Presidents Blog - October 2023

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Following street collection permit rules, we are required to publish how much we collected. At the recent Bonfire event, our sealed bucket collection totalled £3565.05. Thank You !

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Filey Lions recently celebrated many years of Serving our community at our 59th Charter Night Dinner at Filey Golf Club. We had a great evening and we were well looked after by the Golf Club.

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My highlight of the evening was presenting “The Melvyn Jones Fellowship Award” (the highest award an individual can be given by Lions International) to Lion Peter Hutchinson, for all he has done for the Club over his 16 years of Service.

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We were joined at the event by Filey Mayor Jacqui Holden-Banks and her husband Dennis, along with numerous guests from many other Lions Clubs in the North of England.

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I made a brief speech at the event where I talked about “What makes a great volunteer” and why people chose to volunteer. Without doubt, volunteering offers vital help to people in need, worthwhile causes and the community, but not everyone realises that the benefits can be even greater for YOU, the volunteer.

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The right organisation can help you find new friends, connect with the community, learn new skills and even advance your career. Giving to others can also help protect your mental and physical health, it can reduce stress, combat depression, keep you mentally stimulated and provide fun and a great sense of purpose. It does not have to take up loads of time, or even be a long-term commitment, everyone can help in their own way.

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I had done a brief survey regarding local people’s thoughts about Filey Lions and created a Word Cloud of the responses which can be seen in the Gallery below.

Filey Lions are now approaching our busiest time of year, we have the New Pumpkin Lantern Competition on 30th October. The Bonfire on 4th November; TESCO Trolley Dash on 3rd December; The Over 85’s Christmas Party on 9th December and then Santa and his Sleigh will be out and about from 10th December until 22nd December.

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Looks like we will be busy, so I will take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Filey Lions.

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Lion Richard Hannay (President)