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.
We also run two community services – Message in a Bottle and Spectrek spectacle and hearing aid recycling
We organise many fund-raising events, some of which can be seen here
The money we raise is used to support local charities and individuals in need, some of which can be seen here.
We also run ongoing projects to support those in need, as described here.
We are part of Lions Club International, which is the largest charitable service organisation in the world. It was formed in 1917 to offer people the opportunity to give something back to their communities. Today it has more than 1.4 million members belonging to 46,000 clubs in over 200 countries.
We are a very friendly club, with members from Wokingham and the surrounding area. We work hard to support the local community and raise funds for local charities, and have fun doing it!
New members are always welcome, so if you would like to be part of it, please contact us
Forthcoming Events:
Sunday 24 October 2021: Wokingham Walk
Following the success of the walk we organised in March we have decided to hold an autumn walk. The format will be the same as before, offering the choice of 5, 10 or 15 miles.
All walks start and finish in Elms Field.
Entry costs £15 per adult, £5 for children aged 12 – 17. There is no charge for under 12’s.with all proceeds being donated to charity. We hope that entrants will also run their own fund-raising by seeking sponsorship to support charities of their choice.
For more details, and to pre-register, click here
Recent Events:
July 2021: Special Needs Buggy
A young resident, Caroline Hepwood, has an extremely rare genetic condition called Nicolaides Baraitser Syndrome. She has severe learning difficulties and limited speech. Her mother, Claire Hepwood, approached Wokingham Lions for a donation towards the cost of a special needs buggy for Caroline. When we looking into the request we decided that we would cover the cost in full.
Claire told us “The buggy will make such a difference, and allow me confidently to go out into the community on my own with her. Since lockdown, Caroline’s behavior has been unpredictable, and I didn’t feel safe taking her out.”
Friday 25 June 2021: Charter Night
Charter Night is our annual celebration of the anniversary of the formation of our club. We remember the achievements we made in the previous year, and the fun we had! The president hands over to the next year’s president, and all those members who have made a difference in the previous year are acknowledged.
This year’s Charter Night was held at the Walter Arms, but it was a little subdued, and delayed, due to Coronavirus restrictions
Monday 31 May 2021: Wokingham Spring Charity Market
The pandemic meant we had to cancel this year’s May Fayre, but to give local charities the opportunity to raise much-needed funds we are instead organised a Spring Charity Market on the second May bank holiday.
With temperatures climbing to an all-time high for the year, those who were not at the beach stopped by to explore 10 stalls set up by local charities
Ian Grange, organiser of the event, said, “We were very pleased to have 10 charities participating in our first Spring Charity Market. This was a great opportunity for local charities to raise some much-needed funds for their good causes. We appreciate the support from the Wokingham Town Council..”
Among the participating charities were Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service, The Cowshed, Home-Start Wokingham District, Ollie Young Foundation, Oxfam Reading Area Group, WADE Day Centre and the Rotary Club of Wokingham.
Sunday 23 May 2021: Wokingham Walk
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
The Great #Woky Quiz
We ran a hugely successful series of weekly online quizzes during the first lockdown in the summer of 2020.
They generated over £5000 for charity and provided a welcome break from the boredom of staying at home.
We give a massive thank you to Ian Grange for all the work he put in to organising and running the quizzes.
However, we stopped the quizzes when the first lockdown ended because we did’t want to compete with local pubs and businesses that might try to recoup some of their losses by running their own quizzes.
We re-instigated them during the second lockdown, running one each month from October 2020 until April 2021.
Proceeds from five of the monthly quizzes were donated to charities conforming with the five Lions Global Causes:
- Sept – Childhood Cancer: Ollie Young Foundation
- Oct – Vision: Berkshire Vision
- Nov – Diabetes: Diabetes UK Reading Local Group
- Jan – Environment: Thrive
- Feb – Hunger: Share Wokingham
Claire Revie, founder of SHARE Wokingham, said: “Our little project is about to turn a year old. What we thought would be a few weeks has turned into 52, and sadly, the need is not decreasing. We gather end-of-day and surplus stock from local food suppliers and supermarkets, and share that within the community at no cost. We are grateful for all of the support from the Wokingham Lions Club, and every penny received will go toward furthering the project and helping those in need.”
