Our History
How Lions came to Burgess Hill
In Chicago 1916 it was customary for businessmen to join one of the hundreds of luncheon clubs and in ‘Business Circle’ a certain Melvin Jones was disappointed that the energetic intelligent members were selfishly looking after their own interests when it would be more satisfying to fulfill the needs of the local community.
Melvin Jones discussed the idea with others and on 7th June 1917, five clubs: Optimists, Vortex, Association of St. Paul, Royal Order of Lions and Business Circle decided to merge. They subsequently held a
convention in Dallas on 8th October and agreed to call the organisation ‘Lions International’. Its aim would be ‘Service in the Community and assistance to the less fortunate’. Twenty two clubs attended.
Three years later, Lionism extended to Canada, then a club in China in 1926, and in 1948 to Europe with the formation of Stockholm, Sweden. Growth was now rapid and the first club in Great Britain was London (Host) in 1949, the second chartered club was Brighton in 1950 and the twenty-first club, Burgess Hill District in 1955.
How the money generated by our fund-raising activities is spent
The Burgess Hill District Lions Club (BHDLC) has supported a wider range of organisations, clubs and individuals over the past 60 years than can be mentioned in this booklet. The book therefore attempts to cover a number of the more major and interesting projects that the club has been involved with, along with a snapshot of the fund raising activities that the club participates in, to fund all of the donations.
Major Donations during the last 10 years
‘Respect’ Youth Club
In the summer of 2007 three Residents’ Associations in Burgess Hill decided that there was a need in their area of the town for a Youth Club that would cater for the needs of local youngsters aged between 9 and 15 years.
BHDLC agreed to provide some funds to help with the setting up costs and we provided two members to sit on the organising committee. With help from the local Councillors, the local Church, all three Residents’ Associations and the local Police, the ‘Respect’ Youth Club was officially opened in October 2007.
Since then the Youth Club has grown into a very successful local club with an average membership of 60 and an average of 20 children attending each weekly session. The Youth Club leader and her helpers have done a fantastic job in making the Club a success and we are sure that this success will continue into the future.
Over the years BHDLC has organised several fund-raising events in aid of ‘Respect’ and helped the Youth Club with its own fund-raising. In 2012, BHDLC agreed to formalise their association with the Youth Club and officially adopted ‘Respect’ under the ‘Lions Adopt a Youth Club’ scheme. This means that a BHDLC member sits on the Youth Club committee; it also means that BHDLC provide support if it is needed and help the Club to raise funds.
Training Ship Indomitable (TSI) – ‘Saving of the Nautical Training Corps (NTC) Hall in Burgess Hill’
In October 2010 the members of BHD Lions were made aware that the community hall in Leylands Park, Burgess Hill, was failing to meet basic hygiene standards and was in danger of having to close. The hall is owned by the NTC and was used on a weekly basis by several community groups, including TSI and the ‘Respect’ Youth Club. Unfortunately the NTC did not have funds available to finance the improvements needed to the hall.
The BHD Lions decided that the hall should be saved and help and support was given to the NTC. This started with a BHDLC presentation that outlined how they could help the NTC and how the Club would be able to help fund the necessary improvement works. A committee was formed to fully investigate the amount of work required. Over a period of several months, details were agreed and drawings and specifications prepared for the works that included new toilets, a disabled toilet, a new kitchen and new storage areas.
Construction work started at the end of 2011 and in February 2012 the refurbished hall was opened. Since then the hall has continued to be used by TSI and the ‘Respect’ Youth Club. Other community groups have made full use of the improved facilities as well. TSI celebrated its 50 year anniversary in its newly refurbished facilities. At the celebration, Commanding Officer – Chief Officer Ann Tyrell NTC, was keen to pass on a message from one young man who had made a point of coming to say thank you – “It means so much that I can do this for myself and not need somebody else to help me.”
Lion President for 2012, John Thompson, expressed that it was comments such as these that made it all worthwhile – “We know how this facility was and we knew the work would benefit people and groups from across the area and open the building to local groups of all abilities.”
