Page 62 - Phonebox Magazine April 2016

Newport Pagnell and Olney Lions Club
Help us Celebrate our Birthday
Around the anniversary of a Lions Club having received its foundation charter, there is normally a Charter Dinner arranged - birthday bash to you and I.
30th April will see our club sitting down to a 3 course meal at the Carlton House club then dancing the night away (and the calories off) to local musician, Barry Pedder.
Tickets for the event are a mere £25 and anyone who would like a night out in good company whilst savouring the culinary delights of the Carlton Club and social ambience of the Lions are more than welcome to join us.
Full details from our website www.npolneylions.btck.co.uk.
Do you have a Camera?
If so, we expect you will have taken photos of Olney and the surrounding area over the past few years.
We will be producing our annual Town Calendars in 2017 and whilst our Newport Pagnell version will be carrying photos taken by one of our members, we will again be looking to the residents and visitors to Olney to send us their favourite shots of the town, events and surrounding area.
Full details and our rules (we have to have some, we’re afraid) can be found on our website www.olneylionsclub.org and photos can be emailed to ourolneycalendar@gmail. com.
If you have any winter photos, we will be particularly interested in them as we will be producing our very popular Christmas Cards again. Snow scenes of the area make a great personal card for the festive season so please send these off to the same address. A great way to help us raise funds and possibly even see your name in print should one of your photos successfully nd its way into the Calendar.
Lions help us to Remember
The National Memorial Arboretum is the UK’s living centre of remembrance, set in 150 acres of maturing woodland in the National Forest near Lich eld.
In 2011, Lions Clubs in the UK raised over £40,000 to pay for a purpose built shelter where visitors can rest and re ect whilst they visit the numerous memorials in this very touching and often emotional site.
Within the shelter, we acknowledge individual
62 Phonebox Magazine | April 2016
Lions Clubs members who have passed on during the past year and recognise the legacy of community service that they have left behind. We also have a display of the entries to our annual youth Peace Poster and highlight the winners of this and our Essay competition.
If you should visit the serene and very touching National Memorial Arboretum, please take a few minutes to visit the Lions shelter where you can escape the crowds and quietly be in solitude with your own thoughts.
Make someone else’s Life better
The time and energy given by volunteers are priceless and to put a monetary gure on their work is impossible. The hours spent by members of Lions Clubs International helping others undoubtedly makes a phenomenal nancial contribution to the global economy. Over the next few issues of Phonebox, we will give you an insight into some of the International activities of Lions in other parts of the World.
There are also immeasurable social bene ts for local communities from the volunteering undertaken by Lions Clubs but more importantly, we are actually helping to make someone else’s life better through a wide range of activities.
It isn’t just an older generation giving back to society though volunteering as research shows younger people are eager to contribute to causes they care about.
Over the past year, we have been delighted to be able to encourage a number of our younger residents as they take part in projects to help others, often in countries and in remote villages where the luxuries of the UK just don’t exist. The bene ts they gain from their experiences will be with them for life and we hope, will spur them on to do
even more as they develop and grow in their communities.
Why not Join us?
Lions Clubs International in the UK continues to attract new members - with 4 out of 10 of those joining, being women.
We are a real community of men and women of all ages who subscribe to a core aim of making the world a better place to live, work and grow by serving others.
If you have followed our page in the Phonebox or had a tour of our website, why not consider becoming a Lion and share our values.
You will need to commit time and enthusiasm, and pay a modest annual subscription which covers the Administration of the Club and our contribution to the International body but this does ensure that all monies we raise are spent in helping the good causes we support . With most of our effort being channelled back into the Local community we really do have a satisfaction of making a difference in the Newport Pagnell and Olney area.
We can only do that if we ourselves have suf cient members so why not think about applying to join us as a full member or simply become one of our Friends group when you can help us out when we need extra pairs of hands. Full details on our website.
And nally
If you know of anyone who could bene t from the support of the Lions Club, please either visit our website and give us a basic outline of what is needed and one of our members will get back to discuss things in more detail. Alternatively, drop a note to our Secretary, Bob Benbow at 43 Dinglederry, MK46 5ES and it will be passed onto the most appropriate person in the club who will deal with it.