Calne Lions are well known locally for Santa, our Duck Race and the Burger Van, but this is not all we do. We have run coffee mornings for Macmillan Cancer Support and done street collections for causes such as the recent Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis where we raised in excess of £2200. In addition to this we also actively volunteer within the community and support Lions Clubs International initiatives. Further Information can be found below.
KENNET GATEWAY CLUB
Calne Lions volunteer their time once a fortnight to support local members of the Kennet Gateway Club. Kennet Gateway Club is a social outlet for adults with learning difficulties; bringing people together, enabling social inclusion and autonomy. The Club offers their members various activities, including skittles, bingo, discos and pool.
As Kennet Gateway Club covers a large area, Calne Lions help out by providing transport for local members of the Club so that they can attend the fortnightly meetings based in Woodborough. Calne Lions volunteers drive the minibus (provided by Calne Community Transport) and also send a number of escorts to accompany the Gateway members there and back on Club nights.
GLASSES & HEARING AIDS
Lions Clubs International collect old glasses so that they can be recycled and repurposed.
Glasses that are suitable for recycling are forwarded on to Medico France in Le Havre. Medico France has the necessary equipment to clean and grade the spectacles ready for use in eye camps in Africa, India and Eastern Europe.
Other individuals and charities based in the UK who carry out eye-camp projects overseas, are also able to use these recycled spectacles. Lions Clubs in the UK support volunteers travelling on Unite For Sight projects, supplying them with the spectacles they require for their individual projects.
Like the glasses, we also collect old, unused or broken digital and analogue hearing aids so that they can also be reconditioned and repurposed. Adults and children with hearing impairment whose lives have been transformed after receiving recycled hearing equipment live in many overseas countries including Mexico, Peru, Lesotho, Madagascar, Ukraine, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
If you have any old or unwanted glasses or hearing aids that you would like to donate, complete our Contact Form.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
Message in a Bottle is a simple but effective way for people to keep their basic personal and medical details where they can be found in an emergency on a standard form and in a common location – the fridge.
Message in a Bottle helps emergency services personnel to save valuable time in identifying an individual very quickly and knowing if they have any allergies or take special medication. It also details next of kin/emergency contacts.
Paramedics, police, fire-fighters and social services know to look in the fridge when they see the Message in a Bottle stickers, which come with the bottle.
Calne Lions fund Message in a Bottle, locally, so it is free of charge to members of the public. This is thanks to our annual fund-raising and the generous donations from the public and businesses. It is not just vulnerable people who benefit from Message in a Bottle. Anyone could have an accident at home.
The Message in a Bottle kit consists of a small plastic container and includes a form, to be filled in with your personal and medical information. This is placed in the bottle (with its distinctive green branding), and then stored in the fridge. Two stickers are also provided: one for the fridge door and the other for the inside of the front door of the premises.
Message in a Bottle kits can be obtained from any of the Doctors Surgeries in town or by completing our Contact Form.