MARCH 2024
DECEMBER 2023
As in past years we have delivered Christmas parcels containing presents and Christmas fare to help local families identified by schools and food banks to have a good time at Christmas. Here are pictures of some of the parcels delivered by members.
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SEPTEMBER 2023
Lion President Andy and Lion Arthur visited Chailey Heritage to present them with a cheque for £1,011.95 to provide equipment for the expanded gym which will allow more people access to therapy sessions. The donation was used to purchase gym mats, walking slings, a punch bag and boxing gloves. The gyn will allow an extra 75 sessions each week.
SEPTEMBER 2023
Lion President Andy was pleased to meet Tracey Spencer following her success in the World Para Driving Competition in Holland. Tracey explained the different disciplines she had to undertake dressage, cross country marathon and obstacle cone driving. The Lions Club were pleased to have been able to help Tracey attend this event at which the team came third and as an individual she was placed 15th in the world.
AUGUST 2023
After the disappointment of having to cancel the Saltdean Gala and running the BBQ and Bar at the Rottingdean Village Fayre, it was good to see Lion members and their guests enjoying a get together at the annual President’s Garden Party.
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JU
LY 2023
Lion President Andy Wavell was pleased to visit Rudyard Kipling Primary School to give books to each pupil in Reception Class. Here is one pupil receiving their book.
JULY 2023
Lion President Andy Wavell pictured with Our Lady of Lourdes Reception Class pupils following the Club’s donation of books to the pupils.
JUNE 2023
At the Club’s handover dinner on 30 June 2023 the retiring Lions President Roger Bluff passed the chain of office to Lion Andy Wavell who will serve as President for the year 2023/24. Lion Andy thanked Lion Roger for his presidency over the past two years.
MAY 2023
An Awareness publicity stand was held at the Saltdean Oval as part of the local Coronation Celebrations. The President was plesed to inform those visiting the table about the ethos of the Lions Club.
APRIL 2023
The Club celebrated its 50 Anniversary with dinner at the Ship Hotel in Brighton. Lion President gave a resume of the 50 years of the Club and the District Governor Rizvi Rawoof proposed a toast to R&S Lions Club. We were entertained by “Elvis” who joined the President for a celebratory photo.
NOVEMBER 2022 – DAVE COLDMAN
Following the passing of Lion Dave Coldman, donations werre received to purchase a bench in his memmory. This is sited in Kiplings Gardens in Roittingdean. Dave was a valued member of the Club who is sadly missed.
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NOVEMBER 2022 – GERRY & SALLY PRINCE
Following the passing of Gerry Prince a donation from his family to Rottingdean & Saltdean Lions was received. Subsequently after the passing of Sally, his wife, and a further donation to the Club from her family it was decided to plant five trees in their memory. These are situated in Kiplings Gardens in Rottingdean.
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July 2022 – Saltdean Primary School
Lion President Roger Bluff with Lion Andy Wavell were pleased to present books to reception class children at Saltdean Primary School.
July 2022 – St Margaret’s Primary School
Lion President Roger Bluff and Lion Andy Wavell went to St Margaret’s Primary School in Rottingdean to present books to Reception class children. They were very pleased to see Leo the Clubs Lion.
December 2022 – Woodingdean Primary School
Father Christmas visited Woodingdean Primary School to deliver books supplied by the Club for reception class children. FC reported that he had had a wonderful time with the children who enjoyed receiving their gifts.
SEPTEMBER 2021
T
he handover from David Endersby, the previous president, to Roger Bluff, the president for 2021/22, was delayed due to the restrictions of the Coronavirus pandemic. However once the restrictions were relaxed we were able to hold a socially distanced dinner in September at the East Brighton Golf Club. It was good to be able to meet up in person at a social event again.
David had already passed the chain of office to Roger who thanked him for his presidency during the previous year. A past president’s badge was presented to David.
SEPTEMBER 2021
Lion President Roger Bluff was very proud to start his Presidential year by presenting a long service award to Lion Roy Crossland to mark his 45 years membership of the Lions This is a small token in recognition of many years’ service to the club and to the whole community covered by our service activities over the years.
FEBRUARY 2021
Early on a Thursday morning we got a phone call. A family in Woodingdean had suffered a fridge/ freezer breakdown overnight.
The father is on furlough and the family could not afford to replace it. With two children with additional needs including an autistic son there was an urgent need, not least to store medication which needs refrigeration.
