The Mayor of Peterborough (and Peterborough Lion) Cllr June Stokes visited the Lions’ stall in Tesco, Werrington on Saturday 14th September to get one of this year’s Peterborough Lions Quiz leaflets. (Of-course she could have bought one online but that wouldn’t have made for such a good photo opportunity!)
The quiz has been one of our main fundraising activities for over 20 years (the club itself being over 40 years old, over which time it has collected and distributed half a million pounds to local charitable causes). Additionally, the quiz has helped several local charities and other voluntary groups raise over £50,000 by selling them on a 50/50 basis through charity shops, church halls, scouting venues, etc.
As Mayor of Peterborough, “Lion June” is not able to attend many Lions’ meetings or events but is keen to promote our efforts to raise funds, with the focus this year on a bladder scanner for Peterborough Hospital and amenities for Phoenix Special Needs School, alongside a myriad of smaller commitments, and Peterborough Lions Club is proud to have the current mayor as one of our members.
The latest Lions Quiz entitled “Adam’s Ale” is on sale priced £1.50. Peterborough Lions Club thanks Tesco for their invitation, and also both Sainsbury and both Morrison supermarkets where quiz leaflet sales have or will take place. Sales venues will operate at Morrisons Lincoln Road (4th-6th October), Morrisons Cardea Stanground (19th-20th October) and Sainsbury Oxney Road (24th November). After that, Santa and his elves will be about with the annual Christmas Carol Float, where quiz leaflets are always available to anyone who asks (ideal for inserting into Christmas cards!)
For the first time ever, our Quiz is available to buy online!
If you don’t get chance to come and see us to buy one in person – or you bought one already but want more – you can now buy them directly from this website. The quiz costs £1.50 each, and as well as giving you several hours of entertainment and helping us raise funds for great causes around Peterborough and further afield, you also stand he chance of winning up to £100 in prize money!
Simply click the Store link in the menu, and buy as many as you like for a fixed £1 delivery and handling charge. Payments (by credit or debit card) are taken on our behalf by PayPal so you can be sure your card details are safe.
At the September Peterborough Lions business meeting, we were given an interesting and thought provoking presentation from Tom Hudson following his placement in Bohol in the Philippines. Tom was fortunate to be selected to take place in the 3 month International Citizen Service project, aimed at 18-25 year olds around the world, working in projects in 24 of the world’s poorest countries. Peterborough Lions were happy to support Tom in his efforts to raise the £800 sponsorship required to take part .
Tom’s placement was with the international development charity VSO, which works in 14 countries mostly in Asia and Africa. Working with BISU university in Bohol, Tom worked on environmental education projects, including work with seaweed farmers, high school students, and environmental sanitation campaign attended by 1500+ people.
In an unexpected twist to the meeting Tom also captured a large spider in the course of his Q&A, returning it to nature outside the meeting much to the relief of several arachnophobes in attendance! Never a dull moment!
Peterborough Lions’ famous (infamous?) 2013 quiz leaflet will shortly be upon us – are you ready?
The theme is a closely guarded secret – they won’t even tell me the colour of the paper its printed on this year! What I can tell you is that it will first be on sale at Sainsburys in Bretton on Friday 30th August (a full list of dates is below). I’m very tempted to run a sweepstake on how many people will say to us “is it that time again already?”
Don’t forget that as well as being a lot of fun, the Peterborough Lions Quiz is one of our most successful fundraising activities each year, so please give us your support!
The Peterborough Lions that you know and love is but a small cog in the Lions International machine. As a club we primarily work in our own community, but as an organisation the Lions do good work all around the world.
2013/14 Lions International President Barry Palmer is the first Australian to take the post. His background is like that of many Peterborough Lions – stumbling across a Lions fundraising project by accident, taking the time to find out more, and subsequently joining the club – just one of the ordinary people doing amazing things. This ordinary person is now the president of one of the greatest volunteer organisations in the world.