Burgess Hill Guides – Guide Hall Improvement Project
In 2013, we were able to give a sizeable grant towards the improvement of the Guide Hall in Burgess Hill. The original Hall was built in the late 1950’s and had had little updating since then. Our grant helped towards the building of a Conservatory for activities and use as a tea room at Garden Fetes.
The project also included additional toilets and shower facilities which were built to meet the disabled requirements. The existing Hall also received a makeover.
When the work was completed Lion President John Gee and some of our Members visited on the Guide Fete Day and were shown the Project.
Beacon District Girl Guides – Hassocks Guide Hut Refurbishment Project
In 2007, an urgent appeal was made to Burgess Hill District Lions for a donation to help renovate the Guide Hut in Semley Road, Hassocks.
The hut, the location for weekly meetings for over 150 Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers had become unusable owing to a drainage problem. The floor collapsed in places and all groups had to move out. While the problem was being explored, it was seen that the hall was showing its age generally and several things were identified as needing action in order to make the hut a more welcoming place for meetings.
The Lions made a much appreciated and significant donation, which allowed the initial work to begin on solving the drainage issues and repairing the floor. It was a wonderful ‘kick-start’ to the girls’ own fund raising and ensured the girls could return to their hut after just a term.
BHDLC have also helped the 1st Hassocks Scout group with a new HQ roof, 5th Burgess Hill Scout group with rebuilding their Scout Hut after a serious fire and the 1st Hurstpierpoint Scouts with provisioning of Canoes for the Scouts activities.
Defibrillators
In August 2011, Lions Janet Walton and Christine Muschamp recommended that the BHDLC should provide defibrillators for schools in our area. Lions Janet and Christine had seen a television documentary that had highlighted the need for life-saving defibrillators to be located in every school.
The members of BHDLC immediately agreed to find out which local schools would be interested in having a defibrillator and enquiries were sent initially to the four senior schools in the area covered by BHDLC.
In the three years following the tabling of the idea the members of BHDLC have worked with Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome UK (SADS UK) and the Mid Sussex Community First Responders to provide defibrillators in 8 local schools and 6 other strategic locations.
This has become an ongoing project and the members of BHDLC are committed to identifying other locations in the area that will benefit from having a life-saving defibrillator. On the completion of the rebuilding of Hassocks Railway Station in early 2014, the Club presented Gordon Marples (the Chairman of Mid Sussex District Council) with a defibrillator and a cabinet for installation at the station. BHDLC has another 24/7 defibrillator planned for Ditchling, which is being purchased jointly with Ditchling Parish Council. So far, 16 defibrillators have been installed over the area covered by the Club.
Specsavers & Hearing Aids
This is still very much an ongoing project, with collecting points throughout Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint and Burgess Hill, including the Book Den. Specsavers are our main contributor. When spectacles are collected they go via one of our Lions for preparation and dispatch to Chichester Lions via Parcel Force. We are also able to forward hearing aids and hearing equipment to the same destination. As a Lions Club we also work with Specsavers to celebrate ‘Lions World Sight Day’ every October.
Kent, Surrey and Sussex (K.S.S.) Air Ambulance Appeal
‘What Can Be Achieved When Lions Clubs, Club Together’.
In addition to giving support to our local community there are occasions when Lions Clubs unite to undertake a project which extends well beyond their Clubs’ individual boundaries.
In May 2012 Clubs within the SE of England were asked to club together to support the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust. The challenge was to raise £250,000 for this charity over a ten year period. The monies raised would be used to purchase vital night flying equipment for aircrew. This will enable the Trust to operate during the hours of darkness, thereby giving for the first time ever a 24 hour, 365 day service – something unmatched anywhere else in England.
In the summer of 2013, a brand new helicopter commenced flying from Redhill Aerodrome, from where it now successfully carries out an average of 10 night time operations a week.
By August 2014, 27 months into the ten year project, Lions Clubs within the SE have raised a staggering £170,000 towards their intended target. With continued support there is every likelihood the final figure will be exceeded.
I-Pads for Children at Woodlands Meed School
In the summer of 2012, Burgess Hill Town Council organised a Marathon that raised £1,010. The Town Council donated this sum to BHDLC with a request that it should be used towards a suitable worthy cause. Through our contacts at Woodlands Meed Special School, we were made aware of the benefit that the children with severe learning difficulties obtained from using I-Pads loaded with specialist educational software.
