As I come to the end of my year as President of the Lions Club in Westbury I could write a very long list of people I would like to thank.
Obviously all the members of the club have supported me and each other to achieve another very successful year of fundraising and service to the community.
During the year we have raised over £10,000 and the majority of this has been given back to organisations and individuals in the Westbury area. The rest has gone to help with Lions projects at international level including disaster relief, Sightsavers and the measles campaign.
Back in November at the lights switch on we revealed our new Christmas Carol Float which was well received and the weather was fairly kind to us in December for the house to house collections. This is always a magical time for Lions, seeing the faces both young and old who appreciate the visit from Santa.
We also held our 10K run again last year and this was well attended and allowed us to raise more funds. Plans for this year are well underway and we look forward to 12th October when we can watch others putting in some hard work!
One of the highlights for me over the year has been attending musical events involving the schools. The first was the Matravers School Young Musician which is always a really entertaining evening showcasing the immense talent we have in our school. The other is the School Concert which involves all the schools joining together at Matravers School and is again a wonderful evening. Both these events are sponsored by Westbury Lions.
We have been lucky this year to secure sponsorship from Garston Veterinary Group for two events, the 10K run and our Donkey Derby. Forming partnerships with local businesses helps us to manage costs at our events and ensures more funds are available to go back in to the community.
As I write this we are all looking to the skies and hoping the beautiful weather we have enjoyed so far in June will last until Sunday for the Donkey Derby. This is now a major event in the Westbury calendar and we all love to see families enjoying the day.
Other regular events during the year were the Easter Egg Hunt and the Senior Citizens Party and these allow us to treat both the young and the not so young in the town.
Finally I would like to say a huge thank you to all the residents of Westbury and the surrounding villages who support all our events, which in turn allows Westbury Lions to donate to all the worthwhile causes we support.
For more information about our events visit www.westburylions.org.uk
By Lion Anita Drago
