News
BERKHAMSTED LIONS HONOUR JOHN HAGGERSTONE
March 2008
At a recent Dinner Meeting, the Lions Club of Berkhamsted honoured one of its members, JOHN HAGGERSTONE, with the MELVIN JONES FELLOWSHIP. Named after the founder of LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL, the Melvin Jones Fellowship is the highest award bestowed by the Lions for service to Lionism and to the community.
In making the citation, Lion President GEOFF SMITH referred to John’s early involvement in running the Berkhamsted Dynamos Junior Football Club which had 9 boys teams, and then as Chairman of the Berkhamsted Youth Centre. He was also an active member of the NW Herts Community Health Council, specializing in learning difficulties. He has been a market researcher for ICI, and for the past 12 years has been with the Prison Service at HMP The Mount, Bovingdon as Director & Coordinator of Business Studies, helping to rehabilitate ex-offenders into self employment. His wide experience has been of great benefit to the Lions.”
John Haggerstone of Dudswell Lane, Northchurch, has been a member of the Lions Club of Berkhamsted for 18 years. During his time in the Lions he has served as President twice, Secretary for 7 years, Treasurer for 2 years, and has been Zone Chairman. “John gets involved in all the Club’s fundraising, community service and social activities. His computer skills and knowledge get called upon continuously ”, said Lion President Geoff . “ Towards the end of 2006, Lion John showed what a great humanitarian he is when as a last resort he donated one of his kidneys to his daughter Jane who had been suffering for many years waiting in vain for a suitable donor.”
BERKHAMSTED LIONS SAY ‘THANK YOU’ TO THEIR SUPPORTERS
January 2008
The Lions Club of Berkhamsted invited a cross section of its many supporters to a special dinner in the Wellcome Great Hall, on Thursday 17 January, so that the Club could say ‘thank you’ for all the help it had received over the years. Lion President GEOFF SMITH read out a citation and presented ‘Certificates of Appreciation’ to 20 supporters. A further 20 certificates will be presented individually to those who could not attend.
Local soprano KATHRYN JENKIN, accompanied by her father PETER JENKIN, ‘sang for her supper’ and made the evening a memorable one.
Citation by Lion President Geoff Smith, 17 January 2008.
Our club year starts on the 1st of July and each new President has the opportunity to nominate a charity or a new initiative he or she is going to promote during their year of office. I decided, after consulting club members, that it was high time we publicly recognised those who have consistently supported us in our activities over the years.
The club has been in existence for over 29 years - our thirtieth birthday will be this coming Autumn - and in that time so many individuals and companies have gone out of their way to help us. The most visible help probably comes from those who sponsor our August Bank Holiday Fete, or who advertise in the Fete Programme. This support and the door-to-door pre-sales of the programme is invaluable as it provides the core funding for the event.
It won't surprise you when I say that the Fete is the biggest and most complex event in the Lions’ calendar. We’ve been involved with fetes since 1985 - originally in Butts Meadow, then in the Castle, and now at Berkhamsted Sports & Social Club grounds. We first published a Fete Programme on 9th July 1988, and 13 companies who sponsored us then were still advertising in last year’s programme. They are :
Allen & Couser Motors - Bailey & Sons - J Batchelor & Son - R F Bassett Motors, now S & T Autos - S Dell &Sons Ltd - Norman Eastwood, Family Butchers, now Eastwoods of Berkhamsted - Ernest E Hendin & Son, now Hendins Plumbers - P & R Sheet Metal - Roy Chapman Ltd - Scissors, Mens Hair Salon - Town Hall Photo Centre, now Berkhamsted Imaging Centre - Woods, The Garden Centre - C D Wright Electrical
In thanking our advertisers, we would also like to thank Northward Printers who have printed our programmes for the past 16 years; nothing has been too much trouble for them.
Many of you will remember the problems we had in 1996 with tent pegs which allegedly could damage the vital Castle remains under the grass. That was when we moved our venue to the Berkhamsted Cricket Club grounds, and it was here when we received help from Carol and Bob Warren
The Fete, of course, is not our only fundraising activity. If you look at our Yearly Report , the Fete occupies just a few lines. Other fundraising events include our Charity Golf Match in aid of the hospices, and we are most appreciative of the help given by Whipsnade Park Golf Club during the day and at the evening celebration dinner. A regular helper at this event is Gordon Potton who every year is out there measuring the nearest putt to the pin and whatever else we ask him to do. We are also particularly grateful for the short break holidays that Bourne Leisure provide each year for the raffle;
We have held 7 Charity Concerts at Berkhamsted Collegiate School; the Bursar and staff could not have been more helpful. Again, another valued supporter is Keith Ranger who designs our concert programme and also arranges for them to be printed.
