For the forthcoming activities each of these monthly bulletins is focussed mainly on activities falling within the coming two months - so May and June in this case. All the items covered are open to both members and friends of the club and all can be found on the club calendar which lists important dates for the whole of 2015. You can also find the monthly Lions regional and national news bulletins by clicking the Member area tab at the top of the left hand margin of this page and then keying the password “oakbrook”.
APRIL REVIEW
1. Nepal. Apart from the General Election punch and Judy show, our TV news bulletins in the last week of April were dominated by the tragic impact of the earthquake in Nepal. One of the great strengths of the Lions is the ability to respond rapidly and generously to human need at every level - local, national and international. Lions Clubs International are actively involved in delivering support to the people of Nepal and as you may of seen from emails the club has agreed to make an immediate donation of £250 to support that effort with the possibility of a further donation when the matter is discussed at our next club meeting.
2. The Ironbridge Lions AGM was held on 9th April and the following members were elected to hold office for the year commencing 27th June
President - Mavis Derham
Vice President - Malcolm Appleton
Treasurer - Jill Marsh
Secretary - Frank Hill
3. An award for June. Those who read the Shropshire Star or the Telford Journal might have seen this news item recently. June is always embarrassed when we shine the spotlight on her but she is very much a lynch-pin of the club and It was a real pleasure to be able to recognise her enormous contribution with the award of a Melvin Jones Fellowship.
4. Support for Wellington Cottage Care - an interesting visit during the month to the old Wellington Cottage Hospital which is the home of Wellington Cottage Care. It's a great local charity providing excellent day care care services but attendance numbers have been adversely affected by the cut backs in Social services funding. Against that background the club agreed earlier this year to make a support donation and the main purpose of the visit was to present the cheque. We are now in discussion regarding the possibility of providing some kind of support on an on-going basis. Further information on the services and facilities available on the Cottage Care web site http://s424446717.initial-website.co.uk
5. April Fundraising. April is always a big month for fundraising activity with our Easter Teddies in various pubs and shops around the village and the start of the Silver over the Bridge season on Easter Monday. This year as usual the main beneficiary of the first SOB collection was Marie Curie and we were delighted to be able to send them£300 immediately after Easter.
Knitted chicks holding miniature chocolate eggs have also become something of a feature of our Easter fundraising over recent years. These are very generously donated by our friends at the Park Lane knitting group and this year, as ever, the chicks sold very rapidly, producing a very useful addition to our charitable funds and some equally welcome publicity in the Lion magazine - see http://lionsclubs.co/members/images/Lions-Magazine/2015/LionAprMay15_150dpi.pdf-
6. Silver over the Bridge 3rd May. Yes, I know this one falls outside the April window - but I couldn't resist the opportunity to show Gordon as boy-racer! The 2nd SOB session of the 2015 season was in support of Blood Bikes, a great voluntary organisation which provides emergency transport services between our hospitals. Blood Bikes volunteers- including Ian Skoyles shown here - joined us for the day and brought one of their wonderful 1300cc Honda bikes with them.
1. Middle Marches Lions Charter Lunch 24th May
Middle Marches 31st anniversary charter event is being held at the Plough Wistanstow on Sunday 24th May. It's a difficult day for us as we have a Silver over the Bridge collection that day but we will have 4 members attending.
2. Zone Social and Quiz 28th May 2015
This event, to be held at the Down Inn Bridgnorth, is open to the 7 clubs in our zone – Bridgnorth, Ironbridge, Middle Marches, Newport, Shrewsbury, Telford and Wrekin. It will include a two course carvery meal at a total cost of around £9 per head. It should be a very pleasant evening and so far we have 12 names from ironbridge:
John Boydell and Elizabeth
Mavis and Pete Derham
Frank and Dot Hill
June and Norman Softley John and Jill Marsh
Elaine Bradburn
Helen May
3. Newport Lions Charter Sunday 31st May
Newport Charter lunch is being held this year at Harper Adams University, Edgmond on 31st May. At present we have 5 attending from Ironbridge - June and Norman Softley, Mavis and Pete Derham and Charlie Miller. But the list is still open if anyone wishes to join them
4. Walk and meal Saturday 20th June
This one is being organised by Jim Groves. This will be a gentle Orchid & Butterfly walk which will commence at 11.00 – meeting place to be confirmed. finish around 12.30 –1.00 followed by lunch at the Madebrook at 1pm.
