PAGE 24 • FESTIVE NEWS • DECEMBER 201È
CLUB’S PROJECT TO SAVE LIVES
Hereford Lions Club has launched
a scheme to buy life-saving defibrillators for the city, each costing
£1,000. The first was presented to
Belmont Community Centre.
Another has been placed in
Riverside School, Hunderton.
The club is seeking a suitable
outdoor location for one of the
vital machines in High Town and
want to hear from any city centre
businesses who can help.
Said Colin Smith, “After a
cardiac arrest every minute without
CPR reduces the chances of
survival by 10% so the more
readily available defibrillators are
the better the chances are of an
individual surviving.”
LIONS FIX DISNE
BATTEN DISE
Colin Smith hands over the first
machine to John Newman and
Lyndsey Evans.
TEDDIES BRING SMILES TO
CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL
A soft cuddly toy works
wonders for youngsters
facing treatment in the
children’s ward at
Hereford
County
Hospital and Hereford
Lions Club answered a
plea for more with a
delivery of 100 little
teddies.
Sister Lynne Butler
said: “Coming into hospital can be quite upsetting for babies and young
children and we have found that giving them the opportunity to choose a
cuddly toy helps settle them. We were running low and are grateful to Lions
Club for their donation which will delight 100 of our young patients. Gifts
of soft toys are always welcomed.”
Said Lion Colin Smith, “We have a long association with the children’s
ward, especially on Christmas Day morning when we escort Santa to deliver
presents to those children in hospital over the festive period. Seeing the smile
on their faces when Santa walks in is very special and I am sure these
teddies will also help turn tears into smiles.”
Picture: Colin and Sister Lynne Butler present the first of the teddies to
seven year old Harry Rees and three and a half month old Dexter Read, both
of whose families live in Hereford.
Herefor
in Commun
LIONS HELP
FLOOD VICTIMS
A family devastated by the news that three of their
four children had been diagnosed with the life
limiting Batten Disease are creating a ‘Memory
Bank’ for the youngsters – and Hereford Lions
Club helped launch it with a £3,800 family
holiday to DisneyLand, Paris.
When club members heard of the tragedy
facing the Penn family who live in, Bobblestock
they moved swiftly to help and booked the trip to
the famous French resort full of all the Disney
characters loved by children. Twins Toby and
Corey, 12, and their sister Izzy, 7 are all affected
by the deadly disease. Amber, 11 is free of it.
The 200 revellers at Hereford Lions Club’s annual
New Year’s Eve party in the city helped raise
almost £1,500 to aid the victims of the disastrous
floods in the north of England over the Christmas
period .A raffle for a wheelbarrow full of festive
drinks raised £745, an amount doubled by match
funding from Barclay’s Bank. Said party organiser
Lion Keith Martin: “We had all been shocked by
the terrible tragedy which hit Cumbria and other
areas in the North and everyone at the party
wanted to support all those families whose homes
and possessions had been ruined in the floods.”
FAST CAR WISH
GRANTED
Above: The twins’ favo
Left: Izzy gets a hug fro
The twins are already
affecting just 64 childre
Mum Denise said: “T
memories which will la
Said former club pres
youngsters who face a v
It was the first project
of selling the club’s for
those in need, but closed
Back in Hereford afte
children. The staff were
previously known from
to the Lions.”
Christopher ready for his spin in a
Lamborghini
Ten year old Christopher Gibbons loves fast cars
but will never be able to drive one because he
suffers from muscular dystrophy and relies on a
wheelchair to get around. But his wish to go for
a ride in two of the fastest cars in the world - a
Lamborghini and a Ferrari -has been granted by
Hereford Lions Club.
Christopher lives with his parents Colin and
Clare Gibbons and his brother Ben, 9, in
Bartestree and last Christmas when the Lions
Santa Sleigh arrived in the village he mentioned
his passion for speed. One of Santa’s helpers,
Lion John Edmunds decided the ideal present
would be a visit to a racing circuit near
Cowbridge in South Wales which boasts a
collection of Top Gear style motors . Said dad
Colin, a Hereford fireman: “Seeing his smiling
face when he got out of the cars was priceless.
We can’t thank the Lions Club enough for such
a wonderful kind gesture”
LIONS TRANSPORT SERVIC
Hereford Lion’s Clubs community transport service has been running for over 40 year
lifeline for a number of groups including the elderly, the handicapped and even youngs
group were members of Herefordshire Carers Association being taken on a trip to watc
class football match at West Bromich Albion. Driver Ian Foster (left) is the club’s trans
officer.