Now that hospitality is opening up we don’t want to compete with local pubs and businesses that might try to recoup some of their losses by running their own quizzes, so we won’t be organising any more for the foreseeable future
Saturday 11 April 2021: Donation to Marie Curie
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.”
Monday 22 March 2021: Zoom meeting with German Twin Club
Wokingham Lions have been twinned with Offenbach Lions Club in Germany for many years. In ‘normal’ times we meet with them every two years with alternate meeting being hosted by them and by us. A meeting was scheduled in Wokingham for 2020 but due to coronavirus they weren’t allowed to travel so the meeting had to be postponed. We also decided to cancel the 2021 meeting due to the uncertainty over the lockdown regulations. We therefore arranged a joint Zoom meeting, which was attended by about 18 members from each club. It was interesting to learn the similarities and differences between the effect of the pandemic in the UK and in Germany.
January 2021: Marshalling the Covid Vaccination
We offered to help by marshalling the car park for the first day of covid vaccinations at the Bradbury Centre. Our assistance was appreciated by the elderly residents who attended, and we received donations of £119
Sunday 6 December 2020: Wokingham Christmas Market
Wokingham has held a Winter Carnival every year, with many stalls, a funfair and a carnival procession. Lockdown prevented it this year, so it was decided to instead run a much smaller event, the Christmas Market. All stallholders were local charities. We ran a stall selling cakes and hot drinks which raised £226 for our charity account.
Saturday 5 December 2020: Virtual Christmas Dinner
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.
Thursday 26 November 2020: Another minor Quiz disaster!
Everything went well with this quiz until the generous participants tried to make donations. This time the problem laid with PayPal, which was only operating intermittently. After some rapid modifications to our website we were able to restore it. We would ask anyone who experienced this problem to try again by clicking here so we can give as much support as possible to LinkVisiting
Thursday 19 November 2020: Quiz disaster!
Our monthly quiz failed to materialise due to a catastophic network failure that caused the system to grind to a halt. We unfortunately had to abandon it, and apologise to all those eager participants who were waiting for another entertaining event. Fortunately the network resumed normal operation some time later. We blame BT!
Wednesday 18 November 2020: Zoom Bingo
We entertained ourselves with a few games of bingo. We charged each entrant £5.00 and gave half the proceeds as pize money and put the balance in our charity account.
Monday 26 October 2020: Quiz proceeds donated to the Ollie Young Foundation
Proceeds from the Wokingham Lions Club virtual pub quiz in September have been donated to the Ollie Young Foundation (OYF), a local charity which funds targeted paediatric brain tumour research and support. Nigel Page, president of the Lions club, presented a cheque for £320 to Sarah Simpson, founder of OYF.
Sarah said: “We are extremely grateful to the Wokingham Lions Club for their support through this extraordinary time. Their efforts and selflessness are what gives charities like ours the little boost we need. Thank you to all those who took part in the virtual quiz. Thank you to Ian for hosting yet another great evening, and to all those who donated to our charity too. We very much appreciate it.”
Saturday/Sunday 24/25 October 2020: Walk in the Countryside
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
October 2020: Marshalling the Flu Vaccination
The Wokingham Medical Centre asked for our help marshalling the vaccinations by ensuring attendees maintained social distancing and arrived in the right sequence. We took the opportunity to have a collection bucket and raised £330 over three days
Sunday 6 September 2020: The Wokingham Walk
The 5th annual Wokingham Walk was a great success, with about 250 participants walking one of three routes of 5 miles, 10 miles or 15 mies.
The event raised £2,715, which was all donated to Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service, which provides essential support to children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, and their families, across Berkshire.
In addition, a number of walkers raised their own sponsorships for different charities. Two walkers set up team sponsorship pages for Alexander Devine and raised an additional £961, bringing the total to £3,676. The teams were the Moving Mamas (£385) and the Lloyd Family (£576)
Alexander Devine’s CEO and Co-founder, Fiona Devine, said: “Our deepest thanks to the Wokingham Lions Club for all their hard work in organising such a wonderful and fun event. It is no mean feat to organise an event like this in such challenging times, and we really appreciate all the effort that went into making sure the event went ahead, and the amazing amount of money it raised for our charity. What a real difference this money will make to the seriously-ill children and their families that we support. Indeed, it could help fund over 100 hours of much-needed respite for our families.”
