DG Alastair Joel Pride of Lions trict 2021 – Dis 105A Ne • June ws e 12 Issu ww w.lio ns10 5a.or g.uk • inf o@lio ns105 a.org.uk A very successful Green Project

ur Environmental Project has finally come to closure. LC of Friends of Pinner View Garden showed their gratitude by OLondon Central Host with Lion Girdhar organised a litter installing a brass plaque, shown in the photo. Visitors regularly pick at Pinner Village Gardens on 24 October 2020. This had to stop at the flower bed and read the citation. Daily Park visitors be cancelled due to lockdown. Not disheartened, Friends of PVG from Harrow, Pinner, Northwood and neighbouring areas, even asked if London Central Host Lions including Wembley, are on the increase. Many Club would sponsor planting new more take a look and read the Plaque with LIONS trees. Not daunted by seemingly CLUB name so prominently displayed. impossible task of finding sponsors The visitors consider this park a clean (in every for eight Himalayan Silver Birch sense including drugs etc) and beautiful - well trees @ £300 each, Lion Girdhar maintained by a team of volunteers. With our help rose to the challenge. they have added so many beautiful trees Acer & He started campaign and Japanese Cherry Trees etc appealed to park visitors, This has been an excellent PR excercise as well neighbours and friends for as an Enviornment achievment for our LIONS Club support. He also dropped almost – A real 2 in 1 !! 300 flyers appealing for help. He Lion President Manji Kara was pleasantly surprised by public London Central Host response to sponsor eight Himalayan Silver Birch Trees and Prunus Kansan tree. Encouraged by the success, Friends of PVG, proposed further improvements. A WW2 bunker found in front of these Birch trees needed about 50cm of top soil to plant more suitable bushes/plants at an estimated cost of £3500! Public responded generously to donation appeal. Lion Girdhar’s efforts so far have received over £6748 in donations. - 60% contribution from public, 20% from Lion members and 20% from his golfing mates. The funds have been transferred to PVG account. The Thank You plaque and raised flowerbed

...... NOTICE BOARD ...... Come and join us for the Handover I have booked The Aubrey Park Hotel, Hemel Hempstead Rd, Redbourn, St Albans AL3 7AF for Saturday 24th July with the plan to hold a formal black tie evening. Kindness and Diversity We are waiting for confirmation from the Government that restrictions will be lifted LCI Ethics: and our event can take place. We hope this announcement may be as early as Whenever a doubt arises as to the right next week, at that point booking forms will be sent to all. or ethics of my position or action DG Alastair towards others, to resolve such doubt against myself.

Helping children Clean Up at Southall fighting Cancer DG Abhnash Bains took part at Manor House Grounds in cheque presentation of £11,300 was made from District to Pthe litter picking for Great Southall Clean Up to improve ASupershoes. The photo shows DG Alastair, Zone Chair the environment where she met other volunteers to support Amarjit Soora and myself, with the Supershoes official. Cathy Swift and her team of LAGER Can members. PDG Doreen Allen She was accompanied by MP Virendra Sharma, Spencer Henry Corin, Deputy Mayor of Southall Cllr Mohinda Midha, GP Dr Murataza, Lion Srik and Lion Jatinder of Heston Branch Lions Club, Gurminder Randhawa -Senior Vice President Indian Overseas Congress UK and many others doing their bit for the environment. It is their way to contribute to a cleaner and healthier community and tackle out-of-control waste. Together they litter picked almost 35 bags from Marlow, Windsor, Osterley Park View, Grosvenor, etc. As a volunteer she explains, “Litter begets litter. Individuals are much more likely to litter into a littered environment. By contrast, a clean community discourages littering and improves overall community quality of life”. So if you see a rogue piece of trash on your morning or evening walk, pick it up and throw it away.

