Wokingham Lions

Wokingham Lions Club has about 35 like-minded members, both male and female, dedicated to supporting the local community and having fun doing it!

We generally meet at 8pm on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month.

The first meeting each month is held at Wokingham Cricket Club and is a business meeting where we agree the ways in which we can support the community. 

The second meeting each month is generally a social evening. You can see some of the fun we’ve had in the past by clicking here.

The Wokingham Walk was a charity walk with three routes – 5, 10 and 15 miles.  All walks passed through some of the stunning local countryside and started and finished in Elms Field in Wokingham town centre. 

Over 500 walkers took part in one of the few events allowed during the pandemic.

Over £6,600 was raised, which was an amazing achievement considering the hardship caused by Covid.

£500 from the proceeds was donated to each of 9 charities:

• Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service
• Ollie Young Foundation
• Me2 Club
• Helen & Douglas House
• Sue Ryder
• CLASP
• Headway
• Sport in Mind
• Dawson Can Do It

For several years Wokingham Lions have supported Marie Curie by helping with their Daffodil Appeal collection.  However we were unable to help this year because covid lockdown rules prevented supermarket collections.  Instead we donated the proceeds of the March quiz, totalling £360.

Fiona Turner, Berkshire’s community fundraiser, Marie Curie, said: “On behalf of all at Marie Curie, I would like to thank the Wokingham Lions, and all who took part in the recent virtual pub quiz, for raising £360. This is a wonderful amount, and we are so grateful to you for supporting us at this event. The money raised will allow us to continue to support many more people locally who are suffering from a terminal illness, through our community nursing service. Although the service is free to parents and families, it costs us £20 per hour of nursing. Thank you again for your wonderful donation and support.”

Much has been affected by Coronavirus this year, including our annual Christmas Dinner!  National restrictions meant we weren’t able to meet as in other years so we did the best we could and held a Virtual Christmas Dinner.  Orders were place on a local caterer, Vintage Hog Roasting Co, who delivered prepared Christmas meals to each of our members.  We all then dressed in our festive outfits and joined together on Zoom.  We split into smaller breakout rooms, each with 3 or 4 members, for each course so by the end of the meeting we had eaten a delicious Christmas meal with different company for each course.

Covid regulations only allowed three couples to meet outside so we organised two countryside walks.  Those taking part enjoyed a few hours in fresh air and some well-needed exercise

The Great Wokingham Virtual Pub Quiz was a Lion’s roaring success!  For 14 weeks during the lock-down we ran a quiz every Thursday.  Everyone was welcome to join in, with the request that they make a small voluntary donation.  We typically had over 200 teams each week.  Many teams were made up of friends and relatives getting together on Zoom, so the quiz gave them the opportunity to have a vitual social gathering to relieve the boredom of lock-down.  The competition between teams was fierce, even though there were no prizes!

As well as providing a brain-testing exercise each week the object of the quiz was to raise money for the Wokingham Hub,  which brings together Wokingham Borough Council, Involve Community Services, Citizens Advice, Wokingham Volunteer Centre, The Link Visiting Scheme, First Days, Wokingham Foodbank, Age UK Berkshire, Local Churches and others.  Together they provided food and toiletries to residents suffering through the coronavirus crisis.

We raised an amazing total of £5,500 for the Wokingham Hub from the quiz.

Wokingham Lions Club is deeply indebted to one of our members, Ian Grange, for organising this event and acting as quizmaster.  He was assisted by various other members who dreamt up challenging questions.  We would also like to thank Wokingham Borough Council, Love Wokingham, the Wokingham Paper, Bracknell News and BBC Berkshire for their support in helping to publicise the event, and local band The FiLF for providing some of the music rounds.

Traditionally we have an annual charter celebration and handover luncheon to welcome a new president at the beginning of July. That was not possible this year due to the Coronavirus epidemic, so outgoing President Lyn Baily and new President Nigel Page met outdoors for the handover ceremony. The chain of office was presented on a two-metre tape measure!

Lyn said: “My biggest challenge was obviously leading our response to the Coronavirus epidemic. Decisions had to be made regarding the cancellation of our May Fayre in this special year, which was scheduled for 8 May, the same day as the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe. Although I was personally disappointed, it was necessary to unite members in our response, and to ensure that we managed the financial risk, whilst at the same time maintaining our goodwill. Fortunately, the May Fayre team made sure that this was managed superbly.”

