St Austell Lions Club

England - United Kingdom

THE LIONS CLUB OF ST AUSTELL HELPS TRIO OF TALENTED YOUNGSTERS ACHIEVE THEIR DREAMS IN MEMORY OF FOUNDING MEMBER

 

 

The funding will support three of St Austell’s rising stars:

Aston Purnell (age 19, St Austell) - Ballet dancer Aston recently completed training with the English National Ballet School and has been offered a place in America with Boston Ballet School. The grant

will help with associated expenses.

Ashleigh Masters (age 14, St Austell) - Ashleigh is an acro gymnast and competes in a trio which recently represented GB at the Acro Championships in Germany placing second. The grant will help with equipment and competition costs.

Tilly Dodd (age 15, St Austell) - Tilly captains Cornwall Cricket's U15s and has also represented Cornwall Ladies Team. Tilly dream is to become a professional cricketer and one day play for England. The grant will go towards equipment and travel.

Since Young & Talented Cornwall was set up in 2006, grants worth almost £400,000 have been handed out by the programme. Alongside the three youngsters from St Austell, a further 17 young Cornish musicians, dancers, performers and even a go-kart driver and fashion designer have been awarded, making this the largest funding round to date.

Barbara Collins, Michael’s widow says: “Michael would have been proud to know that the Lions Club of St Austell has collaborated, in his memory, with Young & Talented Cornwall.  During his 54 years of active service in Lions he was often involved with helping young people and it is fitting that, through the Lions contribution, this continues.“

Lord Lieutenant Colonel Edward Bolitho OBE heads up the Young & Talented Cornwall programme and says: “Young people are the future; it is vitally important that we give them all the help that we can to nurture their talents and go on to achieve great things, regardless of their background.

“I am delighted that we have been able to support such a strong cohort of talented youngsters and it is thanks to the invaluable support of local businesses and groups such as The Lions Club of St Austell that we have been able to achieve our biggest funding round yet. Cornwall is a hotbed of talent, and these youngsters are just a small taste of our young stars in the making.” 

Alongside The Lions Club of St Austell, Young & Talented Cornwall is supported by a number of local business partners, including Wildanet, Roddas, St Austell Brewery, Seasalt Cornwall, Falmouth University and Truro High School for Girls.  Last year’s Cornwall Christmas Fair - one of the county’s most vibrant fundraising events – also contributed £20,000 to the programme.

Applications for the next round of grants are now open. For more information or to find out about sponsorship, visit www.youngandtalentedcornwall.org

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Lions Club of St. Austell President, Barbara Trenerry, presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Miss Caroline Woodward in recognition of her work in our community. Caroline has worked very hard, being one of the main co-ordinators in St Austell by reaching out to the local community and far beyond collecting items for Ukraine and our own homeless and elderly.

Her achievements have been outstanding: she has been instrumental in sending out appeals for soft toys, gifts, clothes, bedding, medical supplies, toiletries, children's treats, nappies, water, bags and suitcases with pens, paper and pencils as well as organising Bandera energy bars for the frontline soldiers, assembling ingredients and arranging transport from collection points to Ukraine.

Caroline has sent out appeals via social media and local radio using her own home to act as a drop off point. She organised, with a small committee, the collection, packing, labelling, and transportation of all the items from storage to delivery to Ukraine which is no mean feat.

Lion President Barbara said "It was very nice to be able, on behalf of the Lions Club of St. Austell, to award you with this certificate and recognise what a splendid effort you have made in achieving such a lot for those in difficulty in Ukraine".

Caroline said "I felt I had to do something, having been involved with the South West (mid) Shoe Box appeal at Christmas in the past years. Together with two other lovely ladies, Hannah and Jade, we decided to see if we could organise something similar to help the Ukrainian people, especially the children, in their desperate time of need. I would like to thank all those who donated items which came in from so many people all over Cornwall. It was very rewarding but hard work. Support came in all forms from empty shoe boxes, being donated from the public and businesses Goodenough Shoes, Shoe Zone and the Par Market Trader JK Shoes. The boxes allowed items to be easily handled and inspected at border controls. A total of 400 Shoe boxes, each were filled to the max with vital aid. Pencallenick SEN School in Truro donated a massive number of Teddies and sweets for the Teddy bear appeal, 1372 bears in total, and a huge thanks to Jane Aeirton in Redruth for all her help making little sweet bags and labels "saying hold me tight and i will keep you safe at night" in Polish. Massive thanks to Adrian Elliot and the International Sounds Radio listeners, our local Cornish radio station in Nanpean, for promoting all the appeals and donating Teddies from as far as Scotland.