Nominations for DG, 1st Vice DG and 2nd Vice DG for 2022/2023

ominations shall be in accordance with the International Nand District Constitution and must be submitted to the District Constitution, Nominations and Resolutions Officer together with a signed copy of the Minutes of the club supporting the nomination. At this call: A nomination for District Governor 2022/2023 may only be submitted on behalf of the 1st Vice District Governor Lion Kavaljit Dev of Letchworth Garden City & Baldock Lions Club. A nomination for 1st Vice District Governor 2022/2023 may only be submitted on behalf of the 2nd Vice District Governor Lion Lesley Spence of Harrow & Pinner Lions Club. Nominations for 2nd Vice District Governor for 2022/2023 should be submitted on the application form available from the District Constitution, Nominations and Resolutions Officer at the address below together with a signed copy of the Minutes of the club supporting the nomination. Completed nominations must be received by: PDG Lion Elliot Shubert by email to – [email protected] by 15th August 2021 Lion Minesh Mehta District Constitution, Nominations

Pride of LIONS • Issue 12, June 2021 Editor Lion Shirish Sheth London Central Host Lions making most of the Lockdown

he first Lions Club of GB, LC Our very senior Tof London Central Host, member Lion Girdhar rose to the challenges of the Sodha a regular “Pandemic Year of our lives” walker and user of and made the most of 2020-21. Pinner Village Garden Since April 2020 our club has Park led the initiative to clean continued its Club meetings via ZOOM and upgrade the park which each month with greater member required more trees and other Christmas hampers participation and attendances of up to improvements. Girdhar by his 60-75% in contrast to 50% at our normal sole efforts launched an Appeal for Third World countries for distribution to the meetings. This year our Club completed a donations in the area by distributing needy. We have dispatched over 15,000 historic 70 years of Lions establishment in pamphlets widely around the park. His spectacles to France in last six months. British Isles and Ireland. As our planned tenacious efforts raised over £7,500 from Club members worked in different celebrations were curtailed due to the public and members of our club. areas to collect food from supermarkets Covid19 restrictions we produced a Girdhar's contribution was not only highly and kitchens which was distributed to Special Lapel Pin and T Shirts for all our appreciated by the local people but it several sheltered homes, hospitals and members. raised the profile of our Club and Lionism in other places. LP Manji along with other Our year started with the first ever general. Beside this major contribution for members of Club distributed Christmas Virtual Fund Raising event in June 2020 Environment, our Club helped Ashburnham Food Hampers at Sheltered Home in with a Bollywood Music Concert on Zoom Community School Chelsea Garden Project Harrow. We donated to North Paddington where Famous Duo of London’s Bollywood by donating £500 with the Grant from Food Bank £ 1400. Singers Veda and Shreeji, were the European Lions. LP Manji cycled 25 miles daily to highlight. Audiences joined in from U.K., complete 250 miles to collect over £520 for USA., India and also from Australia. Club Prostate Cancer U.K.Club also donated to collected over £1,400 for Macmillan DG’s Spouse Charity Brain Tumour and Cancer Support. Macmillan Coffee Cancer Research UK Mornings have been organised each year PDG Max Mongia organised a chain of since 2017 by Lion Vijay Jain in memory of Marathon races in India by his staff his wife who was Cancer Victim. member Mr. Siddhesa and collected over First service activity at the start of £1100 for Korle Bu Eye Hospital. For India Lockdown, in March 2020, was making Corvid Appeal club collected over £3,600. Hospital Scrubs and wash bags. Our ever In all Club sent 0ver £5500 to LCIF. helpful President Elect Lion Manji’s wife Beside Fund Raising our Club was also Shantaben was already involved in successful in increasing its membership stitching these NHS Scrubs at home. Hence our Members pooled in and collected over £1,000 for buying clothing material and gave to her team who stitched over 300 sets and gave to various Hospitals including West Herts Trust, Noha’s Ark Children Hospice and Peace Hospice Watford.

Lion Vijay Jain with the recycling bin

Our club’s Used Spectacles Collection Sorting out the spectacles Programme has been very successful. In September 2020 our young member Yesim during this challenging period. In a unique Dilek, a Pharmacist designed a Collection Zoom Meeting we added six new members, Bin from Swinging Type Plastic Can with five by inducting new Member and one on attractive label. Club agreed to produce Club transfer. The whole ceremony was these Bins in large quantity and offered conducted on Zoom where Chief Guest them to other clubs in the District at a was PID Lion Robert Rettby from Switzerland subsidised unit price. Four club members and attended by 15 VIP Lions from different visited Chichester Lions to donate five full countries joining from their homes. We are boxes of spectacles. During the visit we just two short of our goal of 50 members, discussed the idea of collecting Spectacles the largest club in District 105A or may be in from various Clubs and send them directly MD 105 but happily there are 3 prospective Medico-Lions of Le Havre France who have members are waiting to be inducted. a large facility of sorting, cleaning and Lions Vijay Jain & Nilesh Palan Making scrubs for NHS recycling specs. Later they send them to London Central Host Lions Club LC of Redbridge Centennial 2022 International normal service resumes Convention relocated