Wednesday 26 August 2020: Zoom Drinks Evening
We asked members to offer a short presentation of their favourite drink. Oferrings varied from a cup of tea to a complicated cocktail. It gave us the opportunity to spend a convivial evening together.
Wednesday 29 July 2020: Virtual Treasure Hunt
Some of our members took part in a Covid-friendly treasure hunt. They could follow the clues either by car or from home using Google Street View.
Tuesday 28 July 2020: Town Mayor Tony Lack inducted as an honorary member
Town Mayor Tony Lack was inducted as an honorary member of the Wokingham Lions Club outside the Town Hall, observing social distancing. President Nigel Page and Membership Director John Cleary welcomed him to the club.
“We are delighted to welcome Cllr Town Mayor Tony Lack as an honorary member of the Wokingham Lions Club. We have always been closely associated with supporting local charities and the local community. We greatly value working with both the Wokingham Town Council and the Wokingham Borough Council,” said Mr. Page.
The underlying principle of the Lions Club is to serve the community, and as a worldwide organization it has been doing this for more than 100 years,” Mr. Cleary said.
Mayor Tony Lack said: “It was such a privilege to be inducted into the Wokingham Lions by their President, Nigel Page, and Membership Director, John Cleary, today. Wokingham Town, not just the Council, really appreciates the work that the Lions do year in, year out, to support local charities, by running some of the best events around.”
He added: “It is very sad that we were not able to enjoy the May Fayre, and we know that many other events will be at risk, but the success of the Great Woky Pub Quiz just showed what the Lions can do when they need to. I look forward to keeping up with the Lions and supporting them in their future events, whatever those might look like.”
March – July 2020: The Great Wokingham Virtual Pub Quiz
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.
25 June 2020: New president
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,”
Easter 2020: Wokingham Lions Giant Easter Egg Raffle
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
Friday/Saturday 13/14 March 2020: Marie Curie Daffodil Collection
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.
Wednesday 11 March 2020: Gerry Aggett Award to Lindsay Browne
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.
Wednesday 11 March 2020: Cheque Presentation to Citizen’s Advice
President Lyn Baily handed a cheque for £1,500 to Jake Morrison from Wokingham Citizen’s Advice.
29 February 2020: Hoedown at the OK Corral
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
17 February 2020: Street Cabinet Wrap
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.”
18 December 2019: Christmas Dinner
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
14 December 2019: Can-Can Appeal
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.
Friday 13 December 2019: The second #Woky Comedy Night
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.
Sunday, 30 November 2019: Bring-a-Dish evening
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.
Sunday, 24 November 2019: Wokingham Winter Carnival
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!
Wednesday 13 November 2019: Cheque Presentations to WADE and the Ollie Young Foundation
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.
Sunday 3 November 2019: Wokingham Charity Firework Spectacular
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:
Friday 11 October 2019: Quiz Night
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.
Wednesday 11 September 2019: Donation to Sue Ryder
President Lyn Baily handed a cheque for £5,000 to Abi Hurst, community fundraiser for the Sue Ryder Wokingham Day Hospice. The funds will be used to purchase two new specialist chairs and a new IV drip to help patients with limited mobility.
In accepting the cheque Abi said “We at Sue Ryder Wokingham Day Hospice are so grateful to the Wokingham Lions Club for their generous donation. It was lovely to have them come over to the hospice, and for them to see first-hand how their donation will be used. It also helps with understanding about our services in the hospice and the local community. We rely heavily on support from groups such as the Lions, and their support and amazing donation are so very much appreciated!“
Lyn responded: “Lion Patrick Allen and I visited the Sue Ryder Hospice, and it was good to see the facility and meet the wonderful staff. We are very pleased to make this donation to such a worthy cause.”
Founder Lady Sue Ryder was a humanitarian dedicated to the relief of suffering. The Wokingham Day Hospice provides expert palliative care and services for people who are living with life-limiting conditions, as well as supporting their families. Services are offered in the hospice or at home. Other health professionals include occupational therapists, physiotherapists and dieticians.
