Welcome to Haywards Heath Lions Club. We are a friendly service organisation, part of Lions International, the worlds largest non governmental organisation.

Lions are an international network of 1.3 million men and women in 202 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Known for working to end preventable blindness, Lions participate in a vast variety of projects important to their communities.

These projects range from cleaning up local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters. Beginning in 1917, the association of Lions clubs has provided millions of people with the opportunity to give something back to their communities.

We hope you find the website of interest and if it inspires you to want to do more to help your community then please either contact your local Lions club or contact our membership secretary on 0845 8335807 who will be pleased to proivde further information.

 

Haywards Heath Lions on Tour 2011

A group of HH Lions visited our twinned club in Lyon, France over the weekend of 7th, 8th and 9th October and enjoyed another memorable weekend. Our Itinerary began with a meet and greet at Lyon Part Dieu station when we arrived around 16.00 on the 7th. We then spent time with our hosts before going to dinner with other Lyon Lions. Saturday arrived and we then embarked on a full calendar of events for the weekend.

It's activities like this that makes HH Lions a fun club to be in. You dont have to speak French to visit our twinned club in France as most, but not all, speak some English but regardless you will enjoy the hospitality which is always second to none. If you wish to know more about this visit and other visits why not read the report here. If you want to know more about membership - you have to be a member to go to Lyon - then please speak with our Membership Secretary on 01444 471587

Haywards Heath Lions Announce the 2012 Swimarathon Beneficiary

Haywards Heath Lions Club voted in favour of The Yews Community Centre as their chosen beneficiary for the next Lions Swimarathon to be held on Good Friday, 6th April 2012.

The Yews (Haywards Heath) Community Partnership
Registered Charity Number 1144700

For further information in the Swimarathon, please click here .

 

Would you like to Volunteer

HH Lions are always looking for "Friends" to assist them in their projects to provide a service to the community. If you would like to assist the Lions, or indeed become a member, please contact our Secretary on 0845 8335807 or email him at enquiries@haywardsheathlionsclub.org.uk

Whats coming up in 2012

For details of activities ans events being held or run by HH Lions in 2012 please visit us again.

 

Welcome to the Haywards Heath Lions Club

Haywards Heath & District Lions Club is a voluntary service organisation and is part of Lions International, the largest service organisation in the world. The Haywards Heath club was formed in 1962 and is open to both men and women. Currently there are around 28 members from all walks of life. The common thread is that we are caring individuals giving some of our spare free time, enjoying what we are doing in the company of like-minded friends. The area covered by the club stretches beyond the town of Haywards Heath into the villages of Cuckfield, Lindfield, Ardingly, Horsted Keynes and Scaynes Hill. You will find our members in most of them.

The club is always on the lookout for new members, people who are willing to lend a hand so that commitments can be met and, where possible, extended. Being a member may be looked upon as a constructive form of relaxation. Working together on fund-raising and community projects can be very rewarding and, in addition, members and their families enjoy many social occasions throughout the year. There is absolutely nothing secret about membership.

Strength in Numbers!

Since Lions clubs were introduced to Britain in 1950 they have grown to more than 900 clubs in Britain and Ireland with a membership of around 21,000. Members of Lions Clubs are dedicated to improving the quality of life for many people less fortunate than themselves - whether it be in their own local communities or in other parts of the world.

Where do we meet?

The club meets twice a month, once at the United Services Club, Haywards Heath (approximately 1/2 mile from Haywards Heath town centre). The first of these meetings is held on the first Monday of each month at 8pm. At that meeting the working committees report so that all club members can have their say about what the Club is doing.

The second meeting, on the third Monday of the month, is a social evening which usually involves a meal, sometimes with a guest speaker or a visit to an interesting venue.

Costs

Complete cost of running the Lions organisation, at all levels, is covered by members' subscriptions which are kept as low as possible. Each individual club decides what its subscription should be for the Lion's "year" - 12 month period July/June. In the case of the Haywards Heath club, the current year the annual cost of membership at £70 is far less than buying a quality Sunday newspaper each week of the year so it is very low indeed.

FURTHER INFORMATION....

Lions are, or could be someone exactly like YOU!! If you are interested in learning a bit more about us, please contact one of the following :

President: Lion Roger Stevens (01444 - 455727)
Secretary: Lion Richard Johnson (01444 -451157)

Objects and Ethics of becoming a Lion

Objects:

To Create and foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world.