embers of Redbridge Centennial Lions Club (CIO) today ue to the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19, Mresumed our food distribution for the homeless and Dthe International Board of Directors has voted to relocate hungry following the Covid-19 lock down restrictions. the 2022 Lions International Convention from New Delhi, India LP Anant Patel was accompanied by LS Dr Ranjan Adur and to Montréal, Canada. his wife, Lion Jasbir S Mann and PP Lion Harvinder Virdee. The ongoing travel and health advisories, and the size and While delivering food they also delivered 50 Care Packs and complexity of our convention, led to this difficult decision. The Diabetes Awareness booklets and leaflets for the homeless. board of directors also agreed to host a future convention in PP Lion Harvinder Virdee the beautiful city of New Delhi in a mutually-agreed upon year. Unfortunately, this is not the first time COVID-19 has required our organization to make adjustments for the health and safety of our Lions, staff, vendors and local communities. In 2020, the board of directors voted to cancel the Singapore convention due to the government of Singapore restricting entry to the country. In January 2021. the 103rd Lions Clubs International Convention was transformed from an in-person event in Montréal, Canada to the organization’s first virtual convention in response to the ongoing global pandemic. We would like to recognize our Lions in India who are such an important part of our Lion family. They have been dealing with a very challenging moment in their country, like so many others around the world. We know that Lions are working there to safely serve their communities, and everywhere we serve. While COVID-19 has forced us to change the way we live, work and serve, we will continue to meet this challenge together. We will be working to move ahead with planning our 2022 international convention in Montréal, which will take place from June 24-28, 2022. As plans come together, we will be sure to communicate them to the Lions of the world. I thank you all for your perseverance through these unprecedented times. Regards, Dr. Jung-Yul Choi International President

Is your Club Excellent ?

Social Media Workshop espite the challenges that we have faced this year, we Dhave some amazing achievements from service to membership that we should be proud of. have great pleasure in inviting you to the first workshop of Is your club striving to finish the year with a net growth in Iour Lionistic year. membership? Has your club participated in at least three Join Lion Melissa and Lion Kavaljit Dav as they guide us service projects? Are you promoting your club's events or through how to use Facebook and other Social Media platforms activities to the community? If you answered yes to these to increase the visibility of your club in your community. This questions, you may be eligible for the Club Excellence Award. workshop is open to all Lions of 105A. The Club Excellence Award is more than an award... it is proof that your club is STRONG! You are invited to a Zoom meeting on: Check at https://www.lionsclubs.org/en/resources-for- Jul 10, 2021 at 10 AM members/resource-center/club-excellence-awards Please Register in advance for this meeting: I encourage you all to look at the Club Excellence Award https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMoc- and urge you to apply if you have fulfilled the criteria listed. I yppz8sGtdMH6czD-xGzP-oox31mZaL will need to sign any applications. The deadline is 31st August. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email I look forward to a full inbox! containing information about joining the meeting. Thank you for your contribution in making the world a Lion Lesley Spence better place and for strengthening your Lions club 2nd Vice DG Elect, GLT Lead 2021/22 DG Alastair Belmont Lions’ Sensory Project

n the 2nd of June 2021 we Environmental team for approving the All of our club members came osuccessfully completed our project grant from LCI to support our club in together and donated in order to make at the local school with our team. We carrying out this wonderful project. up the difference, have the opportunity to stayed true to our pledge and set up the Also big thank you to the Head complete this beautiful project and help sensory garden as we had hoped. Teacher Jo and her husband Mr Prasath make a difference on well deserving A big thank you to Lion Sandro from the School for their support and children (with wheel chair access) at Castellana, PCC Peter and the kindness. Whitchurch Primary School and Nursery, Belmont, Harrow. Please see the pictures from Sensory garden. LP Shanthy, LC of Belmont New members

ondon-Hendon Lions Club's Branch Heston inducted 6 new members on 11th June 2021. DG Alastair inducted Abdul, Julian, LSuperna, Javinder, Shahzad and Mahendra sponsored by Jatinder Kaur & Jasdev Rehncy making a total of 16 members in the Club Branch guided by Lion Srik of Hendon Lion Minesh Mehta