“With the support of Ian Grange and his now legendary virtual quizzes, plus a £1000 grant from Lions District, we have now donated £5500 to the Wokingham Borough Community Hub. The Hub and their volunteers distribute much needed food and essential supplies to those in need in our community”

“We are a happy club, and one of the main reasons I became a Lion was to extend our friendship group. We have enjoyed a great deal of social outings with fellow Lions, as well as balls, treasure hunts and themed evenings. We have also enjoyed parties, dinners, BBQs and drinks with good friends we have made through the club”

Nigel said: “Taking over the reins from Lyn is not easy. Lyn has been an excellent president over the last twelve months. Her enthusiasm for projects like supporting local scouts and youth, charities like School Days, and more recently the Wokingham Hub, have been an inspiration. Thank you, Lyn, you have been great to work with.”

“We now find ourselves in a different world, full of change. Raising funds will be our most challenging task, and Ian’s brilliant Woky Pub Quiz has shown the way that we can find different ways to raise money.  The remaining months of 2020 are still unpredictable, but I know that we will adapt and succeed in our efforts. We have an amazingly experienced and dedicated team, and I for one, greatly value the friendship, humour and energy of my fellow Lions,”

We distributed giant easter eggs to numerous pubs and restaurants in Wokingham and the surrounding area.  Each venue would have held a raffle with the egg as the prize. All the proceeds would have gone to our charity account, which is used to support local good causes.

However, due to the coronavirus all pubs and restaurants were closed over the Easter period.  Some venues had already sold tickets, and gave us the takings.  We have asked each venue to use the egg however they choose, and several donated their eggs to the children’s ward at the Royal Berks Hospital

Every year we help Marie Curie with their daffodil collection.  Several members took shifts to cover two days at Morrisons supermarket and collected a total of £767.

Gerry Aggett was a very active member of Wokingham Lions Club whose achievements included initiating the May Fayre. When he died the Club created the Gerry Aggett Award in his memory. It is given each year to an individual who we consider has contributed significantly to the local community, and a donation of £1,000 is given to a local charity of their choice.

This year the Club unanimously chose Lyndsay Browne as the recipient.  Lyndsay created the charity School Days, which collects used school uniforms and equipment, renovates them then distributes them to families in need.  They also buy new uniforms when necessary.  Wokingham Lions have supported School Days since its inception in 2018.  Our president, Lyn Baily, has established a particularly strong association with Lyndsay, who the Club decided was a very worthy winner of the award.  Lyndsay chose to give the donation to School Days and Homestart.

In accepting the award Lyndsay noted that School Days have so far helped over 530 children.  One recent initiative that was helped by various Lions members was refurbishing over 50 pairs of football boots that were kindly donated to them.

President Lyn Baily handed a cheque for £1,500 to Jake Morrison from Wokingham Citizen’s Advice.

We had great fun at Hurst Village Hall, where we had a night with the theme Hoedown at the OK Corral.  Everyone got into the spirit and dressed accordingly. See the video here.

We had a meal prepared by some of the Lions ladies, then we were entertained by local band The Shelf Side.  In between we made attempts at line dancing. 

As well as giving us all a good night out, the event raised about £2,400 for our Charity Account

Wokingham Lions have sponsored a new plastic wrap around a BT OpenReach cabinet outside the town hall. This greatly improves the appearance of an otherwise unsightly piece of streetside furniture whilst at the same time publicising the club.

Wokingham Town Mayor, Cllr Lynn Forbes is grateful to the Wokingham Lions Club for sponsoring the wrap and Wokingham Borough Council for their support.

“The wrapped cabinet really brightens up this spot on Market Place” she said.

“I would like to encourage other charities to approach the Town Council’s Arts and Culture officer if they are interested in seeing their logo displayed on a street cabinet in the town centre.”

Our annual Christmas Dinner is always a very popular event for our members, and this year was no exception.  As in previous years it was held at Bearwood Lakes Golf Club which is an ideal venue

This year’s Can-Can took place at Waitrose and Tesco supermarkets, where we collected food donations from customers which we then packaged into parcels that we distributed to the elderly living at home and in state run care homes, single parents with young families, day centres for the elderly, Wokingham Hospital, social services, CAB clients and the Salvation Army. We also donated some to the Wokingham Food Bank.

