Annual Report 2008 – 2009
- President’s Report
- Incoming President’s Report
- Secretary’s Report
- Treasurer’s Report
- List of Donations
President Malcolm’s Report.
It hardly seems 12 months since I took office and this no doubt is due to the amount of energy and envelopment we have shared together.
I recall as Charter President just how much I needed to learn, and while I feel I have done that, certainly this year has again shown me just how much we, as an association, do and can do throughout the community.
At the beginning of our first year, we undertook to have built or build a special toilet facility fo; the young mothers of Beecroft and people with a disability. While this has not been completed, work has progressed this year and thanks to PDG John Sim we have a workable plan, and we have the support from the body corporate to go ahead. We-have the area allocated and now we can start the building activities this following year. Our dream is becoming a reality.
Our membership has increased, and will continue to do so. Our meetings are not only fun but we have had excellent speakers all year, which adds to the meetings, plus our new venue has made a huge difference as has changing our meeting nights.
I would like to give you an outline of our club’s key achievements for this past year …
- established our club Trivia nights as regular events with two this year for members and the general public and one for the Lions clubs in our area;
- held several BBQs at Bunning’s including participating in Australia’s Biggest BBQ;
- held two successful social events, one at John Simpson’s home and one at our home;
- at Christmas we had Santa photos, letters and a craft workshop for Kids, boosted our
- Christmas cake sales significantly and had a BBQ for 2GB’s Christmas Lights;
- collected for the Queensland’s floods and Victoria’s bushfire victims;
- regularly assisted at Chesalon Nursing Home providing Barbeques and trivia quizzes;
- hosted an Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea;
- presented Beecroft in Bloom which continues to grow each year;
- hosted Lions Youth of the Year in which Tom, our Club winner, became a State finalist;
- attended the District, National and International Conventions;
- exceeded the target on membership as requested by Governor Elvio Munzone.
Our fundraising efforts have supported the following …
Lions Cord Blood and Childhood Cancer Research Appeal, The Cancer Council, Lions Drug Awareness Foundation, Queensland floods and the Victorian fires victims, Lions Hearing Dogs, Westmead Clinic for Cystic Fibrosis, Lions Spinal Cord Fellowship, Alzheimer’s Australia, Governor’s appeal for the special car for two disabled people, High School Deaf Camp, Breast Cancer Desert MultiMarathon, and the Lions Save Sight and Public Health Care Foundation.
What I personally have enjoyed is the continued growth of us as a club and very importantly, as a team. Our meetings are a lot of fun and I am sure we will continue to go from strength to strength especially with our new members. We have several experienced members, who have served for many years, held high office and continue to do so. Having these members is something to be valued and proud of, which I am sure we all agree.
On behalf of the club, I would like to thank everyone for their help and contribution, to the sponsors of our new members thank you and to our new members, welcome.
It has been a huge privilege to serve you, once again, as President and I will continue to serve our club and may I wish President Joanne every success and offer my full support.
President Malcolm Michael (Charter President 2003/04)
Return to TopIncoming President’s Report
Everyone enjoys participating and being involved in activities that make them feel warm, comfortable, welcomed and amongst friends. I believe that the Lions Club of Beecroft- Cheltenham has been very successful in creating a family atmosphere in which we are all happy to come back for more. It is this atmosphere that has lead to several new members and I am confident that as we continue to work and have lots of fun, as a family, then more people will want to come and join us. It is certainly one of the reason that Alex Maitland, who will join our ‘family’ tonight, has given for accepting our invitation to become a Lion.
The year ahead will be another filled with fun, laughs, hard work (at times) and lots of fellowship. September promises to be ,positively blooming with Beecroft in Bloom being elevated to new heights with the addition of a Friday night Cocktail Party to open the Art Exhibition and to launch the other festivities. Our lnterclub Trivia Night will again feature on our events calendar, with Beecroft, of course, striving to retain the Club trophy, we so graciously won last year and the Charity Trivia Night will also occur, due to the resounding successes of the previous events, and more importantly, so we can continue to support the extra special younger members of our community.
Our contributions to our local Youth will be evident as we, again, run Youth of the Year and have great pleasure in sponsoring our 2009 Youth of the Year State Finalist, Thomas Maitland from Epping Boys High School, for an exciting Youth Exchange adventure to Europe over Christmas. We will look forward to hearing about Tom’s exploits.
