from local opticians and doctors surgeries, which are then sorted and send to Medico France in Le Havre, who have the necessary equipment to clean and grade the spectacles ready for use in eye camps in Africa, India and Eastern Europe.  

Lions Clubs in the UK and from other European countries including France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Switzerland participate in this project. Collectively the UK Lions clubs send over 300,000 spectacles to developing countries which then enables people to work and care for their families.