ROAR team update & support Senior Citizens Celebrations

lease update us on your club’s position with ROAR, so we can have had many inquiries with regard to the ever popular Poffer support if needed, as there is only 3 weeks before Ibiggest service activity of our District 105A, namely the Senior entries close. Final date for registration is July 18th. Citizens Celebrations. So far across all Districts 86 schools have been entered . That I can confirm that Byron Hall in Harrow has been booked for 27 is at least 14,000 children who will be taking part in ROAR 2021. Feb 2022. We hope we will be able to continue with this activity. We are sure with the great uptake of clubs in our District Lion Parveen Verma attending the ROAR Video presentations and the feedback from clubs that many clubs are still approaching, or working with their schools or are in the position to send monies to the District Treasurer and or register their schools on the system with 8 Billion Ideas . India Covid Appeal by BAPIO To give us a picture of where we are as a District it would be great if you could let us know what is happening in your club by he British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin ( BAPIO) answering the questions below. Tis a voluntary organisation for doctors of Indian sub- 1. Did your club decide to approach local Primary Schools continental origin, established in 1996 and based in the United about ROAR 2021? Kingdom. BAPIO is planning to provide free telemedicine 2. Do you have any schools to enter into ROAR 2021? - Can we support to increase the manpower and health care staff in help with that? India. They also plan to supply food supply to needy in 3. Do you have schools you still need to follow up on? - Can we collaboration with Akshaya Patra UK help in any way? LC of Chipping Barnet decided to donate £ 501 to BAPIO DG Alastair Joel and 2nd VDG Elect Lesley Spence directly rather than LCIF. ROAR Team 21/22 Lion Parveen Verma DG Alastair’s Adventures

t is with sadness that I am writing my last Alastair’s IAdventures for my year as DG. What an exciting year it has been. Different and difficult… yes, but my strapline ‘Without Challenge there is no Achievement’ has certainly lived up to its name! I am going to highlight our achievements as District 105A the A team this year. Starting with Service, the pandemic has refocused our efforts to serve, giving up our time to support the need in our local and wider communities. Hunger has been supported by many of you, whether by giving time, donations of food and drink or money. There are food projects around our District. The Food cupboard in Milton Keynes, the London Community Kitchen in Harrow, Food with Love in Isleworth. LC of Seven Kings have opened 6 food banks this year and a charity shop to fund the project. All clubs have taken the opportunity to apply for the hunger grants from the District. A total of £12,000 was given away to help your projects. At Convention time a service project to providing care packs was launched. This has been well received and over 1000 packs have been put together and distributed. During the winter months sleeping bags were provided for the homeless by funds from the District, clubs and the public too. I challenged the District to plant one tree per member. If only we did have over 2000 members in our District! Supershoes In August last year we launched the new appeal to support Childhood cancer. I am delighted to report that you have provided 161 pairs of to good use within your communities. shoes to young people Many clubs have been supporting the vaccination suffering from cancer in programme, providing marshals for the car park, meters, our District. greeters and administrators. 6 clubs including our Whatever service your club has achieved this year, Leos applied for and thank you. Your selfless dedication has helped to make the were awarded European world a better place. Environmental grants. I am pleased to update the reporting figures, 98% of These have all been put clubs have reported their activities this year serving over 570,000 people. A truly remarkable achievement. Our training programme this year has all been virtual, with a variety of topics to suit everyone. There has been a greater attendance because there has been no need to travel and of course no cost to you. I am glad to say that this approach is being adopted going forward too. Despite the difficulties we have faced this year, clubs have still recruited new members. I welcome all those members who joined the A team this year. I hope you enjoy your service journey. All clubs will have received 100 business cards to give out at events that your club is doing. There is a space to put your clubs contact details on. So much easier than trying to find a pen and paper when somebody shows an interest in Lions. The membership drop-in sessions have proved successful, an opportunity to share ideas, concerns and celebrate success. These sessions will continue next year Emergency care pack at MK Lions food shop too, with guest speakers joining us to share their thoughts on this important topic.

