lionsbodmin News Page

At that time "LIONS" Part of Lions Clubs International was quite a new organization to Cornwall and the new Lions worked hard to gain the good reputation we have today. The club was chartered with 15 members, 2 of whom are still with us. The membership has grown over the years and the current membership is 38. We are an all male club and have members aged from their 20s to their 90s.

Everyone in Lions gives their time totally free & we all pay an annual subscription to cover Club administration. Charges at some of our events cover the cost of things like insurance & other licence fees, but in general all other money collected by us all gets used for charitable causes.
Follow the links on the links page to find out more about Lions in the UK & Internationally. Click HERE to link to a few short videos of Lions in action around the world and the work of LCIF (Lions Clubs International Foundation)

Lions had the call to help with crowd control, TWO were spotted, Not Tigers they are Lions outside a pub with a beer festival but no beer in hand, what dedication to duty!
District & Bodmin Safety Officer Kevin, (back to the road) & Roy (Hands in pockets) should have given in, LIONS, PUBS, & NOT DRINKING just isn't the norm.

At the show The Lions Clubs of Cornwall are offering free diabetic awareness screening to the public. Diabetes is on the increase especially in Cornwall. Lions Clubs provide support and fundraising for local and international projects. We encourage visitors to find our about our work and presence through out the world.

Below is an extract of the thank you letter sent out to the nurses who volunteered to help us with the screening last year

With your help 821 tests were carried out and 85 people were found to have raised blood sugar levels and advised to consult with their medical professionals. No doubt some of these will result in previously undiagnosed diabetes, which makes all the effort worthwhile.

You may be interested to hear about a gentleman who called in to see us on Friday. Last year he was tested, with a result of 40 mmol/l !!.
He went to his GP on the Monday to be told that if he had ignored the test he may well have died within days, in a diabetic coma.

If you are a nurse & can help us with the screening for a few hours particularly on Sat 9th June please contact us, we can offer you free entry to the show & you will have free time to look around. Click here to contact

Bodmin lions supporting the May Fayre on Priory Lawn, it's good to see Bodmin Town Band Back with so many young players.

We have been working away on the Ten Tors walk making sure everything is set to go for the 13th of May. Entries are now closed for this year.

Below are Photos of the entries in the painting competition and one of the winners being presented with her picture all framed & a certificate.
The presentation was made by the Mayor of Bodmin Councillor R Soloman with Deputy Mayor Councillor K Stubbs & Lion Kevin Marshall.

A few photos below of Bodmin's St Pirans day parade, nearly 300 children paraded down Fore Street to Mount Folly then on to the church, they were then all taken for lunch in the public rooms.

From left to right Forming up outside the Barley Sheaf, On the way down the street, Nick Prideaux (Town Crier) arriving at mount folly,
Dignitaries on Shire Hall steps, Crowd on the Folly, Children's Dance on the Folly

The event is getting better & better support as the years go on, the crowd out watching this year was the best yet

"The Lions Club of Bodmin donated £500 to Cornwall Freewheelers"

"The Lions Club of Bodmin generously donated £500 to Cornwall Freewheelers to assist in the purchase of an additional "bloodbike". Also, the Lions' South West region 105SW funded the purchase of a number of purpose made boxes for transporting donor breast milk. The boxes were given to Freewheeler groups in the South West: Cornwall received 12 of these.

Cornwall Freewheelers is a registered charity operating a free out-of-hours courier service manned by volunteer emergency riders, all of whom hold advanced riding certificates. They transport blood, organs, breast milk and drugs etc., between NHS establishments in, and occasionally outside, Cornwall. By providing this service free-of-charge they can save the NHS up to £150,00 each year in taxi fares and commercial courier costs. More information on www.cornwallfreewheelers.org.uk"

Profits from the 2011 Nov 5th Firework display were presented last night 6th Feb at Bodmin Football Club.
Cheques were presented by Bodmin Mayor Councillor Ralph Solomans to the representatives of 59 organisations from Bodmin & the surrounding area.
The picture below shows the mayor with the winners of the best guy competition.

Bodmin Lions thank you all for your generous donations during the 2011 Father Christmas Collections we will be presenting a donation to the Merlin project MS treatment centre soon.

The figures are now in for the 2011 event, as in previous years a fantastic & well supported event. It costs the joint committee just over £9000 pounds to put the event on & thanks to the great support from you the public a profit of £9,826 was made on the night, this will be given away to around 60 children & youth organisations of Bodmin & the surrounding area at a presentation night in February. If you missed the live show there are some videos posted on you tube to enable you to get some idea how good the show is, the main comment on this years finale was awesome.

Lions Clubs from Cornwall, Devon and Somerset have worked together to raise funds to provide the Lions Den at the soon to be opened Children’s Hospice South West Little Harbour in Cornwall.

Recently a cheque for £42,650 was presented to Eddie Farwell at Little Harbour by Immediate Past District Governor Lion Neil Rutter and Lion Brenda Wood together with representatives of Clubs from around the south west, including those from Bodmin, Callington, St Austell and Truro.