Meeting other Lions should also be a feature of 2009-201 0, not only as we travel to Bomaderry for the District Convention, but in June and July 2010, Sydney will be hosting Lions from around the world as we are the location for next year’s International Convention. It promises to be a wonderful event with an expected 25,000 Lions travelling Downunder and the Lions of this District have been asked to consider being a volunteer for the event. As time proceeds, we will hear more about how we can assist make this the ‘Best international Convention’ ever!
There will be opportunities for ‘hard work’ as we, hopefully, will secure more dates for Bunnings BBQs and, of course, the focus will be on the Club’s long term project, the construction and the completion of a Disabled toilet and baby change facility in the Beecroft Village Arcade.
In December, our members will bring Christmas Cheer to Beecroft, with Christmas cakes, Santa coming to visit with his smile for the photos and with his writing hand primed to answer the letters from the children of Beecroft. Also, Santa’s elves will again make time to assist Beecroft’s younger generation (and the older ones if they like) in Christmas tree decorations and gift making at their little craft workshops.
There are other fundraising and service projects which will quietly continue such as Lions Mints, collecting used eye spectacles for sending to underdeveloped countries overseas, collecting used postage stamps for Parkinson’s NSW to raise much needed funds and also our regular visits to Chesalon Nursing Home for their monthly BBQs, trivia quizzes and maybe another Christmas Carols concert.
There are a couple of new things that I would like to introduce for the coming year. The first is the transfer of one of our meetings to the Careflight base at Westmead Children’s Hospital. The staff feed us and then show us around their hangar and the helicopters that have been so important in serving many lives. Another area which l would like to look into is increasing the social activities, for example, having a Movie Night with a Movie and then Coffee, going to the theatre or a show and, maybe, even a weekend away?
As usual, we will respond to events and requests as they happen and are needed and I am confident that with the support and togetherness of our Lions ‘family’, this coming year will be another successful one in the history of our Club. In closing, may I, on behalf of all the members of the Lions Club of Beecroft Cheltenham, extend our appreciation to Malcolm, and to his right hand woman Frances, for their efforts during the last year and wish them every happiness and success in the future. To the members of Beecroft-Cheltenham, we are a great family and together we will continue to feel warm, comfortable, welcomed and amongst friends.
Joanne Sim
Notes from Secretary Gwenda
Another year is over in the blink of an eye, and the members of Beecroft Cheltenham Lions Club have worked hard to serve our local community and to raise much needed funds to assist those in need in both our local and our national communities.
Our year began with the ‘Beecroft in Bloom’ Spring Festival with our members working very hard for some time in preparation for the big day. There was one thing about the 2008 Festival for which we could all be very grateful, there was little need to roster members to keep the plants watered, as on ‘the’ day, the heavens opened and the rain continued and continued.
In October we were kept busy with ‘official’ business attending the District Governor’s visit to our area and the District Convention in Cessnock. More official business in November with the AGM and then we were able to let our hair down with the Lions ‘Admin Enhancer’ Trivia night. We had 10 other Lions Clubs represented but, of course, Beecroft Cheltenham won the prestigious inaugural trophy. We believe everyone had a great night and the profit was shared by all the participating Clubs by way of a refund for each of their members who attended. We know they’ll be back!
Christmas is a particularly busy time for our Club as well as for Santa and we say a special ‘thank you’ to him for setting aside a couple of Saturdays to visit the children in Beecroft and to pose for all those photos, and for answering all those letters the children posted in the mail box. We cooked a BBQ for 2GB’s Christmas Lights competition, we sold cakes to boost our charity account and we spread a little Christmas delight by assisting the children to make decorations and gifts at the Craft table.
In January we only thought we were having a holiday because we found ourselves cooking the first of three Bunnings BBQs this year. These BBQs have enabled us to raise over $2,400 for our charity account and we are very grateful to Bunnings for this opportunity.
The Victorian bushfires and the Queensland floods meant that many people needed assistance, and our members made a special effort collecting for the cause, resulting in approximately $1,800 being forwarded to those in need.
On a happier note in February, we were delighted to meet and host Tom Maitland as our Club’s Youth of the Year winner. He went on to win through the Region, (which Beecroft-Cheltenham hosted) the District and to the State Final at Maclean. Tom did not win the State final, however, we are hopeful he will try again in 2010 and in the meantime he is looking forward to visiting Europe as part of the Lions Youth Exchange scheme. Tom, good luck and bon voyage!
