LVLC NEWS FROM 2016
2016 Fireworks Extravaganza
Loddon Valley Lions held their 2016 Fireworks Extravaganza at Barlows Park Tadley, Click Here for More Information, on Saturday 5th November. This was attended by several thousand people who were entertained by two separate displays, one for the younger children at 6:30pm and the second for the older children and adults at 7:30pm. Children had been invited to bring a Guy to the event and those that did were granted free admission. After the first display, the Guys were entered into a competition and one of the judges was Presenter from The Breeze (Basingstoke & North Hampshire), David Perry Click Here for More Information. After the judging, the Guys were paraded to the Bonfire with chants from the crowd of "Burn him - Burn him!". The Guys were then committed to their fate on the bonfire. Following this, the second display took place. The evening was a great success, was enjoyed by all and raised in excess of £7,500 to support Loddon Valley Lions charitable work in their Local Community and the wider world. Our thanks to the Management and Staff of Barlows Park, Calleva Football Club, The Breeze (Basingstoke & North Hampshire) and their presenter David Perry, John Stacey Ltd and Whittles Fairground Ammusements. To see more pictures of the event, see our Facebook Page, by clicking the logo at the top right of this page. Another fine example of 'Ordinary People - Amazing Things!
Loddon Valley Lions Sponsor Rapunzel
At their August Social meeting, Loddon Valley Lions received a visit from Camilla Oldland, Chief Executive of The Living Paintings Trust Click Here for more Information about the work of the Trust. Camilla outlined to the Club the work of this organisation, which is based in Kingsclere, part of the area served by Loddon Valley Lions. Camilla explained that Living Paintings is a charitable organisation producing 'Touch to See' books for blind and partially sighted people of all ages. She went on to explain how the books are produced and loaned to individuals and organisations throughout the UK. At their next meeting, the Club discussed what they had heard, agreed that sight matters were at the very core of Lions activities and that they would wish to sponsor the next Living Paintings production, an updated version of the classic tale, Rapunzel Please Click Here for details. Because of sponsorship from Loddon Valley Lions, Rapunzel will be a great addition to the Living Paintings Library, another example of 'Ordinary People - Amazing Things'. John Read, President of Loddon Valley Lions, was proud to visit Living Paintings on 15 September, to present a cheque for £2,500 to Camilla, thus allowing Rapunzel 'to go to print'. To find out more about the work of Living Paintings, Please Click Here. Living Paintings are in need of more volunteers to help with their valuable work, so if you feel you could give a little of your time, do contact them via the contact page of their website, by clicking the previous link. Pictures from our visit will be uploaded to our Facebook Page, which can be accessed by clicking the logo at the top left of this page.
Golf Day Raises Money for Hospice
Loddon Valley Lions held their 22nd Annual Charity Golf day on 5th September 2016, in aid of St Michael’s Hospice Basingstoke Click Here for More Information. Twenty pairs of golfers entered the competition and it was good to see some newcomers, this year. Bishopswood Golf Course in Tadley Click Here For More Information was in excellent condition after some light early morning rain. The weather held up during the afternoon with very little wind. Despite this there were numerous examples of straying on to the wrong fairway at times! A Sin Bin on the 5th and 14th holes netted some £56 in fines from those whose tee shot did not end up on the green. A nearest the pin competition was also held at these holes. A fine drive of 294 yards from the 16th tee won the longest drive competition for those on their second round. Proceeds from the Sin Bin, and Tombola, when added to the entry fees, enabled Loddon Valley Lions to make a donation of £1200 to St Michael's Hospice. Our picture shows Lynne Grimshaw, Community Fundraiser for the Hospice receiving the cheque from Loddon Valley Lions President John Read (right). Also in the picture from the left are Peter Grayson (organiser of the event for the Lions) and Colin Woodward (Captain at Bishopswood). Our sincere thanks to the management and staff of Bishopswood Golf Course for allowing us to hold this event at their excellent venue. We are also most grateful to our several sponsors for their generosity in helping to offset some of the costs of this event and swell the amount we were able to donate to the Hospice. For details of our prizewinners and our sponsors, Please Click Here.
Clearing other people's rubbish
As part of their commitment towards the environment, a number of Loddon Valley Lions gave up their Friday morning to help clear litter from around a mile of the A340 in Tadley, along Tadley Hill and Mulfords Hill. It is a crying shame that people are quite happy to disfigure our environment by just discarding their unwanted waste anywhere and are too lazy or uncaring to think about taking it home and depositing it in their own bin. Our picture shows Lions Bob Prevost (left) and Barry Germain (right) at work outside the Esso Garage on Mulfords Hill.
Loddon Valley Lions Distribute £9,500 to worthy causes in the Local Community.
Following a presentation to a recent meeting of the Loddon Valley Lions about the work of the Samaritans, with particular emphasis on the local area served by Loddon Valley Lions, it was discovered that their Basingstoke Branch was in need of a Lap Top computer to be used for training purposes. The Club agreed to purchase one suitable for that purpose and our picture shows Mike Saunders, Director of Training, receiving it from our President, John Read on 27th July at the Samaritans office in Basingstoke.
As publicised in our Treacle Fair Brochure, St Michael’s Hospice in Basingstoke was to be one of the major beneficiaries of this year’s Tadley Treacle Fair held on 5th June. Our picture shows a cheque for £3,000 being presented to Acting Community Fund Raising Manager Daisy Mitchell by our President John Read on 16th August. Also in the picture is Vicki Mason, Community Events coordinator at the Hospice.
MacMillan Cancer Care were also to be one of the major beneficiaries of The Treacle Fair. A cheque was presented to their Fund Raising Manager Rachael Docherty at our meeting on 17thAugust in the presence of the District Governor of our Lions District 105D, Lion David Taylor. Our picture (left) shows Rachael receiving the cheque for £3,000 from our President, John Read. In the picture from the left are: President John Read, Rachael Docherty, our secretary Bob Prevost, our Treasurer Geoff Foan, Martin Slatford and the District Governor David Taylor.
The third of the major beneficiaries of this year’s Tadley Treacle Fair was Naomi House / Jack’s Place and our President, John Read (right of picture on the right) was proud to present a Cheque for £3,000 to Naomi House Supporter Services Manager, Peter Abrahams (centre) at a brief ceremony on 23 August. Also in our picture on the right is our Secretary,
Bob Prevost (left of picture). When Naomi House was first built, Loddon Valley Lions were instrumental in obtaining a grant of almost £100,000 from the Lions Clubs International Foundation to furnish and equip three of the rooms, including the chapel at the Hospice.
Champion Poets from Burnham Copse
There are already four entries in this column, praising the prowess of poets from Burnham Copse Primary School in Tadley. Now, for the fifth year running, they have scooped first prize in the competition sponsored by the Lions Clubs of Central Southern England, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands to find the best young poet in the area. This year, the winning entry was from Nathan Cook, a year six pupil at the school. You can read Nathan’s winning entry by Clicking Here.
