Focus article for October 2011

A lot has been happening since our last article. Firstly, our club has now officially formed and some of our new members have been inducted which was a great social event held at the Doubletree by Hilton in Milton Keynes. Some of the members enjoyed watching a game at the stadium before the formation evening, watching to Dons win at home to Chesterfield 6-2.

Hopefully some of you reading this will have managed to come along to our Medical Detection Dogs presentation evening at the end of September. It really is a wonderful and very worthwhile charity making a difference to many people's lives.

Our next event is coming up soon on the 19th November. There is a large advert placed in this magazine for our Race Night. This promises to be a great, fun filled evening. Tickets are available now and are priced at £12.50 per person. The price includes your entry to the event and a hot supper.

To get your tickets please call 01525 229 656 or email us

Another date for your diary is Saturday 10th December when we will be holding a "Christmas, Crafts and second hand book sale" at Dagnall village hall. Watch out for more details coming in next month's magazine.

Each month so far we have written about a different Lions project. We recognise that some of these may not always feel relevant to the local community but our "Message in a Bottle" really can make a difference to a significant number of people everywhere.

This scheme is free to the user. Whilst it is focused on the more vulnerable people in our community, anyone can fall downstairs, so this scheme can benefit anyone, including you. As a minimum it will save the Emergency Services valuable time identifying you and your emergency contacts. By telling whether you have special medication or allergies or not, it is a potential lifesaver and provides peace of mind to users and their friends and families.

The Message in a Bottle scheme ensures that important medical and personal information is on hand for the emergency services when they are called out to your home. Members of the Message in a Bottle scheme place a small plastic bottle in their fridge containing details of all relevant medical information. A green cross sticker is placed inside your front door and another on the fridge to alert emergency services to its presence. Lions work in partnership with local councils, health services and emergency services to deliver the scheme.

Many Lions Clubs across the country have taken to recognise this initiative as a means of fulfilling the motto "We Serve" and often fund this scheme from their own charity accounts.

If you know of anyone who could benefit from one of these small plastic bottles please do get in touch. You will find that we tend to have these on display at most if not all of our events and give them out free of charge. If you have a need for one now, please do get in touch by emailing us.