Past Social Events

Our year runs from 1 July to 30 June, so at our business meeting of 10 July we formally handed over the presidency from Lyn Baily to Andy Goffin.

Lyn noted that the club raised a record £67,000 during her year as President. She thanked the Lions members who have worked hard to achieve this impressive amount of money raised for good causes and individuals in need.

She said: “I have enjoyed my second term as President of the Wokingham Lions Club. We welcomed three new members, and celebrated our 50^th Golden Anniversary in style! I know that our club will continue to thrive under the leadership of our new President, Andy Goffin.”

Andy thanked Lyn for her outstanding year as President, and presented her with a prestigious Melvin Jones Fellowship Award. (Melvin Jones was the founder of Lions Clubs International in 1917.) Andy said that the club has grown from 32 members when he was President three years ago, to the current 38 members. He hopes to have more members next year, so that the club can continue to expand its activities and achieve even more.

Andy said: “My aim during my year as President is to assist Wokingham Lions Club to grow and develop in helping the local community. We are fortunate to have members who are actively involved in our club’s events. Our new members have made a tremendous contribution, and we look forward to welcoming more members in the future. We can always use new ideas, experience and expertise.”

Eighteen members and guests enjoyed the hottest day of the year (s0 far) by meeting in the evening for a get-together at the Leathern Bottel.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the formation of Wokingham Lions Club we had an evening out on a pleasure boat on the Thames. The boat left Windsor at 7:30pm and sailed upstream for 2 hours before turning back. During the journey they served a lovely barbecue meal, then entertained us with a old-time disco.

40 of our members and guests attended, including Sandra Manktelow, who is the Vice District Governor of Lions district 105SC, which covers the south of England. Sandra gave a short speech congratulating the club on reaching their 50th milestone and noting that we have gained 14 new members over the past 5 years, making us the second largest club in the district. She then presented our president, Lyn Baily, with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Eleven members and guests took a pleasant 3 mile walk through the countryside followed by Sunday roast dinner at the Queens Oak pub. The weather was good to us, but the heavy persistent rain of the previous weeks left some of the ground very wet and muddy! However this didn’t dampen spirits so it proved a very convivial and friendly day out.

Sixteen members and guests had a night out at the Mill at Sonning. After an enjoyable meal they watched The Death Trap.

It was a wonderful evening, once we made it across the bridge and actually reached Sonning Mill due to the road being closed! Food was a great buffet, of course lovely company and the play drew us all in and scared the living daylights out of some of us once or twice. .

About 45 members and partners enjoyed a festive night at our annual Christmas dinner at Bearwood Lakes Golf Club. As well as a fabulous meal we entertained ourselves with games and Christmas carols.

Our thanks to Paul Baily and president Lyn Baily for organising the event

At our October business meeting we welcomed another new member to the club – Alwyn Jones. He was introduced by Jonathan Blane and inducted by our membership officer, Bob DuGard, then president Lyn Baily welcomed him as a new member.

In November we welcomed two more new members, Ronnie Conroy and Karl Boddy. They were introduced by Debbie Banbury and inducted by Sarah Newstead, assisted by Bob DuGard

Members Paul and Lyn Baily invited everyone to a sausage sizzle in their lovely garden. The weather was dry but a little cold, but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment

Charter is our annual celebration of the anniversary of the formation of our club in 1974. We meet, with our partners and friends, to remember our achievements over the previous year and set our goals for the next year. We also inaugurate the president for the next year and thank all those who made significant contributions to the previous year.

This year we held the event at the Walter Arms, with 37 members, partners and guests enjoying a great 3-course meal.

The outgoing president, Claire Mangers-Page, thanked all the members for their great work then summarised the achievements of the previous year, saying “We raised a record £53,000 from 12 fundraising events including the May Fayre, Winter Carnival, Classic Car Show, Comedy Nights, Wokingham Walks, Quiz Evenings, and our contribution towards the Firework Spectacular at Cantley Field. This is due to our strong team of dedicated members, including six new active and enthusiastic members this year, and the generous residents in our community. We donate all the funds raised to mainly local charities and individuals in need. We are so fortunate to live in a town with a great spirit of giving and kindness towards others.”

Claire then gave prestigious Melvin Jones Fellowship awards to Ian Grange and Debbie Slay in recognition of the outstanding contributions they had made to the club. She then inducted the new Wokingham Town Mayor, Sally Gurney, as an honorary member of the club before passing the chain of office to her successor, Lyn Baily.

Twenty-nine members, partners and friends spent a very enjoyable evening at the Jolly Farmer. The pub offered us a great selection of Thai food on their large outdoor patio. The service was excellent, albeit a little confused as several people forgot what they had ordered so the meals got a bit mixed up! However everyone was very satified with the quality and quantity of food.