In May, members and visitors all enjoyed our Charity Trivia Night. These nights are proving to be great fun and very popular, so much so that we are getting many requests to organise more throughout the year.
Other projects include collecting used spectacles for use by ‘third world’ communities, and collecting used postage stamps for Parkinson’s NSW. Some of our members volunteer regularly at ‘Chesalon’ Nursing Home with trivia sessions and BBQs and one member uses her vocal talents to assist Alzheimer’s Australia. Several ‘Lion Mints’ outlets contribute to our charities account.
During the year we have had many and varied guest speakers, including our own member, Sandra Ross, who tempted us with ‘Gardens of the World’.
This year we have welcomed five new members. Patrick McAppion and Doreen Moore transferred from other Clubs and Margaret Talbot, Bev McAppion and Brett O’Brien have joined as new Lions members and we welcome them all, and to Brett’s wife, Carolyn, we say ‘welcome’ as well.
Thank you Malcolm for a great year and thank you members for a job well done!
Gwenda Sim, Secretary 2008-2009
Treasurer’s Report – Interim to May 2009
The following is a list of our profits on the income from our various project and activities. A list of the people we have supported is in President Malcolm’s report and a full detailed financial report will be tabled at our board meeting.
Let me express my sincere thanks to everyone that has contributed to our very success in raising funds both within the club and throughout the public sector. In today’s world raising funds is something that could not be considered an easy task, it takes planning and good management.
Our BBQ’s have yielded us $3248.00, Beecroft in Bloom $1570.00, Trivia night $1570, Lion Mints $77.00, Christmas Cakes $983.00, Shopping Bags $35.00, Christmas Projects $284.00, Christmas Plants $675.00 with donations $60.00.
Our activities account stands at $10,900.00 and we will see. some disbursements made from this tonight. We have in a fixed deposit account $11,000.00 which is being held to support the new Rest Room in the town centre.
Our club administration account stands at $6,000. And invoices for the following year will be issued soon.
John Simpson
List of Donations for 2008-2009
- Save Sight & Public Health Care Foundations $200
- Victorian Bushfire & Queensland Flood Appeal $1,702.10
- Lions Youth of the Year Project $1,000
- Lions Cord Blood & Childhood Cancer Research Appeal $738.42
- Breast Cancer Multi Marathon $400
- Lions Deaf Camp $300
- Contribution to provision of vehicle for disabled
(N5 ‘Flash Cab’ project) $200 - Cancer Council NSW $438
- Lions Hearing Dogs $250
- Lions Drug Awareness Foundation $250
- Lions Spinal Cord Project $250
- Cystic Fibrosis NSW $250
- Alzheimer’s NSW $250
- (2) Electric ‘Scooters’ $3,980
- (2) Walking Frames $2,350
- Lions Prostate Cancer Research & Treatment Project $150
Members devoted many happy hours to:
- Preparation for and running of ‘Beecroft in Bloom’
- Contributing to and enjoying ourselves at our two Trivia Nights (November and May)
- Selling Christmas Cakes
- Helping with Santa’s Mail box
- Organising Santa’s visits to Beecroft and taking photos of Santa and the children to be emailed to parents
- Assisting the Children to make decorations and gifts at the Christmas Children’s Craft Table
- Assisting each month at Chesalon Nursing Home and providing a Christmas Carols morning with assistance from Lions Club of West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook
- Several days raising funds by barbecuing at Bunnings Warehouse
- Collecting at Beecroft Railway Station and shopping centre and in workplaces for the Victorian Bushfire and Queensland Flood Appeal
- Supporting our Youth of the Year contestant through several levels of the Quest
- Collecting through the provision of Lion Mints at several outlets
- Taking part in the Biggest Morning Tea for the Cancer Council NSW
- Collecting used postage stamps to assist Parkinson’s NSW with their project to “Stamp Out Parkinson’s”
- Collecting and re-cycling used spectacles
- Assisting Alzheimer’s NSW with ‘voiceovers’
- Members attended International, National and District Conventions
- Members served on N5 District Cabinet and the Lions Cord Blood & Childhood Cancer Research Appeal Committee