I also worked alongside FLEET with sending vital medical supplies to fill up their ambulances ready to go out to Ukraine and with the great help from Sally and Brian Tregunna, donating endless medical supplies from the Falmouth community.

It was a real honour to work alongside Dave and Debbie Delara who run Daisy Dukes CIC in St. Austell; their hard work and contribution to the Ukraine Appeal was overwhelming.  Transportation had to be sought with companies like PUCKATOR Ltd from East Taphouse and West Cornwall Removals in Penzance animal aid, which meant a lot of the logistics were funded, and huge special thanks to Baylor Julian, who owns Prow Park Business Centre in Newquay, and all the staff; they were very helpful as the main source of lorry distributors. These logistic companies greatly assisted in the collection of the boxes, pallets and organising lorries from pickup points, storage and then arranging drivers on to Ukraine. Grateful thanks goes to all those who have accomplished such a fantastic job  providing much needed items of equipment and goods that filled 14 lorry loads which has reached Ukraine and been distributed." Tomek Polanka was my hero for the translations, logistics, and keeping me up to date with information and requirements in Ukraine. Caroline also said “I am in constant contact with our Ukrainian distributors who sent me updates of the donations and gifts that have been received by the people who have had their lives and families devastated by the war”.

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Presentation by Lion Peter Mosyznski.

 

At their last Fellowship meeting, members and their partners of the Lions Club of St. Austell enjoyed a talk from one of their own members - Lion Peter Mosyznski.

Left to right: President of St. Austell Lions Club James Mathers, Lion Peter Moszynski and Fellowship Commitee Chair Lion Barbara Trenerry

Peter gave a fascinating illustrated account of his many years working in Sudan and other conflict-affected countries in Africa. He lamented how the impact of modernity, the discovery of oil and the interventions of outsiders frequently had a negative impact on traditional societies, and how competition for resources has been further exacerbated by environmental degradation. He also related how well-intentioned attempts to find quick-fix solutions to such problems often didn't succeed due to the failure to grasp the complex realities of the situation on the ground, emphasising the need to expand education and agricultural self-sufficiency to break the vicious cycle of poverty

Some scenes from his African adventures

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Lions Clubs’ £160k boost for local air ambulances

 

Air ambulances across the British Isles will receive vital equipment in the battle against COVID-19 – thanks to generous £160,000 grant from the Lions Clubs International Foundation. President of the Lions Club of St. Austell Tony Pickup says: “We know that air ambulance charities have been busier than ever during the coronavirus pandemic. They’ve faced considerable extra – unbudgeted – day to day costs – at the same time as lockdown has affected fund-raising. Now, thanks to an emergency COVID-19 relief grant from the Lions Clubs International Foundation in the US, we can provide immediate support for this emergency service that touches lives in all our local communities.”

Working with Air Ambulances UK, Lions Clubs compiled a list of equipment and supplies needed by individual air ambulance charities – totalling £161,468. Cornwall Air Ambulance will receive a grant of £4560 to enable the purchase of two UV Decontamination Chambers. Local Lions have continued to support their communities facing difficulties due to COVID-19. This latest boost for air ambulance charities comes on top of £140,000 awarded in grants to foodbanks and other causes nominated by Lions clubs across the British Isles.

As well as their ‘day job’ - responding to accidents, traumatic incidents and medical emergencies - air ambulances are supporting the COVID-19 response to help reduce the huge burden on the NHS and other public services. The equipment and supplies they requested, which has been funded by the Lions Clubs International Foundation grant, includes isolation capsules and decontamination units, separation screens, PPE, ventilators, respirators and hoods, a thermal screening camera and monitoring system, compression devices, fluid warmers, an ultrasound cardiac probe, and mobile connectivity devices.

Heather Benjamin, Chair of Air Ambulances, UK said: “The donation of equipment and supplies by Lions helps air ambulance charities to support the COVID-19 response and their communities in these extraordinary times and beyond.”

Air Ambulances UK is the national organisation representing, supporting and advocating the lifesaving work of the UK’s 21 air ambulance charities and wider air ambulance sector. Collectively, these air ambulance charities are dispatched to 70 missions a day, equating to 25,000 missions a year. The 20 air ambulance charities based in the British Isles operate 38 helicopters and critical care cars. Air Ambulance charities receive no day-to-day government funding and are reliant on the generosity of local communities to deliver their lifesaving services. Their funding models vary but they typically have a diversified income portfolio incorporating public fundraising, trusts and grants, retail, and lottery.