continued over I am delighted that 105A the A team has been selected to take part in the pilot scheme of the Global Membership Approach (GMA). This is an opportunity to grow our membership through membership satisfaction and new clubs, using the tools that are already available to assist us. A team is in place and the programme will be rolled out from the 1 July. Gemma’s charity for this year is Brain Tumour Research. We have been overwhelmed by the support received from you all. Monies raised is in excess of £7,500. I am planning to jump out of a plane (with DG at MK Lions food cupboard a parachute on) to boost that figure. Christmas cards were sold last year in aid of BTR. Following and Peace Essay to represent our Multiple District in the the success of this project there are cards available this International Competition. Several young people entered the year for not only Christmas but for Birthdays too. These can Young Ambassador Competition, with the winner be purchased from the lovely ladies at MDHQ. representing our District in the Multiple District Competition. I One of the highlights of every year is of course the am excited that the ROAR programme has become an District Convention. Whilst we held out for a face-to-face official MD project. There is lots of enthusiasm from clubs to event, we were of course forced to go virtual. Despite having take part. I shall be the Officer for next year and had hoped never done anything like this before, a truly memorable for 20 schools, although I may be revising this figure event took place, celebrating the successes of 105A, the A because of the positive feedback so far! team. Many of us dressed up in the evening for the I must mention the Leos for their hard work throughout Champagne drinks reception too. this year; they have continued to serve their communities, Whilst on the virtual platform, Gemma and I hosted a planted trees, and are continuing to support the schools Christmas Drinks party, making cocktails, enjoying a festive connected to the Grenfell disaster. quiz, chatting and having some festive cheer in an otherwise As my year comes to an end, I will not be disappearing difficult time. into the shadows. I will be visiting clubs that I have not been In January as we faced yet another lockdown, the weekly able to over the past 18 months. I have a position on Fireside chats were launched, giving a chance for members Karanjeet’s Cabinet next year and will continue to offer to come together and listen to music, chat and just enjoy support to the DGs team going forward. the company of friends. These will come to an end in June, In the induction ceremony, there is a line that says ‘You after six months of fun. My thanks to those of you who have will make friends that will last a lifetime’. In my leadership attended either as one of our regular attendees or just as a journey we have certainly done that, I look forward to being one off. able to reaffirm those friendships and make some more too. The demands on our Foundation continue to grow. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as your Despite the difficulties for clubs in raising money, over District Governor. I hope I have lived up to the expectation. £35,000 has been donated this year to LCIF and five clubs We have certainly been ‘Challenged’; however, we have have so far signed up to become Model Clubs, we hope a certainly ‘Achieved’. few more may do so before the end of the year. You have made me extremely proud to be DG and I Our Youth programmes have been as popular as ever. thank you for your Service, Friendship and Support. District 105A, the A team, provided the winning Peace Poster Stay safe and well… ’till we meet again.

My Diary June 2021 Communicating with Lions by digital means and phone calls.

From the Editor his is my last issue as the Editor of Pride of Lions. I have been the Editor and also the publisher of Pride of Lions for 14 years. I Thave enjoyed the role tremendously, and I hope I have been an unbiased and fair Editor, serving the District well. I have tried my best to include every article that was sent to me, including nudging Lion members to contribute and assuring them that their Club service activity or donation were very worthwhile to share with other Clubs. I would like to thank ALL the previous 14 District Governors who put their complete trust in me and supported me fully. I thank DG Alastair, who despite a difficult pandemic year, always supported with a smile and a joke. I must thank my design and publishing team who have supported me throughout the last 14 years without a complaint. As one of my predecessors, Paul Anstice had said, it must be time for “out with the old, in with the new”. I wish the new Editor every success. Lion Shirish Sheth

Editor Lion Shirish Sheth Designed and Printed by Bounds Green Press [email protected] 07534 059920