The cheque included money raised by clubs in the south west together with a matching grant from Lions Clubs International Foundation.

Eddie Farwell thanked the Lions of the District for their generosity and spoke movingly about the need for the Hospice in Cornwall. After the presentation he gave the members present a tour of the Hospice which was appreciated by all concerned.

Lion’s spokeswoman Lion Brenda Wood said “The Lions in the south west have had a long association with CHSW since its infancy and we are proud to play our part in establishing their new hospice in Cornwall. Due to the efforts of clubs in the region and the support of the general public we have been able to both help provide facilities in each hospice at its opening and significant funding over the years towards their running costs.”

She concluded *Having been fortunate to have visited each hospice one can only be inspired to help the children and families affected by life limiting illnesses and the staff who support them at CHSW.”

There will be additional funding available from the Lions to pay for soft furnishings for the Lions Den in the coming weeks.

Still not a lot to report on but our Bingo is ongoing every Friday. We have helped a number of local people & sent donations to help with world disasters. Our next event as part of Bodmin's joint firework committee will be the firework display on Nov 5th.

Lions have been working with the art department of Bodmin College to provide some art work for the Hospital.
This project has now been completed please click on the link below for a slide show of the students & their work.

When Bodmin Lion and ex Bodmin Mayor Charles Horton (83) was struck down by the rare Guillain-Barre Syndrome in May 2008, he was rushed to RCH Truro, where he remained paralysed and in Intensive Care until October. Thanks to their skill he was able to be transferred to Marie Therese House, Hayle for specialist care and physiotherapy.

The treatment there enabled him to be returned in July 2009 to his family home in Bodmin where a dedicated team of carers continued the fight to regain some mobility.

In November it was felt that a basic exercise regime might help and the Lions of Bodmin formed a rota to visit at least twice a week, supporting Charles’s struggles from his wheelchair. It became clear that more help was needed. Lions Derek and Bill asked Mike Munds Gym whether they could help and proprietor Mike agreed on the spot.

The Lions now provide transport twice a week and Charles is literally going from strength to strength, with the dedicated assistance of fitness instructor Liv Powell. The combination of Charles’s gritty determination and Liv’s patient forcefulness are achieving amazing results.

Charles and his family would like to thank not only the Lions for their help, but especially Mike Munds and Liv Powell.

The picture shows
Liv Powell, Mike Munds, Derek Williamson & Bill May, surrounding Charles Horton
Copyright Clemens Photography

This is an ongoing project, Charles is still making progress & as of Feb 2011 he is able to walk short distances with someone holding his arm.

International Award for twice past President & District Safety Officer
Lion Kevin Marshall

Kevin was presented with the International Presidents Leadership Medal by IPDG Christine for all his hard work improving the district safety policy & rolling it out to clubs in the district so much so it may now be taken up right across the country.

Certificate of appreciation presented by Lion President Derek (left) to Simon & Dave of WPD Garage (centre) for help to Lions over the years. Lion Dave Williams (right) oversaw the presentation & helped balance the picture.

Bodmin Lions supported this quinquennial event on the 7th of April 2010 both by the lending of equipment & by sending a few along to walk. The Bounds, the town parish boundary is walked every five years in an event organised the Rotary club of Bodmin on behalf of & with the help of the town council. The walk distance is approximately 12 miles. The picture below, a group of eight Bodmin Lions taking a lunch break about half way around.

Spectacle RECYCLING
We work in conjunction with Chichester Lions & Le Havre Lions. Le Havre Lions run a company called Medico France, they have the facilities to grade & polish the specs before sending them on to mainly third world countries or anywhere in the world they are required.

Below Lion Allan Tidy of Chichester, Lion Bill May & Lion Dave Williams of Bodmin with the Bodmin Jail Van outside Chichester's sorting HQ at The Apuldram Centre. The next two pictures show the specs delivered by us & some sorted specs ready to be transported to Lions in Le Havre France. (Lion Allan Tidy has passed away since taking this picture)

For more information on the Chichester operation click HERE to link to their website but don't forget to come back!

Bodmin Lions help the Lifeboat
When Bodmin Lions heard that Padstow Lifeboat needed help, they answered the call. The lifeboat crew needs the chance of a hot meal after a long rescue so the Lions have provided a brand new cooker and freezer to be installed in the lifeboat station at Mother Ivy’s Bay. In return the coxswain invited the Lions to tour the exciting new ‘Spirit of Padstow’ in its purpose built accommodation. The club members enjoyed a most interesting evening and were fascinated to shown around by Alan Tarby and his very friendly crew. Although the R.N.L.I. have provided this wonderful facility, the Lions were pleased to be able to supply a little extra comfort direct to the people who are literally at the sharp end of this vital service

Club History

Send mail to The webmaster with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: May 20, 2012 ©William May 2012

Club History

Send mail to The webmaster with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: May 20, 2012 ©William May 2012

Send mail to The webmaster with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: May 20, 2012 ©William May 2012