The members of BHDLC had no hesitation in agreeing to purchase I-Pads to be used by early years pupils. By adding a sum to the amount donated by the Town Council, a total of seven I-Pads were purchased.
In March 2013, following the receipt of a glowing report from the head-teacher of Woodlands Meed School on the benefits that our I-Pad purchase had made, we decided to purchase a further seven I-Pads for the School.
Prior to the purchase of the I-Pads, children with severe speech problems learnt to speak using flip style books which, although useful, were a little restrictive. The I-Pads brought a new dimension to learning in as much as an I-Pad allows the child to hear words and then allows on-going interaction.
Service Charities
Help for Heros
A project was developed where the original plan was to collect reading books, using donations from the Book Den, and send them direct to a Military Unit at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. As a result of the appeal we were inundated with books, but unfortunately the arrangements to send the books was withdrawn, as there was an urgent need to send equipment to Afghanistan and the library space at Camp Bastion became very limited.
A decision was made to sell all the books that had been donated and forward the monies raised to Service charities. The first charity assisted was ‘Help for Heroes’, who sent a representative to a BHDLC business meeting where a substantial cheque was presented.
Hounds for Heroes
In June 2010, BHDLC presented ‘Hounds for Heroes’ with one of the biggest donations received in its early days.
As a result of our introduction, Mr. Allen Parton gave many presentations to Lions Clubs in the UK. Allen spoke from the heart about the rebuilding of his shattered life after serious injury which occurred whilst serving in HM Forces. He did not recognise any of his family and it took the help of a dog named Endal to turn his life around.
Lion President Colin Owen and Lion Simon Scott presented a cheque for a £1,000 on behalf of BHDLC and then a further cheque for £326 was presented by Liz Scott who had recently completed a sponsored walk to raise funds for Hounds for Heroes
Special Concerts Old Age Pensioners (SCOAP) Concerts
It is a great sadness that the SCOAP Concerts are no longer part of our Club’s ongoing programme of events. The reasons behind this are increasing costs, a drop in attendance figures and changes in the expectations of our senior citizens. In the 1950s, the hall hire cost was the equivalent of 50p for the evening – it is now over £300 for the same period! As costs have gone up, attendance has gone down. At the high point 300 people were attending. By 2010 numbers were down to about 100, when the club voted to discontinue this project. Health and Safety requirements had also become more onerous over the years.
Disabled Transport for Finches – a 50th Birthday Donation
In October 2005, the ‘Finches’ centre (part of Chailey Heritage Clinical Services) in Folders Lane, Burgess Hill, took delivery of a new vehicle purchased by the South Downs Health NHS Trust. The £15,000 conversion of this vehicle to a five seat wheelchair carrying minibus was paid for by a 50th Anniversary gift from the BHDLC. The project was originally spearheaded by Lion Sarah Alderson Jenkins, who spent many hours negotiating with the providers to enable this to happen. Lion President Phil Richardson said: “Because this is our 50th Year, we wanted to do something special. We have helped Finches before and we think this is a really good way to spend our money.”
Sue Attwood, team leader at Finches replied: “This is going to be a valuable asset and really appreciated because before today we could not travel together on outings. Because it’s half term, we are going to use it straight away.” At the time, this was the largest single donation BHDLC had made in the history of the Club.
Since this donation was made BHDLC has made further substantial donations to the centre in 2010, to assist with the installation of a Specialised Sensory room and ‘Jungle’ area.
Dipping Pond at Bedelands Nature Reserve
Bedelands Nature Reserve in Burgess Hill is managed by Mid Sussex District Council in conjunction with a charity group known as the Friends of the Burgess Hill Green Circle Network (FOBHGCN). In November 2011, the FOBHGCN asked our Club whether we could finance the construction of a Dipping Platform on a recently dredged and fenced pond on Bedelands Nature Reserve. Mid Sussex District Council had funded the dredging and fencing but there were no funds available from the Council to construct the dipping platform.