Lion Nigel Page introduced 4 presenters to outline the work done by their respective charities. 14 of our members attended to hear the following presentations:

Kaleidoscopic UK presented by Vickie Robertson and Nicole Taffani:

This charity’s main aim is to support and help victims of domestic abuse, in all it’s forms from coercive control to actual physical abuse . Victims may be female , male or  children.
They hold regular coffee mornings for victims to attend, and listen to their stories. Their motto is Educate to Eradicate.
They go to schools and give teachers three hour seminars on how to identify abuse victims.
They have made Awareness videos and these are used by Thames Valley Police. They also train Social Service staff. 
They have made Awareness videos and these are used by Thames Valley Police. They also train Social Service staff.
They provide Christmas hampers ( this year to 74 families), and fund family freedom holidays with camping and other equipment.

Camp Mohawk presentation by Samantha Rosier

Established in 1980 this charity is based in Wargrave and they have five acres of ground. They provide soft play, art, games, picnic adventures, and a heated swimming pool.
They cater for children with cognitive and physical issues including Autism, Downs Syndrom and brain injuries.
Some 1,000 children visit the facilty each year.
Their needs:
Financial help to construct a changing room near the pool
A retractable cover for the pool to allow more use in cooler weather conditions
A hoist
Refurbishment of a sensory room.
Estimated cost of all these projects is £350,000

Berkshire Vision presentation by Sara Gibbons and Carol Barnfather

They support over 1,000 people with sight loss. Four children every day are diagnosed with sight loss.
Their role is to develop confidence and self esteem using five Sight Loss Support Officers.
They have a telephone support befriending service which helps over 300people.
They run family programmes with day excursions, boat trips, go karting, swimming, adventure parks and football with Reading Football Academy.

Sebastians Action Trust presentation by Megan Lowden

Founded in 2004 with office in Crowthorne and facilities in Basingstoke.
They support families with children near end of life and those whose children have passed away.
The Bluebells facility in Basingstoke cost £8.7 million and took eight years to complete. They have two apartments for families together with a hydrotherapy pool. They primarily cover Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey but families from all over the country come to their facilities.
Their bereavement support is funded by the National Lottery.
They also give theraputic support.
Their needs:-
Volunteers to help them with repair and building of facilities
Publicising their work
Their Christmas in July at Ascot Racecourse event including toys and bottles of water.

Six members and their partners attended a festive meal and quiz at the White Horse. The quiz was interspersed between courses of an excellent meal.

They formed two teams which achieved respectable (but not exceptional!) scores in the quiz.

Seven members of the Wokingham Lions Club visited the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service in Maidenhead. They wanted to see first-hand how this £6 million facility helps children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, play and relax during their last days of life.

Jasmine Parker conducted the informative tour of the inside and outside of the children’s hospice. The rooms are tastefully decorated, and include areas for music therapy, arts and crafts, cooking and reading. A beautiful hydrotherapy pool was designed and donated by Nirvana Health Spa in 2019.

The Enchanted Forest outdoor sensory garden was donated by Merlin’s Magic Wand Children’s Charity, in association with LEGOLAND Windsor Resort. There are many LEGO creations in the garden, which includes an herb garden. An outdoor play area features a swing and trampoline that can accommodate a wheelchair.

Alexander Devine was a bright and funny child, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour at just four years of age. He endured four and a half years of operations, treatments and therapy, and sadly died at the age of eight in 2007. His parents, Fiona and John Devine, founded Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service, and the facility opened its doors for day care in 2018. They currently provide a safe place for 150 families in Berkshire and the surrounding counties. It costs around £2.33 million to run the children’s hospice service each year.

Childhood cancer is one of the five global causes of Lions International.

Charter is our annual celebration of the anniversary of the formation of our club in 1974. We meet, with our partners and friends, to remember our achievements over the previous year and set our goals for the next year. We also inaugurate the president for the next year and thank all those who made significant contributions to the previous year.

This year we held a Charter Lunch at the Rose Inn in the centre of Wokingham. Claire Mangers-Page was inaugurated as our new president, taking over from Andy Goffin.

The Lions Club was founded in 1917 by a businessman in Chicago called Melvin Jones. As an ongoing memorial to him Lions Club International offer a prestigious Melvin Jones Foundation award to members who have made a significant contribution. At the Charter we were please to give an MJF award to Tim Hanton for his long service to Wokingham Lions and to the Lions zone

A small group of us met together for a short walk in the countryside around Henley.

We met at Henley Town Football Club car park and walked about 3 miles to the Baskerville pub, where we had a pleasant refreshment break before continuing back along the banks of the Thames.

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

Our outgoing president, Nigel Page, summarised the achievments of the past year then handed over to the new president, Andy Goffin. Andy thanked Nigel for all his work during the previous year and said that his objective for the forthcoming year was to raise £1,000 for charity for each member, setting a target of £32,000

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

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

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

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 at 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.

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.

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:

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

As well as being a fun event, it raised over £2,300 for our charity account

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.