Friday 6 September 2019: #Woky Comedy Night
We organised a brilliant night of comedy at WADE Day Centre, which raised £1,200 for two much-loved Wokingham charities, The Ollie Young Foundation and The WADE Day Centre.
The comedians included:
Eddy Brimson – One of the UK’s most in-demand headline acts, Eddy has performed around the world, from Norway to China. He has entertained audiences at Comedy Festivals in the French Alps, New Zealand, Melbourne and Perth, and is a regular at the Edinburgh Festival.
Naomi Cooper – Naomi has performed across the UK, from Plymouth to Edinburgh and Belfast. She has also had gigs in the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Ireland and America. Reviews have described her as “a comedy badass” and “one to keep an eye out for.” She is a regular blogger for the Huffington Post
Steve N Allen – Steve stars as a regular member of the news-desk team in “The Mash Report,” BBC2’s BAFTA-nominated topical/satirical comedy show, which launched in 2017. He has also been a panellist for “The Wright Stuff” and “Jeremy Vine” on Channel 5. A self-confessed news addict, he keeps his finger on the pulse of current affairs. He uses biting satire, gleeful mudslinging and skilled accents to entertain the audience.
Tom Webb (Compere) – Tom has also performed all over the world, and has been described as “ingenious and fresh,” as well as “cheeky and inventive.”
The organiser, John Cleary, said“The Wokingham Lions have been long-term supporters of The Ollie Young Foundation and the WADE Day Centre, so we were very pleased to have a full house. The audience loved the jokes, and we are looking forward to another successful evening of comedy on the 13th December”
Wednesday 28 August 2019: Aunt Sally
About 20 of us spent an enjoyable evening at the Queens Head playing Aunt Sally. The game is played by throwing timber batons at a wooden skittle (known as a doll or dolly) on top of a post. It dates back to the 17th century, but is still played in a small number of pubs in the Thames Valley.
After the game we had a fish and chip supper
Wednesday 14 August 2019: Induction of Town Mayor
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.
Friday 19 July 2019: President’s barbecue
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)
Sunday 30 June 2019: Charter Lunch
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:
Wednesday 12 June 2019: Charity performance of Bronte at Wokingham Theatre
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.
Monday 10 July 2019: Donations from the May Fayre
Profits from this year’s May Fayre event were donated to two local charities, Me2 Club and Home-Start Wokingham.
Vice President Lyn Baily said: “We are very pleased to be able to support Me2 Club and Home-Start, with a cheque for £3,000 to each organisation. This money will help vulnerable families with children in the Wokingham area, and enable them to continue their valuable work.”
Tess Eagles, manager, Me2 Club, said: “The Me2 Club team is very grateful for this amazing support from the Wokingham Lions Club. The fantastic donation of £3,000 will enable six more local children with additional needs to join in with a weekly, mainstream leisure activity. With the support of their volunteer ‘buddy’ the children will grow in confidence and self-esteem, whilst having lots of fun! Families will also receive approximately 285 hours of valuable respite. We would not be able to survive without donations such as this, and we would like to say thank you for choosing us as a beneficiary of the Wokingham May Fayre.”
Emma Roberts, scheme manager, Home-Start Wokingham District, said: “With the support provided by the Wokingham Lions, from the proceeds of the May Fayre, we can continue to provide our support to vulnerable families across the Wokingham Borough. This vital donation will enable us to train more volunteers, and in turn these volunteers will regularly support families with young children, helping to reducing isolation, providing encouragement and advice and a listening ear. Without this support from the May Fayre, our waiting list of families needing support would get even longer. A huge thank you to the Wokingham Lions, and by extension all those who supported the May Fayre, for your help to us in our work.”
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. Organised by Lions Andy Slay, Ian Grange and other Lions members, this year’s annual May Fayre event took place on 6th May 2019.
June 2019: German Exchange
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.
Wednesday 8 May 2019: Cheque Presentations to Involve Community Services and Daisy’s Dream
Philip Cook from Involve and Ellen Ludlow from Daisy’s Dream were unable to attend the recent Presentation Evening so were invited to our next business meeting.