The FOBHGCN was of the opinion that this would be a project that would have educational and environmental benefits and once completed it would be the largest facility of its type in Sussex. After careful investigation we agreed to fund the construction of the platform.
Construction of the oak platform was undertaken by Ash Environmental in February 2012. The pond is securely fenced and an information board near its gated entrance gives details of the wildlife that can be found in the pond. Since its construction the dipping platform has proved to be a great attraction for schools and youth groups, who arrange regular visits to the pond to undertake managed pond dipping at all times of the year.
Trauma Teddies
‘No More Trauma for Charlie.’
BHDLC provide Trauma Teddies to young children travelling to hospital in ambulances. Charlie Eyres, who is two and a half, lost his teddy whilst on holiday in Turkey. His mother Jennie said: “He had to go to hospital because he had an asthma attack; the teddy became his favourite toy. We think the maid must have come and swept it up with the laundry or something. We were manically trying to find it, it was a nightmare for us because he can’t sleep without it.” Jenny asked Tony Parris of BHDLC, if he could have a replacement and the Lions gladly provided one.
The Lions purchase 576 five inch teddies for Burgess Hill Ambulance Station every two years and continue to support the Ambulance Service in this manner.
Message in a Bottle
This scheme has been made popular by Lions Clubs around the United Kingdom, but it is not solely a Lions scheme. It was started originally by the late Tom Tracey, who was actively involved with Neighbourhood Watch in Mid Sussex. He used film containers from Boots the Chemist. The simple idea was that anyone living alone, perhaps elderly or in poor health would record their personal and health details, then put the record into a bottle and keep it in their refrigerator. A green cross was then stuck to the front door of their premises and another to the door of their refrigerator to alert the emergency services if the householder was found unable to communicate. The present scheme came about in Mid Sussex when Tom Tracey asked local Lions Clubs to take over the promotion of our version of Message in a Bottle, as he felt it was superior.
The Lions Clubs of Great Britain & Ireland have since committed to distributing these bottles in the community, through Clubs, Doctor’s Surgeries and Pharmacies and many other outlets throughout the UK.
Christmas Hampers
Tesco in Burgess Hill and other local shops in Burgess Hill, Hassocks & Hurstpierpoint co-operated with Lions in collecting suitable food items donated by the public to fill Christmas Hampers for local needy families and individuals. The Lions also made a sizeable donation each year to purchase additional items of food.
Considerable time was taken in collecting, sorting and preparing bags of goods – (at least 2 per household). In total, 120 Christmas Hampers were delivered by Lions and Friends of Lions each year.
More recently, the Lions have made substantial donations to the local Food Bank to purchase items of food for Christmas Hampers, rather than produce the hampers and investigate who the beneficiaries should be themselves.
We believe the BHDLC has made a positive difference at Christmas to the lives of many people in our community.
Toy Library
A sad event for the Club occurred when the Burgess Hill Toy Library, that we had helped form 45 years ago, made the big decision to close. BHDLC has transferred its support to ‘The Windmills Opportunity Playgroup’ who meet at the same venue, Sheddingdean Community Centre, and fulfill a wider brief than the original Toy Library.
Windmills Opportunity Playgroup – Sensory Room
Windmills Opportunity Playgroup has been running in Burgess Hill since 1984. Twenty children attend each session. The playgroup staff are experienced in working with children that have a range of additional needs, including autism, ADHD, special language delay, behavioural problems and epilepsy. The Lions have donated monies towards equipment, toys and a much-needed dedicated Sensory Room over the years. The latter has been operating since September 2013, and offers a calming yet simulating environment for children to spend time with their key person on a 1-1 basis, developing communication, physical and social skills.
Major Fundraising Activities
Book Den
In the last 20 years there have been many changes in our Book Den. Importantly, we have transferred to alternative premises, albeit in the same street in Burgess Hill. With the co-operation of South Downs Nurseries in Hassocks we have opened an annexe in their cafeteria.
We have a band of volunteers, who along with the BHDLC members provide our Lions Club with invaluable assistance in helping to keep the shop open 6 days a week. As a result, turnover has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. This is the most valuable asset the club has.
On any given day you can find around 3,500 books on the shelves, covering about 30 subjects. This is supported by a further 2,000 books in store. All of our books are kindly donated by both local residents and local charity shops (who concentrate on other items).