I know there are a lot more fundraising events, but let me turn to some of our other activities.
Meals on Wheels’: ever since our Club was formed, we have prepared meals and delivered them on Boxing Day and New Years Day. I have to say we thoroughly enjoy the experience, and it’s great meeting the recipients of the meals. We get a lot of help and encouragement from the Meals on Wheels staff, and it’s good to see them here tonight. Thanks to Pat Hewgill, Ann Smith, Val Ansel and Moira Davis.
Shortly after we started doing ‘Meals on Wheels’ over Christmas, Berkhamsted Golf Club chose us as one of the local charities they would support. For many years they and local traders funded the purchase of the meat, vegetables and ingredients for the meals. Nowadays all materials are provided by ‘Meals on Wheels’, so the Golf Club contribution now helps fund our parties for senior citizens. The Lions also hold two major functions at the Golf Club - our Charter Anniversary Dinner & Cabaret to celebrate our formation, and Ladies Night when we thank our partners for all the support they give the Lions. The Golf Club look after us really well. A big thank you to Berkhamsted Golf Club.
With so many things going on, it can be difficult to get one’s message over; we do appreciate those who help publicise our activities. Over many years, Rita Knowles has been writing articles about the goings-on in Berkhamsted; there’s not much she doesn’t know about our town.
The Lions have two public notice boards in Berkhamsted - one in the Way Inn, and now one near the entrance to Waitrose. We are most grateful to both organisations for this privilege.
An organisation that we greatly respect is St John Ambulance; they have provided a first aid service at all our functions for as long as I can remember. We use their HQ in Bell Lane for our Business Meetings each month. Thank you, Mick Mills and your first-aiders.
The Lions have provided a community minibus since 1985, and we’re on our 5th vehicle now. We're particularly grateful to Roy Chapman Ltd for their help in acquiring it and maintaining it; also to the Catholic Church for allowing us to keep it in their car park.
Part of our effort is directed at helping the youth. We are currently supporting a team from the local Raiders Football club in the Lions District Football Competition. If any of these young footballers require sports spectacles, then special ones are supplied by Adams EyeCare in conjunction with the Lions. Adams also collect used spectacles for the Lions to send to developing countries for re-use there.
The last two people I would like to single out are Graham Rhodes, Art Coordinator at Thomas Coram Middle School, and his counterpart at Bridgewater School - Michael Carberry. They and their schools have been very supportive of the Lions Peace Poster Contest, and have included it in the arts syllabus for 12 - 13 year olds. Thomas Coram are especially chuffed because their winning poster, painted by Anna Sale, went on to be judged the best poster at Lions District level.
BERKHAMSTED LIONS HONOUR CHRIS STUPPLES
November 2007
At their recent Charter Anniversary Dinner, the Lions Club of Berkhamsted honoured one of its members, CHRIS STUPPLES, with the MELVIN JONES FELLOWSHIP. Named after the founder of LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL, the Melvin Jones Fellowship is the highest award bestowed by the Lions for service to Lionism and to the community.
In making the citation, Lion President GEOFF SMITH referred to Chris’s early involvement in the Scout Movement as a scout, and later as a Leader and then an Assistant District Commissioner. “As a local lad, born and bred in Berkhamsted, Scouting encouraged his natural desire to be useful in the community and to help others less fortunate than himself. His career as a Chartered Secretary and as a Director for a newspaper wholesaler culminated in becoming National Director of the Association of Newspaper & Magazine Wholesalers. His wide experience and administrative skills have been of great benefit to the Lions.”
CHRIS STUPPLES of Covert Road, Northchurch, has been a member of the Lions Club of Berkhamsted for 26 years. During his time in the Lions he has served as President twice, Secretary for 2 years, and Treasurer for 3 years. He has been very active with the Lions’ Community Service Team for many years, and more recently has become very involved as a volunteer for The Hospice of St Francis. “Chris has also taken a leading role in the Lions’ fundraising and social activities, but he is never happier than when helping others in the community”, said Lion President Geoff .