President Debbie Slay explained to them that we invited all our members to nominate charities to be supported from the proceeds of the May Fayre, from which we chose two. We decided to donate £500 to each of the runners up, which included Involve and Daisy’s Dream. Debbie and Andy Slay (who managed the May Fayre) therefore presented cheques to them.
Philip and Ellen each gave a short presentation describing their respective organisations.
Monday 6 May 2019: May Fayre
May Fayre 2019 was a fabulous day out for all the family. Several thousand people came to enjoy the activities, which included a mini zoo, a kiddies funfair and over 100 stalls. Entertainment was provided throughout the day by Circus Scene, and included comedians Slap & Tickle, many local dancers and singers, and the fabulous Wokingham Rock Choir. There was dancing around the May Pole, Punch and Judy, a fire engine and Morris dancers. Many of the stalls were provided by local charities to earn them much-needed funds, but others were arts and crafts and local businesses. There were numerous food vendors offering a wide variety of menus.
The weather was perfect, if a little cold, making it a most enjoyable day out.
Wokingham Lions Club organise the event as a public service and to raise funds for their charity account, which supports many local charities. The main beneficiaries of this year’s event are the Me2 Club and Home-Start
Sunday 28 April 2019: Social Walk
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
Easter 2019: Wokingham Lions Giant Easter Egg Raffle
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
Wednesday 3 April 2019: Buffet & Wine Presentation Evening
We invited representatives from the charities we chose to support from some of our fund-raising events to this special event in Wokingham Town Hall. Our president Debbie Slay, assisted by various members of our Fund-Raising Committee, handed over cheques totalling £6,500. Donations and assistants were as follows:
Winter Carnival Festive Dash (Bob Westerman):
- £500 to Macmillan Cancer Support (represented by Mark Clements)
May Fayre 2019 Nominees (Ian Grange):
We asked all our members to propose charities they would like to be supported from the proceeds of this year’s May Fayre, and chose two ‘winners’ from the suggestions. We then decided that all nominees should receive £500 each from our charity account, and presented cheques to the following:
- £500 to Daisy’s Dream
- £500 to Berkshire Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre (represented by Yvonne Alder)
- £500 to Headway Thames Valley (represented by Zoe Lane)
- £500 to Involve Community Services
- £500 to WADE (represented by Jackie Wilson) £500 to Younger People with Dementia (represented by Mark Hainy)
May Fayre 2019 Beneficiaries (Ian Grange):
The ‘winners’ of our internal vote will each receive half of the proceeds of the forthcoming May Fayre:
- Home-Start (represented by Tony Martin)
- Me2 Club (represented by Liz McDaniel)
Wokingham Fireworks 2018 (Lyn Baily):
We are one of the consortium of five service clubs that run the fireworks, so we share the proceeds, which we donate to a nominated charity:
- £2000 to School Days Wokingham (represented by Lindsey Browne)
Gerry Aggett Award (Patrick Allen)
One of our members, Gerry Aggett, started the annual May Fayre. He unfortunately died several years ago, and we decided to create an award in his name to be given to a local individual who makes an exceptional contribution to local good causes, which the recipient will in turn pass to a charity of their choice. This year we nominated Chris Pape, who has worked for many years to support individuals in need:
- £1000 to Yeldall Manor (via Chris Pape)
£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
Wednesday 27 March 2019: Skittles Evening
We had a fun night at the Frog and Wicket, playing bar skittles
1/2 March 2019: Marie Curie Collection
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
Saturday 9 February 2019: Gangsters & Molls Night
This was a great night out, themed on the 1930’s. Everyone got into the spirit and dressed in the appropriate style. Big thanks to everyone involved in organising it, especially Lyn, Jean and Candy who prepared over 100 meals!
As well as being a fun event, it raised over £2,300 for our charity account
Wednesday 20 December 2018: Christmas Dinner
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.
1 – 7 December 2018: Can-Can Appeal
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.
October 2018: Berkshire Women’s Aid
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.
August 2018: May Fayre Donations
Profits from this year’s May Fayre event were donated to two local charities by the Wokingham Lions Club at the 8th 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.
Registered Charity No. 1180632 Founded April 1974