Following the amazing success of the last #Woky Comedy Night we decided to run another one!

As before it was held at WADE, which proved to be a perfect venue for events like this.

There were brilliant acts by Dan Evans, Andy Stedman and David Tsonos, introduced by the MC Jonathan Elston

All profits were split between the Wade Day Care Centre & Wokingham Lions Charity Account.

Bring-a-Dish is a popular event, where each member brings a contribution to a four-course meal.  There is thus plenty of choice, and invariably there is more food than can be eaten!  We held it a WADE (Wokingham and District Association for the Elderly), which is a local charity that we regularly support.  They have a large dining room and a well-equippped kitchen, so it is an ideal venue.

Wokingham Winter Carnival was a great family event and attracted thousands of local residents.  There was a funfair in Broad Street and numerous stalls supporting local charities and crafts as well as commercial businesses and food vendors.  Wokingham Lions participated by selling mulled wine, hot chocolate and mince pies.  Andy Goffin played his regular role of Leo the Lion, much to the amusement of the many children who attended, as well as some of the adults!

John Cleary was instrumental in organising the first #Woky Comedy Night, and at our business meeting we handed over the proceeds. President Lyn Baily presented a cheque for £1000 to Jackie Wilson from WADE, who explained that they provide a day centre for the elderly, but they were finding more and more of the people they help now suffer from dementia.  She then presented a cheque for £500 to Sarah Simpson and Barbara Young from the Ollie Young Foundation.

Fireworks was planned for Saturday 2 November.  However, the weather forecast for that day was for heavy rain and strong wind, but improving by evening.  It was expected to improve as the day progressed, but the display team decided for safety reasons to postpone the event until the next day.

The event therefore took place on Sunday, an hour earlier to allow for children going to school the next day.  Attendance was somewhat lower, but there was a brilliant display enjoyed by several thousand people.  The evening started with a torchlight procession from the town centre, led by a Scottish piper.  As always, the sight of 500 flaming torches in Broad Street was memorable.

This event is organised by a consortium of local service clubs:  Wokingham Lions Club, Wokingham Rotary Club, Easthampstead Rotary Club, Windsor Forest Unicorn Club and Thames West Unicorn Club.  They each nominate a charity, so the funds raised will be shared between:

• Sue Ryder Wokingham Day Hospice
• Citizen’s Advice, Wokingham
• Alexander Divine Children’s Hospice
• Topic of Cancer
• Life Education Wessex and Thames Valley

Our annual quiz night was a roaring success, with 12 tables of 8 competing for the coveted prize.

The Quizmaster, Ian Grange, stretched everyone’s minds with a variety of simple and complex questions.  A delicious chilli supper was prvided by Candy Kirkland, Jean Ibbottson and Lyn Baily.  The venue, Wokingham Cricket Club, was ideal, and their bar kept us all lubricated.

It is part of the tradition of Wokingham Lions Club that the Town Mayor is invited to become an Honorary Member during their period in office.  We therefore invited the new Town Mayor, Lynn Forbes, to join us at our business meeting, where she was inducted into the club by president Lyn Baily.

Paul and Lyn Baily hosted a lovely night out for about 24 of us in their garden.  We enjoyed a sumptious meal expertly barbecued by Paul and great sides and desserts prepared by Lyn (with the help of other ladies)

The Charter Lunch is our traditional annual event to mark the start of a new financial year, to celebrate the achievements of the previous year and to welcome the new president.  This year’s lunch was held in the glorious surroundings of Wokingham Town Hall.  After a nice meal the outgoing president, Debbie Slay, welcomed the new president, Lyn Baily:

This play ran for six days at Wokingham Theatre, but thanks to their generosity all proceeds from the final dress rehearsal were donated to our charity account.  We raised a total of £768.

13 Lions and partners visited our twin German club, Offenbach in der Südpfalz. They planned a great program; including a tour of Heidelberg and boat trip with a meal in a village restaurant, a visit to a castle (Tim Hanton suggested that our Lions President Debbie should be put in the stocks) and lunch over the border in France followed by a meal at one of their members restaurant with views over the valley. Most of all it was the hospitality they extended and the friendship and laughter shared that made it so special.