You can find out more on this video biography about how Barry Palmer became Lion Barry Palmer and now, many years on, Lions International President Barry Palmer. And then, maybe you can start your own story by contacting us about becoming a Lion.
OK, maybe that’s over stating it… For some time we’ve had a garage unit that allows us to store display boards etc but we’ve outgrown it and thanks to the generosity of a local supporter we’ve been able to move to a new unit.
On the face of it, this might not be particularly interesting to Peterborough Lions’ many supporters, but it’s easy to forget how much effort goes into the events that Peterborough Lions organises or attends, and the high value this places on our members (all of whom are unpaid volunteers) who are prepared to give up time at weekends for something as menial as shifting boxes and shelving from one place to another.
You might think that this is where the excitement ends – but you’d be wrong! Next week we get to sort through everything and organise things now that we have some space to move!
So next time you see one of us collecting money, selling quiz leaflets, or doing any of the many other things that Lions do in Peterborough and across the UK (and indeed all around the world) you may understand why sometimes we look quite tired…
The key to voluntary work is that you are a volunteer – you are offering your time freely because you support the cause. Unlike normal “work”, nobody can force you to do something you don’t want to do, because they’re not paying you to be there.
vol·un·teer
/ˌvälənˈti(ə)r/
Noun
A person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task.
So if you’re not getting paid, what do you get out of it?
The reason we join Lions is because we want to make a difference, we want others to have options in life that they’re not going to get unless someone steps up to the mark to make it happen.
But very often the reason we don’t then leave Lions when it gets tough, when the rain comes to drench a fete (and especially when the snow turns to sleet and the bitterly cold wind starts to bite when you’re collecting money with Santa at Christmas) is because working together as a team to achieve a shared goal isn’t just rewarding, but it can also be a lot of fun!
Of-course, quite frankly sometimes you get what you pay for. Given the simple task of documenting the steps required to set up a stall so that newer members find it easier, these are the photos that came back:
If you are looking for a new challenge in your life, helping others who already have challenges they can’t beat on their own, then why not get in touch?
Peterborough Lions would like to say a big Thank You to everyone who came to see us at Werrington Carnival on Saturday.
The weather was good to us and it was nice to see so many people.
Several people asked about the work we do, so if you’ve visited this website after talking to someone on Saturday hopefully you’ll find all the information you want, but don’t hesitate to contact us if you need anything more. There also seemed to be quite a lot of interest in Lions’ Share as well – don’t forget to check it out!
At the May business meeting of Peterborough Lions Club, we were pleased to welcome Caroline Ford from the BGL Group to give us an update on her trip to Guatemala with Plan UK, who are building pre-schools and “learn through play” centres to support the cognitive development of children both directly and through engagement of whole communities.
BGL Group are the team behind CompareTheMarket. Did you know that you can now compare insurance prices through them via Lions’ Share and raise money for charity at the same time? Click here for more details.
Relatively small sums of money make a huge difference in a country still recovering from a 36-year civil war, and where more than half the 15 million population is under the age of 18, and a similar proportion live in poverty.
Peterborough Lions are proud to have been able to support Caroline and BGL Group in this extremely worthwhile project.
On Saturday 13th April, Lion Syd Walker (a Lion for many years) together with Denis, Andy and Gavin (new Lions members of the newly formed Rixton with Glazebrook Lions Club) were interviewed for a Radio 4 article about volunteering. Nigel asked Syd “why he had started the new Lions Club” and the conversation focussed around “being active within their own community and having a visual presence”.
Rixton with Glazebrook Lions Club has 17 new members and 4 transferring from nearby Warrington Lions Club. Radio 4 interviewed Lions members, District Governor Meg Philip (and husband Michael), members of the public and Mike Clipston (District Marketing & PR Officer) on the work of the Lions and the Lions Message in a Bottle project.
The radio article is archived online on the BBC website and is well worth a listen.
For more information about the Message In A Bottle project or volunteering with your local Lions Club in Peterborough please get in touch!
