Proudly Donating to Wiltshire Air Ambulance

As we have done for many years, Melksham Lions Club are again very proud to have been able to make a donation to Wiltshire Air Ambulance. The air ambulance provides crucial support to the main emergency services, yet – as a charity and without direct government funding – relies entirely upon donations and sponsors in order to stay in operation. With this in mind we will, with your continued support, carry on providing funds as best we can.

The latest donation to Wiltshire Air Ambulance by Melksham Lions Club was an amount of £400; raised through the sale of Easter egg raffle tickets earlier in the year. Some of our members were recently invited to tour the new air ambulance base and took the opportunity to have a look the the aircraft while presenting the cheque. Our thanks go to the team at the base for the time we spent there, and to you, the Melksham community, for your continuing support.

If you would like to learn more about how we work within the community, please get in touch or come and see us at any of the events we attend. We are always pleased to welcome interest in new membership and would be delighted to see you at our meetings.

For more information about Wiltshire Air Ambulance, visit their website: https://www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk/.

Melksham Lions members are constantly out and about; often behind the scenes but always working for our community in one way or another. Among other things this month, we’ve been pleased to present another cheque; this time to Wiltshire Mind who have been a great help to us in dealing with unwanted items through their local charity shop.

Wiltshire Mind are themselves an extremely valuable and busy organisation within the area, providing vital support to those suffering with mental health issues. More information can be found on their website http://www.wiltshiremind.co.uk/ .

We’ve also been rather busy in a more ‘manual labour’ fashion; joining forces with other local folk to have a bit of a tidy up. Our esteemed president and secretary – husband and wife team Jim & Sue Whyborn – recently donned the fluoros, grabbed the grabbers, and set off on a litter picking adventure around the neighbourhood.

Our thanks go to all those who participated, especially the organisers; it’s such a shame that such an activity becomes necessary but alas it does, and the difference after cleaning is always a pleasure to see.

If you’d like to get involved in the local litter picks, get in touch and we’ll point you in the right direction. And if you’re that way inclined to want to support the community you live in… have a think about popping along to a Lions meeting sometime too 🙂

On Thursday 14th March we were delighted to present a cheque to Len Bealing of the Melksham Christmas Lights Group. This hard working team of volunteers are much appreciated in our town and give us a spectacular display each year. We are pleased to be able to contribute, and look forward to the 2019 display. Now then… how many shopping days do we have left…

Picture: Lion Jim Whyborn presenting cheque to Len Bealing on behalf of Melksham Lions

Last night (19th March) Lion President Keith Mead visited Chippenham Lions Club where he presented a cheque to Lion Derek Angell for £500 on behalf of Melksham Lions in support of the Bob Cook Games.

The event, organised by Chippenham Lions Club is backed by Lions Clubs throughout District 105W and was the idea of Chippenham Lions Charter President, the late Bob Cook who died in 1988.

The games, first held at Melksham, are now staged at Swindon’s County Ground athletics track and bowling green.

President Keith Mead last night made donations to two most worthy causes.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance  – Wiltshire Air Ambulance is a registered charity which relies almost entirely on public donations to keep flying. We have been supporting them now for many years – since  the ’90s –  and it was my pleasure to continue that tradition by presenting them with a cheque for £300.

Pictured with our President is Stewart Ackland who received our cheque on behalf of Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Melksham Christmas Lights Committee – Colossal amounts of work by just a few local people make Melksham the brightest town around. Every single person who works on the lights is a volunteer, meaning every single penny donated to them is spent on making Melksham lights bigger and better each year. We have been supporting them for many years now so it was my pleasure to continue that tradition by presenting them with a cheque for £200.

Pictured with our President is Mike Company who received our cheque on behalf of the Melksham Christmas Lights Committee.

Vice President Jim Whyborn (centre) today presented Melksham Food Bank with some      desperately need wash bags, items we have been donating to them for a little while now.

In addition, as its coming up to Christmas, Jim also presented them with a cheque which they will be using to buy Chocolate Selection Boxes for children to be put in the family packs.

The food bank presented us with a “Certificate of Appreciation” for our support.