To Promote the principle of good government and good citizenship.

To Take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the community.

To Unite the clubs in the bonds of friendship, good fellowship and mutual understanding.

To Provide a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided, however, that partisan politics and sectarian religion shall not be debated by club members.

To Encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward, and to encourage efficiency and promote high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavors.

Ethics:

To Show my faith in the worthiness of my vocation by industrious application to the end that I may merit a reputation for quality of service.

To Seek success and to demand all fair remuneration or profit as my just due, but to accept no profit or success at the price of my own self-respect lost because of unfair advantage taken or because of questionable acts on my part.

To Remember that in building up my business it is not necessary to tear down another's; to be loyal to my clients or customers and true to myself.

Whenever a doubt arises as to the right or ethics of my position or action towards others, to resolve such doubts against myself.

To Hold friendship as an end and not a means. To hold that true friendship exists not on account of the service performed by one another, but that true friendship demands nothing but accepts service in the spirit in which it is given.

Always to bear in mind my obligations as a citizen to my nation, my state, and my community, as to give them my unswerving loyalty in word, act, and deed. To give them freely of my time, labor and means.

To Aid others by giving my sympathy to those in distress, my aid to the weak, and my substance to the needy.

To Be Careful with my criticism and liberal with my praise; to build up and not destroy.

Who Are Lions?

Our Vision Statement

To be the global leader in community and humanitarian service.

Our Mission Statement

To empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions clubs.

Who are the Lions?

Lions are an international network of 1.3 million men and women in approximately 44,000 clubs in 202 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Lions are men and women who volunteer their time to humanitarian causes. Founded in 1917, the volunteer organization's motto is "We Serve."

Known for working to end preventable blindness, (see Helen Keller) Lions participate in a vast variety of projects important to their communities.

These projects range from cleaning up local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters. Since 1917, the association of Lions Clubs has provided millions of people with the opportunity to give something back to their communities.

Lions continue to make a difference everyday and everywhere and live up to their motto, " We Serve".

Whats it all about? What do we do and why do we do it?

Service to Others

Worldwide, Lions clubs are recognized for their service to the blind and visually impaired. This service began when Helen Keller challenged Lions to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness" during the 1925 Lions Club International Convention.

Today, Lions extend their commitment to sight conservation through countless local efforts, as well as through their international SightFirst Program and Lions World Sight Day, a global partnership of United Nations agencies, eye care and philanthropic organizations and health professionals, held the second Thursday of each October to increase awareness of the need to eradicate blindness. Lions also collect and recycle eyeglasses for distribution in developing countries year-round and especially during May, which is Lions Recycle for Sight Month.

In addition, Lions make a strong commitment to young people through youth outreach programs. Lions also work to improve the environment, build homes for the disabled, support diabetes education, conduct hearing programs and, through their foundation, provide disaster relief around the world.

Based on a recent report of Lions clubs worldwide, it is estimated that each Lions club donates approximately £5,000 to charitable causes, totaling £220 million worldwide. Each year Lions club members volunteer approximately 76 million hours, which is equivalent to 36,500 people working full time for a year.

Sight Programs

In 1990, Lions established SightFirst, raising approximately £70 million to fight the major causes of preventable and reversible blindness. The unprecedented program joins Lions volunteers with blindness prevention experts and organizations and governments. SightFirst has:

provided more than 7.1 million cataract surgeries
built or expanded 213 eye hospitals
supported more than 80 million treatments to prevent river blindness
improved eye care in 90 countries around the world
In 2005, Lions launched Campaign SightFirst II with a goal of raising at least £75 million to continue and expand the extraordinary work of SightFirst.

Lions clubs support other sight-related activities. Lions clubs and members:

provide 600,000 free professional glaucoma screenings and make 25,000 corneal transplants possible each year
establish and support a majority of the world's eye banks, hundreds of clinics, hospitals and eye research centers worldwide
collect more than 30 million pairs of used eyeglasses annually for free distribution to those in need in developing countries
offer screenings, eyeglasses and sports goggles to athletes through the Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes Program provide free quality eye care, eyeglasses, Braille-writers, large print texts, white canes and guide dogs for thousands of people each year.