5. Handover Dinner 25th June 2015
This event marks the end of our club year and it is the point at which those elected at the recent AGM take office. This year's dinner will be held at the White Hart in Ironbridge on 25th June and will include a three course meal at a cost of £20 per head. The menu will be distributed as soon as it is available
1. Defibrillator for ironbridge. We are almost there on the defibrillator project which was covered in last month's newsletter. Both the defibrillator itself and the cabinet have been delivered and we now just need to arrange the installation and the associated training and PR programme. More news on this as the plans develop
2. Silver over the Bridge. SOB is our longest running fundraising activity. Essentially it involves laying sticky tape across the Iron Bridge and inviting passers-by to put down their spare coins. We also volunteer to man the Toll House on those days when we are collecting on the bridge.
We have scheduled 2 SOB sessions during May and June each focussed on a different charity:
Sunday 24th May - Medical Detection Dogs
Sunday 21st June - Midlands Air Ambulance
Each SOB session runs from 10am to 4pm and is supported by Members and Friends working in 2 hour shifts – generally 3 people on the bridge itself and one person to man the Toll House.
Additional volunteers are always very welcome so if you’ve never helped at a SOB session why not give it a try. Visitors are general intrigued by the activity and we have some really interesting conversations so the two hours pass very easily.
3. Shrewsbury Fun Day Bank Holiday Monday 25th May
Held in the Quarry and organised by the Shrewsbury Lions Club, this is the first Fun Day of the summer season and we will have our usual stall with a range of fund-raising activities including tombola, noisy balloons and the football game. As for Silver over the Bridge sessions, additional volunteers are always very welcome.
4. St Georges Summer Fayre Friday 12th June.
Another in the series of fun days with day with activities similar to those for the 25th May. More details to follow and again, all offers of help are very welcome.
5. And finally ........ Charity Tea party 30th May
Not a club event but one that we are very happy to support. The event runs from 1430 to 1730 at Heritage House Great Bolas. Tickets cost just £5 and all profits go to 3 very worthwhile causes - the Breast Cancer Research Fund @ PRH, the Shropshire and Mid Wales Head and Neck Charity and Cancer Research. More information Here
4. Support for Wellington Cottage Care - an interesting visit during the month to the old Wellington Cottage Hospital which is the home of Wellington Cottage Care. It's a great local charity providing excellent day care care services but attendance numbers have been adversely affected by the cut backs in Social services funding. Against that background the club agreed earlier this year to make a support donation and the main purpose of the visit was to present the cheque. We are now in discussion regarding the possibility of providing some kind of support on an on-going basis. Further information on the services and facilities available on the Cottage Care web site http://s424446717.initial-website.co.uk5. April Fundraising. April is always a big month for fundraising activity with our Easter Teddies in various pubs and shops around the village and the start of the Silver over the Bridge season on Easter Monday. This year as usual the main beneficiary of the first SOB collection was Marie Curie and we were delighted to be able to send them£300 immediately after Easter.
Knitted chicks holding miniature chocolate eggs have also become something of a feature of our Easter fundraising over recent years. These are very generously donated by our friends at the Park Lane knitting group and this year, as ever, the chicks sold very rapidly, producing a very useful addition to our charitable funds and some equally welcome publicity in the Lion magazine - see http://lionsclubs.co/members/images/Lions-Magazine/2015/LionAprMay15_150dpi.pdf-6. Silver over the Bridge 3rd May. Yes, I know this one falls outside the April window - but I couldn't resist the opportunity to show Gordon as boy-racer! The 2nd SOB session of the 2015 season was in support of Blood Bikes, a great voluntary organisation which provides emergency transport services between our hospitals. Blood Bikes volunteers- including Ian Skoyles shown here - joined us for the day and brought one of their wonderful 1300cc Honda bikes with them.
