50 Years of Service

East Grinstead & District Lions Club - 50 Years of Service

A Floral Display in the High Street, East Grinstead in 2018 marked the 50th Anniversary of the Clubs Formation

The Club was Formed with the name:		East Grinstead Lions Club

At Lions International the registration number is:		020037

The registered Formation Date was:		6^th April 1968

The Formal Charter Date was:		9th April 1968

The Sponsoring Club was:		Crawley Lions Club

The First Charter Night was:		13th September 1968

The First President of the new club was:		Raymond Warner

The Charter was presented by		Lion John Holdham DG 105A

At formation the number of members was:		20

The 20 Charter Members in April 1968 were as follows:

Kenneth F J Avrill	Peter A Fairbrass	W L C Price	John H Tugwell
James A Buddle	Philip M Hoskins	Allan D Rees	Kenneth J Tyler
Brian Castleton	Alan D Larcombe	Albert O Stephens	Raymond E Warner
Eric E Clarke	Bryn W Lewis	Stanley A Stevens	Ernest D Wright
Joseph Gibson	Leonard Lipner	Michael Swinson	John Wrainsley

The Charter Dinner was held at Ye Olde Felbridge Hotel with Councillor Trevor Woodd East Grinstead Urban District Council in attendance and they dined on Hors d'Oeuvres, Halbut Dulgeie Sauce, Escalop of Veal with vegetables, Profiterole, Cheese & Biscuits and Coffee.

The Early Years:

Fund Raising:

The First May Fair was held in 1979 and has been in place since, now 40 years. In the early days it was billed as a Carnival with floats and processions, marching bands and police motorcyclists all in the grounds of East Court. The Church Bells were rung to herald in the May and Morris Men danced, strolling players walked amongst the crowds. A major attrachtion was a competition to see who could throw a hay bale the furthest.

At events in the next few years the Lions provided Pick-a-Straw, Roll-a-Penny, Tombola and Teddies stalls, basket weaving and refreshments.

The 200 Club which helps to provide regular income for charitable work had been running since 1969 and the four annual draws have been taking place since then.

The First Donkey Derby was held in August 2013.

Jumble Sales were regularly held

Funds were raised to provide a Scanner for QV Hospital Eye Bank

Money was raised in the 1980's by collecting waste newspapers

An Ambulance was donated to the Red Cross

Four Defibrillators have been donated to the Town in conjunction with the First Responders See Defibrillators Page

Attendance at other Lions Club Carnivals and events with stalls, Firework Displays,

Community Service:

For full details of our current Community Service activities see the Services Page

Other Key Services from the past included:

Senior Citizens Party which has been running for 40 years

The Holiday Caravan was in operation in 1979 but had recently been discontinued after over 20 years and is now replaced by Tailored Holidays at different locations.

Support to the Guinea Pig Club for their 75th Anniversary. This club has now ceased to operate.

Contributions were made to the Toy Library

Key People:

A list of Past Presidents since formation can be viewed by Clicking Here.

The longest serving Club Officer was Lion Secretary Jim Ikin (1993 – 2013)

Don James joined the club in July 1969

Ron Millen was Treasurer for a total of 19 years

Melvin Jones Fellowships have been awarded to: Don James, Jim Ikin, Jim Miller, Ron Millen and Ian Forbes

Current Members:

At the 50 Year anniversary the following 20 people were members of the club:

Mike Barty		Roger Mead	Keith Pratt	Sean McDonnell	Tony Gurney
Sharan Billings	Paul Johnson	Ron Millen	Brian Richens	Gilly Foley	Nick Gibson
Ian Forbes	Michael Kearney	Jim Miller	Rod Standing	Tim Green	Chris Brasher
Roger Harris	Roddy Mackenzie	John Noble	Roger Sutcliffe	Angela Kyle
Harry Horsburgh	Richard Maynard	Richard Parr	Lynn Graysmark	Bob Norton

Memorable Moments:

The slide show below contains pictures from the early 1970's through to the 1990's

Lions International:

Lions was formed in Oak Brook, Illinois in the USA by Melvin Jones on 7 June 1917 with the stated aim "what if successful business men because of their dive, intelligence and ambition were to put those talents to work improving their communities? You can't get very far until you start doing something for somebody else". There are now over 46,000 clubs in 200 countries around the world with 1.4 million members. The Melvin Jones Fellowships are awarded for contributions of more than $1000 to the local community.

The Lions motto is "We Serve" and the word Lions stands for Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nations Safety. Our key aims are:

▪ To Organise, charter and supervise service clubs to be known as Lions clubs.

▪ To Coordinate the activities and standardise the administration of Lions clubs.

▪ To Create and Foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world.

▪ To Promote the principles of good government and good citizenship.

▪ To Take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the community.

▪ To Unite the clubs in the bonds of friendship, good fellowship and mutual understanding.

▪ To Provide a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided, however, that partisan politics and sectarian religion, shall not be debated by club members.

▪ To Encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward, and to encourage efficiency and promote high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavours.

The Way Forward:

The club continues to look for ways to support people in the local community and has started a Dream Scheme. Please see the Service page for details

Return to the Club Page

updated 2.2.21