To learn more about SightFirst, see Sightfirst or visit

 

Our key Projects in the UK

Haywards Heath Lions Club supports a number of UK based and International Lions Health Projects, some of which help raise money and others that provide assistance or support for those people in need.

LIBRA is the "Lions International Blood Research Appeal". Its aim is to provide laboratory space and equipment at King's College Hospital in London, for research into, diagnosis and treatment of Haemophilia, Leukaemia, Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Disease.

The Trust originally identified Leukaemia, Sickle Cell Disease and Haemophilia as areas of research. These blood diseases cover the constituent parts of blood. These days research is concentrated on Sickle Cell Disease, Thalassaemia and Leukaemia. Haemophilia, whilst no cure exists is being gradually eliminated.

Since establishing the Trust, LIBRA has provided modern accommodation for the Department, refurbished accommodation and provided much needed research equipment.Click here for more information

Message in a Bottle is an initiative that we support very vigorously. We recognise it as a means of fulfilling our motto "We Serve"; we fund the scheme from our charity account.

This scheme is free to the user. Whilst it is focused on the more vulnerable people in our community, anyone can fall downstairs or have a car accident, so this scheme can benefit anyone. Click here for more information

 

Tacade is a leading not-for-profit charitable organisation working in the field of personal, social, health and citizenship education (including drug, alcohol, tobacco and sexual health issues) for children and young people. Increasingly, Tacade works with the more vulnerable, at risk, young people. Click here for more information

It is estimated that more than 20,000,000 people in the British Isles have a hidden medical condition which could endanger their life in an emergency when they are unable to speak for themselves - for example, if they are rendered unconscious due to either an accident or to their medical condition.
MedicAlert® in the UK was originally a special project of the British Isles & Ireland Lions Clubs who brought the idea over from the US in the early 60's.

Today, MedicAlert® is a non-profit making, registered charity that works independently with the invaluable support of the Lions.

Alongside their other charitable work, the Lions Clubs distribute leaflets, posters and application forms to doctor's surgeries and hospital waiting rooms. They actively support and promote the organisation within the community and where possible provide people on limited income with sponsored memberships. Click here for more information

Trying to inform over 54 million people about the threats of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy is not easy, but that is exactly what the Lions Eye Health Programme [LEHP] is attempting to do. And it is succeeding.

LEHP is a Lions Clubs International sight saving initiative. The programme, a partnership between the Lions Clubs of the British Isles and Ireland, the International Glaucoma Association and Diabetes UK, was launched with clubs in Britain and Ireland about 6 years ago. There are now about 500 clubs actively instituting the campaign through its volunteer members.

Those most at risk of developing glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are people over the age of 40, those with a family history of glaucoma, diabetics, people of African Caribbean origin and those with high myopia (very short sight). Only people with diabetes are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. Click here for more information

Haywards Heath Lions are also involved in International Projects and more information can be found out about these projects by clicking here

Lions Clubs International - A Little History

The International Association of Lions Clubs began as the dream of Chicago businessman Melvin Jones. Melvin Jones was born in 1879; in 1913 he formed his own Insurance agency.

He joined a local businessmen's luncheon group and asked: - "What if these men, who are successful because of their drive, intelligence and ambition, were to put their talents to work improving their communities?" At his invitation, delegates from men's clubs met in Chicago to lay the groundwork for such an organization and on June 7, 1917, Lions Clubs International was born. Clubs were not to be social in nature nor were members permitted to promote their own business interests.Jones eventually devoted himself full time to Lions International. It was under his dynamic leadership that Lions Clubs earned the prestige necessary to attract civic-minded members. The association's founder was also recognized as a leader outside the association. One of his greatest honours was in 1945 when he represented Lions Clubs International as a consultant in San Francisco, California, at the organization of the United Nations.

In 1925, Helen Keller addressed the Lions international convention in Cedar Point, Ohio, USA. She challenged Lions to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness." From this time, Lions clubs have been actively involved in service to the blind and visually impaired.Melvin Jones' personal code was "YOU CAN'T GET VERY FAR UNTIL YOU START DOING SOMETHING FOR SOMEBODY ELSE". This became a guiding principle for public-spirited people the world over. He died in 1961 at 82 years of age.

See www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/lions_history.shtml for more information on the Lions.

Swimarathon Forms

Please click to download and view.

