Newcastle Lions thank local opticians for helping repair and reuse of old spectacles.

Newcastle Lions are now providing suitable bins to our local opticians and also to some opticians in Belfast who have requested these, to take donations of glasses.

The bins help promote the work of the club with a contact phone number and the poster on it is eye catching . The glasses go to Lions Medico France where they are cleaned and distributed around the world to people in need. The club recently joined the Northern Ireland Resource Network. This group encourages environmental awareness, promotes ,rethink, reuse , repair and has many members whose details are on their website. In a first the club applied for a grant promoted by NIRN for their senior citizens outing

The club continues to try and attract new members . At Easter Lions will return to Base Coffee to try again and hold their defibrillator maintenance fund collection. Previously the collection was dropped when the Turkey earthquake occurred on the 10th February 2023. As part of the collection, club members will take names of those who would like to have CPR/Defibrillator awareness training , which hopefully will be taking place at the end of May in Newcastle, or even want to join the club.

Newcastle Lions President Liz Murphy checks the quality of the spectacles recycling bins going to opticians.

PDG Bernard Black, International President Teresa Dineen and Marian McGreevy

At welcome desk for International Lions Club

St Patrick's Day in Belfast

Newcastle Lions enjoy International visits by Lions.

Newcastle Lions Club made a big effort to make the visit by the International Director Brian Sheehan and the international board to Northern Ireland a great success. Club members travelled to Belfast City airport to help welcome the international visitors, helped out at the welcome desk at the Culloden Hotel base and took part in as many events with the group as possible, including walking with the visitors in the Belfast St Patrick's Day parade. For one club member Emma Chestnutt, who is a member of Columbo Lions Alexandrite Sri Lanka and an associate member of Newcastle Lions Club, the visit was inspiring when she met up International Director Mahesh Pasqual and his family Dr Manel and their daughter Imasha in Belfast. The club were well represented at the Townhall meeting organised by International Director Brian in the Europa Hotel, where they stressed the need for better communication to the public about the work of Lions as a way of increasing membership.

Photo: Newcastle Lion helping to get the group organised before the parade.

Photo: Associate Newcastle Lions member Emma Chestnutt meets International Director Mahesh Pasqual and his family Dr. Manel and their daughter Imasha in Belfast.

Photo: Terry O'Reilly Newcastle Lions in costume with International Lions from Colombo Sri Lanka getting ready for St Patricks Day parade in Belfast

Photo: The grand staircase Titantic at International Lions St Pstricks Day Celebration