Newcastle Lions thank 19th Belfast Ranger Guides for glasses donation

On  Monday  last,  Newcastle  Lion Leo ( Lion  Dan  O'Reilly) paid  a visit  to a meeting  of  the  19th Belfast  Ranger  Guides to  accept  a donation  of  approx  250  pairs of  glasses  and  cases which  the  Guides  had  collected.  The  Guides  had  heard  about  the  work of  Newcastle  Lions  Club and  how  they  recycled glasses and  they  invited  Leo  to  collect  the glasses from  them. Lion  Leo  then  gave  a talk as  to how Newcastle  Lions  recycled  glasses  and  where  the  glasses  ended  up.  the  Guides  were impressed  to learn that  through  their  donation, they were  helping  improve  the  sight of  people in  countries where the  great work opticians do might  unavailable  to  them. Last  week  also Newcastle  Lions hosted  a successful  pub  quiz  in  aid  of Dementia  N.I.in  the  rebuilt  Anchor  bar.  Club  members  are busy  also  gathering  art  for sale in  aid of the  N.I. Hospice.  An  event to  be  hosted  in  Newcastle  Library  9-16th  May.  Art  can  be  reserved  and purchased  by  contacting  Lions  07725725932.

Photograph: Lion Leo thanks 19th Ranger  Guides  for  donation  of  glasses

Lions Club preparations for sale of art for N.I. Hospice proceeding

On  Tuesday  evening  last, Ari  Hodara took  a call from  Christie's to say  he had  won  a  E1m Pablo Picasso  painting  in  a charity raffle  to raise  funds  for  Alzheimers Research. While there  are no Picasso's available , Newcastle  Lions  Club are  inviting  the  public to purchase art at  greatly  reduced prices, which  has  been  donated  free of  charge by local artists, to raise  funds  for  the  Northern Ireland  Children's  Hospice  &  the  N.I. Hospice.

The  art  which  has  been  donated, is by  artists  from  Greece, Dominican  Republic and  County  Down. This will be on  display  in  Newcastle  library  from the  9th - 16th  May 2026.  All art will be sold for under £100.00.  In  no reflection of  the  work of  the artist, the lower price is to make art available to the  public, and  raise  funds  for the  Hospice. The  event  will be launched  on Tuesday  12th  May at  6.30 pm in the Newcastle library.

 Newcastle  Lion  President Beth Cairnduff would  like  to thank  each of  the  artists  for their generosity. On  Saturday 16th, the  Lions  will add to the Hospice  fund by hosting  a street collection in the  Main  Street.

Newcastle  Lion's Club members  display  some  of the  art  going  on  sale  for  NI Hospice ( in  photo  Lions Patricia Trohear,  Simon Capell, Dan O'Reilly, John  Mc Donagh, Club President Beth Cairnduff and Alison Whittall.

Northern Ireland sewing machines bound for Malawi and Tanzania

During  the last  few  weeks,  Newcastle  Lions  Club along  with  five other  Northern  Ireland Clubs, Banbridge ,Limavady, Newry, Downpatrick  and  Antrim  Coast held  a recycling day for  tools  and  sewing  machines.  The day  was  a great  success and  numerous  sewing  machines  and  tools were donated  by  the  public. The  Lions  then brought these to Belfast  and Downpatrick  based Tools For Solidarity, where  they  were  serviced and  the  tools  then  made  into kits.

Having  now  achieved   the  requested  number of  sewing  machines and tools,  TFS, arranged  a container  lorry  to load the  sewing  machines into, and also  the  tool kits. Volunteers  from  TFS   dusted off  passports and  then travelled with the donations to Malawi and  Tanzania. When they  arrived  at  the  TFS  training  schools in  Africa, over  a period  of  the next  three months they will teach a group of students how to use the  sewing  machines.  To help finance  the  training  school, the students  purchase the  sewing  machines. The  money  paid  for the machines goes  back into the  training  school to pay  for  electricity  and staff costs. It promotes empowerment through skills training rather than dependency and  helps  the  environment  by  reducing  waste.

Following  on  from their  recycling  day, Newcastle Lions  President  Beth Cairnduff  is asking  the public  to support a pub quiz, which  the Lions  are holding on  Thursday 16th  April  at  9pm in the  Anchor  bar Newcastle in  aid  of  Dementia  N.I.

Some of  the  recent  Northern  Ireland sewing  machines  being  loaded for  Africa.