You will require Adobe reader to view and print these files

Adobe Documents

Invitation to Participate.pdf

Entry Form and General Conditions.pdf

 

Welcome to the Haywards Heath Lions Club Swimarathon 2012

Our annual Swimarathon will be held at the Olympos Centre Pool, Haywards Heath on Good Friday - 6th April 2012

What is Swimarathon?

The Haywards Heath Lions Club Swimarathon is an event organised on behalf of the Haywards Heath Lions Club Charitable Trust, in which teams of swimmers raise money for a charity of their choice and for the charity chosen by The Haywards Heath Lions Club. This year, at least half the money raised through sponsorship will go to The Yews Community Centre the beneficiary chosen by the Lions. The rest of the donations raised will go to good causes chosen by those swimming clubs and organisations that took part.

Taking part is very easy. Firstly, there is no entry fee. You will then need a team, or teams, of 6 swimmers plus a non-swimming captain. All ages can take part, from the under 8s to the over 70s. The first member of the team swims a length and then relaxes whilst the other five members of the team each swim a length (25 metres) in turn. Then the first swims again and so on for 55 minutes. There will be 6 teams swimming each hour. Teams start swimming at 8am, others start later beginning on the hour until early evening.

The Team Captain makes sure that the swimmers are ready at the correct time, organises them in the pool and agrees the number of lengths swum. The captain is also responsible for ensuring that all the sponsorship money is collected and paid to The Haywards Heath Lions Club Charitable Trust as soon as possible, at the latest by 14th June 2011 . A cheque for the money raised for your chosen good cause will be sent to you shortly afterwards.

All swimmers are presented with a medal at the end of their swim and additional awards are made which can be found on the Entry Form. To take part please complete the Entry Form opposite and send it to me, Peter Parr, 61 Meadow Lane, Lindfield, Sussex RH16 2RL. If your team wants to swim at a particular time of day the Entry Form needs to be sent in quickly as it’s first come first served!

Why not ask you friends and colleagues to have a go? It’s great fun and good healthy exercise. Many teams come back for more each year! If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to ring me on 01444 482009 or email me at enquiries@haywardsheathswimarathon.org.uk

How do I enter?

Taking part is very easy. Simply get together a team of 6 people, choose a captain, complete an Entry Form and await an acknowledgement of receipt. We will send full confirmation of swim times and final instructions in late February. If you wish to swim at a specific time please indicate this and unless you hear from us you can assume that your request has been granted. It is obviously best to get your entry form in as soon as possible if you have a specific time or lane in mind. Please download the entry form below together with a consent form, if your child is under 14 years of age and send to me or alternatively please call me on the number below.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to ring me on 01444 482009. I look forward to seeing and meeting you at the event.

Peter Parr, Swimarathon Chairman

Haywards Heath Lions Club and Lyon Ouest Lions Club

 

In 1970, on the eve of 9th May, an inauguration ceremony took place at the Chateau St Bernard to celebrate the twinning between Haywards Heath Lions Club and Lyon Ouest Lions Club. The inaugural document was signed by Fred Barrett and Pierre Coulongnoy, presidents of both clubs.

The Twinning was initiated by Lion Mike Kendall, who was the British Consul in Lyon, 1968/71.

The 30th anniversary of twinning between the two clubs was celebrated in millennium year, 2000, with Lion Roger Stevens as President signing the anniversary documents. This year, 2011, will see the 41st anniversary of Twinning between the two clubs.

A great friendship has built up over the years with many Lions from both clubs seeing each others children grow up to become Lions themselves.Twinning has become an important event, which many look forward to and which will continue to see new friendships develop between the two clubs.

Social Activities

HHLC and Lyon Ouest have met every year since 1970, with delegations from both clubs taking it in turns to visit each other every other year. In some years, there may be two visits as each club invites members from the others club to attend their Charter Dinner.

This year, 2011, will see HH Lions going to Lyon in October where again HHLC will be hosted and treated royally, to a wonderful weekend.

You can click the links to visit our photo gallery of events shared by both clubs over the last few years. The pictures are a personal viewpoint but enjoyable none the less.

 

How to contact Haywards Heath Lions Club

The Secretary, Haywards Heath & District Lions Club - 0845 8335807

email: enquiries@haywardsheathlionsclub.org.uk