Lions Club of Rye – Our Story

The town of Rye is situated on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, about 100 kilometres south of the state's capital city Melbourne, and is a seaside town and popular holiday destination.

The Lions Club of Rye was chartered by the Lions Club of Sorrento in 1972 with 26 members.

While not a large club in numbers compared with some others, we had maintained a stable membership of around 20-25 over the years and with the support of members partners we have the numbers to undertake a considerable number of activities. Current active membership is around 15.

We were well known for our Lions Annual Boat Raffle which was our major source of revenue to support our service program, and each year from 1972  to 2019 we conducted this fundraising project. Sadly, due to Covid and other reasons, the boat raffle ceased. 

Primarily, we now raise funds through catering activities with our BBQ trailer and occasional  raffles. We sell our popular bacon and egg rolls and sausages sandwiches at the monthly Boneo Community Market (3rd Saturday morning of each month) and can be seen outside the Rye branch of the Bendigo bank on the last Friday of each month Feb-Nov where community members can partake in a free sausage courtesy of the bank and Rye Lions.

We are well known in our local area and enjoy a special relationship with our local schools and various community groups. This ensures we maintain a community profile, and public awareness of our activities.

As well as our support of the local community we support various Lions' projects of a national and international nature.

Our club is not just about fundraising and donations. We enjoy an active social life where members, families and friends enjoy each other's company. As well as our monthly dinners, we organise a variety of social events throughout the year.

Our club base is situated within the grounds of the RJ Rowley Reserve, Melbourne Rd Rye, and this is where we hold our meetings on the third Tuesday of each month( excepting December and January).

If you are community minded and wish to be involved in a great, local service club (as a member or a volunteer), give us a try!

Club Contacts

President: Ivor Bencowe ph 0418 532 490 email ihblencowe@gmail.com

Secretary: Chris Derwin ph 0447 358 580 email scderwin5@gmail.com

Membership: Ron Cocking ph 0407 686 097 email r.dcocking@hotmail.com