A number of members and their partners and friends had an enjoyable 3 mile walk, ending at the Queen’s Oak pub where we had a leisurely Sunday lunch

Numerous pubs and restaurants in Wokingham and the surrounding area each raffled a giant Easter Egg. All the proceeds went to our charity account, which is used to support local good causes

£500 Donation to MacMillan Cancer Support

£500 Donation to Berkshire MS Therapy Centre

£500 Donation to Headway Thames Valley

£500 Donation to WADE

£500 Donation to Younger People with Dementia

May Fayre 2019 Beneficiary - Home-Start

May Fayre 2019 Beneficiary - Me2 Club

£2000 Donation from Wokingham Fireworks to School Days

£1000 Gerry Aggett Award to Chris Pape

Every year Wokingham Lions Club help Marie Curie with their annual Great Daffodil Appeal.  This year was no exception, and over the two days we participated we collected over £1,000

Our Christmas Dinner at Bearwood Golf Club was a fun evening with over 40 of our members, partners and friends. After a festive Christmas meal we enjoyed communal carol singing, followed by a very amusing rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas customised by Lyn Baily to summarise Lions Club events.

We ran our annual Can-Can appeal in December, where we collected food donations outside Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco supermarkets.  We collated the donations into more than 200 food parcels that we donated to numerous needy indiviuals and organisations in the locality.  This event is always well supported, and the recipients are extremely grateful for the bit of Christmas Cheers that we bring them.

To help support victims of domestic abuse, the Wokingham Lions Club donated £1,000 to Berkshire Women’s Aid (BWA).

Liz Terry, Chief Executive, Berkshire Women’s Aid, said: “Thank you for your generosity. This money is really timely and very welcome. BWA are soon to take possession of a new building, and this donation will be used to provide furniture. We offer a safe haven for victims of domestic abuse and violence.”

Debbie Slay, president, Wokingham Lions Club, said: “We are pleased to support this important organisation, which was founded 40 years ago. We raised £480 at our Tea Tent at the Rock Choir Festival (Cantley Field) on the August Bank Holiday Monday. Our club matched the amount raised from our charity funds, and rounded it up to £1,000 for Berkshire Women’s Aid.”

Berkshire Women’s Aid works throughout Bracknell, Reading and Wokingham. For more information, please visit the website, www.berkshirewomensaid.org.uk. The Helpline phone number is 0118 950 4003.

Profits from this year’s May Fayre event were donated to two local charities by the Wokingham Lions Club at the 8^th August business meeting. The beneficiaries are Thames Valley Air Ambulance and Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service.

Debbie Slay, president, Wokingham Lions Club, said: “We are once again pleased to be able to support two worthy charities, with a cheque for £3,000 to each organisation. We hope that this money will enable them to carry on their important work. In addition, we are pleased to welcome Wokingham Town Mayor Cllr Julian McGhee-Sumner as an honorary member of the club.”

Claire Redrup, Community Fundraising Manager, Thames Valley Air Ambulance, said: “We rely on the generosity of the communities we serve. We are not government funded and receive no National Lottery funding. Donations from the community are what keep our vital service operational. The generous funds from supporters such as the Wokingham Lions Club help us to deliver advanced care to people when the worst happens. We are now operational 19 hours a day, 365 days a year, attending more emergencies than ever.”

Claire Coldicott, Director of Fundraising and Communications at Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service said: “We are delighted to receive a donation of £3,000 from the Wokingham Lions Club. This money will go towards running our day care services that opened in June this year, in our new state of the art hospice building just outside Maidenhead, to support families who have a child with a life threatening or life limiting condition. Children will be able to enjoy play sessions in our fully-equipped sensory room, as well as making a mess in the creative learning zone and music in our dedicated all-age music space. We can’t thank Wokingham Lions enough for their support at such an exciting time in our development.”

The Wokingham Lions Club works in partnership with the Wokingham Town Council to organise the annual May Fayre. The May Fayre’s profits are made up from proceeds from the May Fayre (stall sales), sponsorship and public donations on the day.