Christmas Greetings
from Lions President
PAGE 2 • FESTIVE NEWS • DECEMBER 2014
One of the privileges of being President of
Hereford Lions Club is the opportunity to
wish everyone reading Festive News a
very Merry Christmas and may the New
Year bring you and your family the peace
and joy we all seek in our lives. More
importantly, I am sure you will all join
with me in expressing the fervent hope
that in the year ahead those regions of the
world torn apart by mindless fighting will
be able to reconcile their differences so
that their people can again live in peace.
How lucky we are that here in Hereford
Christmas really is a time for joyful
celebrations shared with family and
friends in the warmth and safety of our
homes, with plenty to eat and presents
galore to open. Let us all take a moment
to think of those hundreds of thousands
forced by fighting to flee their homes and
seek shelter in refugee camps. The worst
we have suffered is a few years of
recession, thankfully now at an end,
forcing a cutback on festive spending.
But, as we report on the front page,
Hereford is gearing up for a record festive
spending
spree
this
year
and
unemployment is at record low levels. So
we do have lots of good news to celebrate
– and lots of new and exciting shops to
hunt out Christmas presents. Of course, for
my Lions team this is an extra busy time,
helping Santa take his Sleigh around the
streets of Hereford and nearby villages as
well as giving him support at his Grotto at
Wyevale Garden Centre. I am particularly
proud of all their hard work organizing
year round fund raising events, from car
boots to pub quizzes – and raising some
£40,000 each year to support local
THE ULTIMATE DREAM
Fifty years ago Martin Luther King
famously declared ... ‘I had a Dream.’
His ‘Dream’ was of a world in which all men were born equal. Much has been achieved, but
sadly there are still many inequalities, in all forms, which plague this world of ours. It is at
Christmas tim e that our minds tend to dwell on such things. After all, it is the time when we
proclaim: ‘Peace and Goodwill To All Men.’ If only that message could last into the New
Year.
We can all ‘Dream’ just like Martin Luther King. We all, surely, want a world free of
violence, hunger and homelessness. Here in Herefordshire we are free of the terrible things
from around the World beamed daily into our front rooms via the television. Life is
comfortable and safe, as it should be for everyone.
My ‘Dream’ would be that that the rest of the world can enjoy a life of peace and harmony;
free from the ravages of war and starvation. I invite you to share that ‘Dream’ with me.
I am privileged to be a member of Lions International, a worldwide organization devoted
to bringing humanitarian aid to nations hit by natural disasters, conflicts, or poverty. How
wonderful it would be if Lions International became redundant; that ‘Peace and Goodwill’
became the norm across the world. Now, that really would be a ‘Dream’ worth having!!
Editor
LIONS FESTIVE NEWS
Editor: George Thomas
Advertising Manager: Keith Martin
community projects. As this is a time for
giving gifts can I just say how pleased I
was to be able to visit the Victoria Eye
Unit at the County Hospital and present
them with a new £14,000 digital eye
camera which will be a great benefit to
those of you with eye problems.
Finally, I do hope you find the 21st
edition of Lions Festive News both
interesting and useful. It comes to you
with our thanks for all your support yet
again this year and our best wishes that
your Christmas will be a special one.
Mike Poole
President
Hereford Lions Club
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