The appeal was agreed by the service committee and then the club and an order for a replacement was placed within six hours of the initial phone call.
The following day the family sent the attached photograph to the club.
We are so pleased to have been able to help.
DECEMBER 2020
Due to COVID we were unable to hold our annual Christmas lunches for senior citizens.
Instead we approached all the schools in our area together with the local churches to ask if they knew of any seniors or families who would be missing out on things over Christmas.
We were able to provide 13 lonely, needy seniors with a gift parcel containing Christmas goodies and a houseplant.
We were also asked to help 32 families in need. We were able to provide these families with Christmas food items and crackers for each of the children and 43 adults. Each of the 73 children also received a gift-wrapped toy appropriate to their age.
The parcels were delivered to the schools for them to distribute to the families before the end of term and the seniors received theirs before Christmas.
A new initiative by the club which resulted in many locals enjoying Christmas just a bit better than they might otherwise have done.
DECEMBER 2020
Lion President David Endersby was pleased to be able to remotely present to Woodingdean Primary School a copy of ‘Don’t Worry, Little Crab’ for each pupil in the Reception class.
The Big Breakfast Read is an annual event but unfortunately this year parents were not able to be present. The Lion President attended by Zoom, as indeed did Santa.
The presentation continues the support the Lions Club gives to the five Primary Schools in our area.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Lion President David Endersby was delighted to be able to attend at Rudyard Kipling Primary School in Woodingdean to present a book to each pupil in Year 1.
This was a continuation of our presentation to pupils in the Reception Class in each of the five primary schools in our area.
Because of the lockdown it was not possible to present the books before now while the pupils were still in the Reception Class.
AUGUST 2020
Immediate Past President Lion Geoff Rhodes was delighted to present Lion Ken Humphreys with his Melvin Jones Fellowship award.
This was in recognition of his long service, especially as Treasurer to the Club for many years.
The MJF is the highest award to members Internationally 
and is given in recognition of outstanding service.
Rottingdean and Saltdean Lions Club is proud to now have four holders of the MJF in their current membership.
APRIL/MAY 2020
We are, of course, still in lockdown but we are continuing to support local needs.
As our 2020 summer events have now all been cancelled, including our bar and barbeque at the Rottingdean Village Fair, we have donated the remainder of our soft drinks stock to the Java Community Cafe in Woodingdean for their food parcels to support local families.
We have also made financial donations to the Food Banks in Whitehawk and Saltdean as well as to the Java Cafe.
As things continue as they are it is impossible to be sure when our fundraising can start again but rest assured we will look to be up and running as soon as possible. Meanwhile you can help us by joining Amazon Smile and naming us as your charity. As more shopping is done on line it soon mounts up. See the details on the right.
In the meantime we will continue to support our local needs as long as our funds last.
If you know of anyone in need please contact us. If you would like to make a donation please use the link on the right.
MARCH 2020
We may be in lockdown and unable to hold meetings but we are still continuing our service in the locality. We have donated £500 to Whitehawk Food Bank at a time when they are having to cope with increased demand.
We have also made a donation to Brighton Scrub Hub (a voluntary makers group in the South East using their sewing skills in the fight against Coronavirus). This will buy materials to make more scrubs much needed by NHS Hospitals.
Because we have had to cancel our Fayre and Gala we have donated some of our soft drink stock to the Java Community Cafe in Woodingdean. They will use this to assist their support for local families.
On ‘Our Achievements‘ page you will see that one of the charities that we support is the Kent Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance. Since 2012 Lions Clubs in the area have donated over £315,000 and this is mentioned in the March 2020 edition of Air Ambulance News. Air Ambulance News 2020
MARCH 2020
We had
planned to present our portion of the funds raised from our Swimathon last year to Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice, but due to current circumstances a presentation has proved impossible. We have therefore posted the cheque to them so that they have our share of the money raised and can put it to good use.
Similarly the presentation of the shield for most money raised, which will go to 23rd Brighton (Rottingdean) Beavers, was cancelled. That presentation will take place as soon as possible.
FEBRUARY 2020
Lion President Geoff Rhodes and Service Chairman Lion Andy Wavell visited the Saltdean & Rottingdean Youth Club to see their new table football game in action. Members of the Youth Club raised much of the money by running stalls at the Rottingdean Lions Fayre and Lions Saltdean Gala in 2019. The Lions were pleased to donate the balance of the money needed for the table to be bought. It is now regularly in use during Youth Club sessions.