Lions Clubs International (LCI) is the largest service organisation in the world. Its 1.4 million members volunteer their time to serve local communities and help good causes in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. There are 12,000 members in 615 Lions Clubs across the British Isles, which raised over £9 million in 2019 to help those in need.

For more information, please contact: Lions Clubs International British Isles, Mandy Broadbent (mandy@lionsclubs.co.uk or call: 01204 435340) for details of the equipment and supplies funded by Lions for local air ambulance charities.

 

Lion Ray George gave an interesting, informative and amusing talk to members and partners on his 6 month deployment to Ascension Island, whilst serving in the RAF. He is pictured being thanked by the President of the Lions Club of St. Austell Michael Collins.

The Lions Club of St. Austell welcomed three volunteer ‘listeners’ from their Samaritans branch in Truro, Suzy Gilchrist, Tom Hotton and Annie Reynolds (pictured below), who gave a most interesting and informative talk on their valuable work. There are 100 volunteer ‘listeners’, plus other support staff based at Truro. As might be expected, the largest number of Samaritans branches are in Central London, with the smallest in Orkney, with 13 ‘listeners’. Nationally, a call to the Samaritans is received every 6 seconds, and a call every 52 seconds from a person actually considering ending their own life. 5.7 million contacts were made nationally in 2016, with 53 thousand in Cornwall alone. Contacts are not just by telephone, but also by email, texts and SMS.                                                                  

The suicide rate in Cornwall is higher regionally than many other areas; approximately 60 per year, possibly influenced by isolation and low wages.

In the Samaritans organisation, all staff are unpaid volunteers and have to undergo rigorous training. Listeners must always be completely trusted by callers, and never know any details of the caller.

The talk was followed by a question and answer session, including a discussion of the increasing problem of bullying suffered by young people on social media, and also in care homes.

The Samaritans are very willing to visit any organisations who would like to know more, and may be contacted for this purpose on 01872 222321, and of course the main Samaritans Freephone 24 hour Help line is 116 123.

Lion Alan Moore presented a donation, and thanked our Samaritans guests for an excellent talk, and for being there for all of us.

 

In photo, left to right

Samaritans volunteer Annie Reynolds, Samaritans volunteer Tom Hotton,  Lions Club of St. Austell President Michael Collins and Samaritans volunteer Suzy Gilchrist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lions Club of St. Austell have presented a cheque for £300 to the Sea Cadets of St. Austell, and Lions President Guy Wardle warmly thanked them for their help in manning the Club’s Christmas Sleigh last December.

Pictured left to right, at Back: CPO Greet, Cdt Karsberg, PO Cdt Winnett, Leading Cdt Stephen, Ord Cdt Childs, Cdt Fildes, Leading Cdt Truscott, APO Winnett Middle Row: Cdt Baker, Cdt Spencer, Cdt Newman-Reed, Lions Club of St. Austell President Guy Wardle, LT Nash, Cdt Trembath, Ord Cdt Winnett Front Row: Junior Cdt Drinkwater, Junior Cdt Swire, Junior Cdt Williams, Junior Cdt Pinkston, Junior Cdt Churcher, Junior Cdt Newpont, Junior Cdt Cook, Junior Cdt Payton, Junior Cdt  Baker

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The Club presented cheques to representatives from two local charities at a recent Lions dinner meeting, at which they both gave an interesting and informative talk about their activities.  A cheque for £600 was was presented to Aliza Dayton for Headway Cornwall, the brain injury association, and another, also for £600, to Mike Bearcroft, Trustee of Penhaligon’s Friends, helping bereaved children and young people in Cornwall.

The money raised was from the proceeds of the Lions Club of St. Austell’s Silent Auction, thanks to the generosity of local businesses and individuals.

 

The Club welcomes new members and anyone interested in becoming a member should contact Lion Bill Roberts through our website at: www.staustelllions.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 President Guy Wardle, Aliza Dayton, Fund Raiser for  Headway Cornwall,

and Silent Auction Organiser Lion Geoff Kaye

 

 

President Guy Wardle, Mike Bearcroft, Trustee of Penhaligon’s Friends,

and Silent Auction Organiser Lion Geoff Kaye

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On Saturday 23^rd May 2015 the Lions Club of St Austell joined with the Boxing Club of St Austell to stage an evening of amateur boxing at the Polkyth Leisure Centre, St Austell, with boxers coming from as far afield as Birmingham and Bournemouth.  A demonstration of boxing skills opened the evening staged by the Elite Team of the St Austell Boxing Club, followed by 9 competitive bouts of boxing.