FORTHCOMING SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
1. Middle Marches Lions Charter Lunch 24th May
Middle Marches 31st anniversary charter event is being held at the Plough Wistanstow on Sunday 24th May. It's a difficult day for us as we have a Silver over the Bridge collection that day but we will have 4 members attending.
2. Zone Social and Quiz 28th May 2015
This event, to be held at the Down Inn Bridgnorth, is open to the 7 clubs in our zone – Bridgnorth, Ironbridge, Middle Marches, Newport, Shrewsbury, Telford and Wrekin. It will include a two course carvery meal at a total cost of around £9 per head. It should be a very pleasant evening and so far we have 12 names from ironbridge:
John Boydell and Elizabeth
Mavis and Pete Derham
Frank and Dot Hill
June and Norman Softley John and Jill Marsh
Elaine Bradburn
Helen May
3. Newport Lions Charter Sunday 31st May
Newport Charter lunch is being held this year at Harper Adams University, Edgmond on 31st May. At present we have 5 attending from Ironbridge - June and Norman Softley, Mavis and Pete Derham and Charlie Miller. But the list is still open if anyone wishes to join them
4. Walk and meal Saturday 20th June
This one is being organised by Jim Groves. This will be a gentle Orchid & Butterfly walk which will commence at 11.00 – meeting place to be confirmed. finish around 12.30 –1.00 followed by lunch at the Madebrook at 1pm.
5. Handover Dinner 25th June 2015
This event marks the end of our club year and it is the point at which those elected at the recent AGM take office. This year's dinner will be held at the White Hart in Ironbridge on 25th June and will include a three course meal at a cost of £20 per head. The menu will be distributed as soon as it is available
FORTHCOMING PROJECT AND FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY
1. Defibrillator for ironbridge. We are almost there on the defibrillator project which was covered in last month's newsletter. Both the defibrillator itself and the cabinet have been delivered and we now just need to arrange the installation and the associated training and PR programme. More news on this as the plans develop
2. Silver over the Bridge. SOB is our longest running fundraising activity. Essentially it involves laying sticky tape across the Iron Bridge and inviting passers-by to put down their spare coins. We also volunteer to man the Toll House on those days when we are collecting on the bridge.
We have scheduled 2 SOB sessions during May and June each focussed on a different charity:
Sunday 24th May - Medical Detection Dogs
Sunday 21st June - Midlands Air Ambulance
Each SOB session runs from 10am to 4pm and is supported by Members and Friends working in 2 hour shifts – generally 3 people on the bridge itself and one person to man the Toll House.
Additional volunteers are always very welcome so if you’ve never helped at a SOB session why not give it a try. Visitors are general intrigued by the activity and we have some really interesting conversations so the two hours pass very easily.
3. Shrewsbury Fun Day Bank Holiday Monday 25th May
Held in the Quarry and organised by the Shrewsbury Lions Club, this is the first Fun Day of the summer season and we will have our usual stall with a range of fund-raising activities including tombola, noisy balloons and the football game. As for Silver over the Bridge sessions, additional volunteers are always very welcome.
4. St Georges Summer Fayre Friday 12th June.
Another in the series of fun days with day with activities similar to those for the 25th May. More details to follow and again, all offers of help are very welcome.
5. And finally ........ Charity Tea party 30th May
Not a club event but one that we are very happy to support. The event runs from 1430 to 1730 at Heritage House Great Bolas. Tickets cost just £5 and all profits go to 3 very worthwhile causes - the Breast Cancer Research Fund @ PRH, the Shropshire and Mid Wales Head and Neck Charity and Cancer Research. More information Here