CHRIS STUPPLES is the seventh member ever of Berkhamsted Lions Club to have been honoured in this way, and joins the roll call of BILL HORN, DEREK KNIGHT, TONY LOCKHART, GEOFF SMITH, ROY THAME, and SANDY WRIGHT.
BERKHAMSTED LIONS CHRISTMAS HAMPER RAFFLE
December 2007
Five hampers of festive food and drink were raffled by Berkhamsted Lions, raising over £900 for their local charitable work. Berkhamsted Town Mayor, Cllr CAROL GREEN drew the winning tickets at 12.30pm on Saturday 22 December2007
The winner of the first prize, with ticket no. 00918, had already received a hamper this Christmas so offered the hamper back to the Lions. The contents were donated to St Peters Church to be split up and given to deserving people in the parish. The other four winners were
: Jackie Scott of Ridgeway, Berkhamsted with ticket no. 04691.
: Danny Galloway visiting Berkhamsted, with ticket no. 00011.
: Mrs Wignall of Lye Green, Chesham with ticket number no. 00190.
: Derek on the market flower stall with ticket no. 02887.
Lions’ fundraising Chairman, BRUCE RUGGLES said “We’ve had a really excellent response from the public again this year. The contents of the hampers were donated by the Lions themselves, topped up using vouchers donated by Waitrose, so our expenses were not much more than the cost of printing the tickets. We are also very grateful to Thomson, the travel agents, who again allowed us to conduct the raffle in front of their shop. Over £900 was raised for the Berkhamsted Lions Club Charitable Trust which will be used to support local youth activities, the elderly, and people requiring care and medical attention.”
‘PEACE AROUND THE WORLD’
LIONS INTERNATIONAL PEACE POSTER CONTEST, 2007 / 08
ANNA SALE from The Thomas Coram Middle School is District Winner
110 pupils at two of Berkhamsted’s schools have taken part in the annual LIONS INTERNATIONAL PEACE POSTER CONTEST. The theme this year is ‘Peace around the world’. The contest, now in its 20th year, is open to pupils aged 11 to 13, and attracts some 375,000 entries worldwide.
ANNA SALE, age 13, painted the winning poster at THE THOMAS CORAM MIDDLE SCHOOL , with a dove of peace wrapping the world with a rainbow scarf of national flags. At BRIDGEWATER SCHOOL the winner was ZAK FOYLE, age 13, whose poster depicted flags of nations of the world arranged in harmony within the shadow of a dove of peace.
The two winning posters were entered into the District Peace Poster Contest; ANNA SALE’s poster was judged to be the best from 21 entries and will be entered into the Lions National Peace Poster Contest which will be judged at the end of December. The winner at national level is then entered into the International Contest, the winner of which receives a cash award of US$ 2500, plus an all-expenses-paid trip to the United Nations Building in New York for the winner and two family members. The 23 other international finalists each receive a cash award of US$ 500.
ALEX EVANS, the Lions’ Youth Officer and organiser of the Peace Poster Contest in Berkhamsted, said “This is the third time in recent years that a pupil from Berkhamsted has won at District level - GRACE MILLER from Bridgewater School in 2000, LOTTIE STENTOFF also from Bridgewater School in 2006, and now ANNA SALE from The Thomas Coram School. Both schools have been very supportive of the contest.”
GRAHAM RHODES, Art Co-ordinator at The Thomas Coram School, and his counterpart at Bridgewater School, MICHAEL CARBERRY, both agreed that the contest was challenging, encouraging their pupils to think about the subject, how to represent their ideas, and then to execute them as eye-catching posters.
BRIDGEWATER SCHOOL
1st Zac Foyle
2nd Ellen Wood
3rd Emma Taylor
Highly Commended, in alphabetical order: Georgina Lark, Jordan Williamson.
Commended: Bilaz Malik.
THE THOMAS CORAM MIDDLE SCHOOL
1st Anna Sale
2nd Cameron Yorke-Wilkinson
3rd Lois Male
Highly Commended: Jasmine Birkett.
Commended: Callum James, Emma Thompson.
Our annual Autumn Concert was proud again to present the Morriston Orpheus Welsh Male Choir along with our local singer Kathryn Jenkin (soprano) on Saturday 27th October 2007