We sell around a 1,000 books a week together with CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, maps and jigsaws. Unusual and rare books which have been identified by one of our specialist volunteers might be sold to a dealer, put on E Bay or sold at auction. Our policy remains the same – ‘sell quality at an acceptable price and your customers will always return’.
Tombola
The BHDLC’s Tombola, run by Lions Diane Cubitt and Valerie Whitehead, has been running successfully for many years. We are present at Summer fetes and Christmas events, together with regular appearances in the Market Place, Burgess Hill.
All monies raised are distributed back into the community via the Club Welfare Section, in aid of worthy people and organisations. Of late, we have supported The Breast Cancer Appeal – and intend to continue.
Many of our prizes are donated by Members and friends, and we are very appreciative of their support. We are also very well supported by the general public.
Burgess Hill Bike Ride
The Burgess Hill Bike Ride was established by Burgess Hill Lion Malcolm Stephens in 1993 and has been staged annually ever since. For much of this time it has been organised by BHDLC in partnership with (until 2013) the local Round Table. 2014 was the first year of a new partnership with the local Rotary Club as joint organisers.
Over the years, the Burgess Hill Bike Ride has attracted thousands of entrants and has raised around £200,000 for local charities such as Barnardos, Chailey Heritage and St. Peter & St. James Hospice, together with other local charities. In 2014, the main beneficiary was the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance. The event offers circular routes of 10, 20 and 40 miles through the Sussex countryside, with all routes starting and finishing in the centre of Burgess Hill. The photo shows a quilt that was made by Lion Terri Stephens. The decorations come from the ‘T’ shirts that have been created in conjunction with sponsors of the event and worn by entrants over the many years of the event.
Santa’s Grotto
Burgess Hill District Lions first invited Santa to visit their grotto at South Down Nurseries in Hassocks in 2007 and he now asks us if he can return every year!
Santa has a team of two who work with him and this ensures that everything runs smoothly. We normally have around 2,000 children visit, and all profits after paying for the presents goes back into our local community projects.
Lion Tony Parris MJF and Lion Val Parris, along with help from other Lions members, have over the years spent many days in support of this worthy fund raising activity.
Christmas Collections
Burgess Hill Lions Club Christmas Collections have been a much-loved tradition in our area for many years. Our milk float enhanced the magic of the occasion, with Santa silently gliding around the streets, accompanied by suitably festive music and suitably dressed Lions collecting ‘Door to Door’. Parents bringing their young children outside to ‘see Santa’ would speak fondly of their own childhoods, reminiscing over how their parents brought them out too.
In more recent times the ‘Static Collections’ were introduced, with the milk float used for these collections in Burgess Hill, Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint. The static collections were then extended with the introduction of our very popular Teddy Bear Band, ‘Rod’s Rockers’, provided for the Club by our late Lion Rod Palmer. Our furry friends with their magical mobility certainly enchant both children and adults alike. The latest addition to our Christmas Collecting repertoire is our Barrel Organ Santa (presented by Lion Geoff Long), who frantically winds his barrel organ handle to belt out the Christmas favourites.
Christmas Present Wrapping
We are always looking for new and innovative ideas for fund raising and one such idea was brought to the club by a member to boost our Christmas charity collections, in the form of a Christmas Wrapping Service. This was new and we had never tried anything of this nature before but as always willing to take on board fresh thinking.
After some discussion with the managers of the shopping centre, we secured a large decorative wheel barrow in the market place in Burgess Hill town centre and a small team of dedicated wrappers, (not the singing kind of course), each Saturday leading up to Christmas, were there on hand to help the perplexed Christmas shopper and take away some of the stress in wrapping those not so straight forward gifts by disguising, bowing and boxing. Our talents were second to none.
We were also very lucky that a member of the club donated wrapping paper, boxes and all the necessary trimmings, even down to the gift card, which of course the customer wrote themselves. Yes, it was hard work, long and busy days, but our efforts paid off and the proceeds helped our Christmas appeal. Perhaps the only downside was that we then had to go home and wrap our own gifts, but of course by this time we were all experts.