Monthly Mailing April 2026
Environment
May 2026
Dear Fellow Lions in District 105SC
Lions International Service Week – Environment 18th to 26th April 2026
What did your Club do during Environment Week?
I would be interested to know and to maybe share some ideas with the Clubs in our District.
Please e-mail me at Environment@lions105sc.org.uk
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May is a busy month for special days focusing on the Environment so this month I thought I would focus on a couple which I hope you will find to be of interest:-
No Mow May – Friday 1st to Sunday 31st May 2026
This is an annual event run by the environmental charity Plantlife. It encourages people across the UK – and beyond – to lock up their lawnmowers on 1st May.
Leaving your lawnmower in the shed and letting your lawn grow long, just for the month of May, has many benefits. It means smaller plants like daisies, dandelions, selfheal and clover will get a chance to flower and give pollinating insects a head-start.
This is important as, since the 1930s, we have lost nearly 7.5 million acres of flower-rich meadows and pastures. Just 1% of our countryside now provides this floral feast for pollinators. With 15 million gardens in Britain, our lawns have the potential to become major sources of nectar.
Walk To School Week – Monday 18th to Friday 22nd May 2026
This is a long-established annual campaign from sustainable transport charity Living Streets. It aims to encourage school pupils to travel sustainably to school every day of the week.
During the week, pupils can track their progress each day on the interactive classroom wallchart, unlocking new levels and knowledge as they go. Individual activity diaries, daily stickers and end-of-week pupil rewards help to complement this activity. This reinforces the benefits of walking and keeps children engaged.
MISSION MOVE!
This year's challenge will see pupils set off on a special operation - codename Mission Move, to complete a five-day walking challenge. On the way, pupils will meet fun and friendly secret agents as they explore the many benefits of walking or wheeling to school.
The Walk to School Week classroom packs are now available to order from Living Streets – www.livingstreets.org.uk Each KS1 and KS2 pack is only £13.50 and includes fun, curriculum-linked activities that encourage pupils to walk and wheel to school.
Why not support a local school by purchasing one of these packs (if it's not too late)
World Bee Day – Wednesday 20th May 2026
World Bee Day (which can lead to people asking if you meant to say 'World Bidet'!) is, contrary to how it sounds, not a day celebrating a bathroom receptacle.
Instead, it is an international day to raise awareness around the vital role of bees and other pollinators in keeping people and the planet healthy. The day also seeks to raise awareness around the many challenges bees face today.
With bees, pollinators, and many other insects in decline, this day provides an opportunity to promote actions that protect and enhance pollinators and their habitats. It also seeks to improve their abundance and diversity, and support the sustainable development of beekeeping.
With Spring here, now is the time to focus on providing space in the garden for our pollinating insects - the bees, butterflies, moths and other insects that transfer pollen from one flower to another.
Without them we'd lose the colour of our wildflowers along the footpaths and gardens and much of our fruit and veg.
Over 70% of the foods we eat need a pollinating insect to do its job somewhere around the world. Some of life's essentials such as coffee and chocolate are entirely dependent on our flying friends!
Numbers of pollinators are way down maybe by as much as 50% this year due to the weather and other factors. So, we all need to do our bit to help. Not only do they help us grow food, but they are also food themselves for blue tits, robins and lots of other birds.
So, when thinking about what seeds, flowers and fruit to plant out, plan to have a wild area in your garden this year. Nature knows best and will look after our pollinators better than we can.
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Do you have an Environmental Project / Article that your Club would like to share. If so. Then e-mail me at environment@lions105SC.org.uk
Kind Regards
Paul Allaway
Marwell
12th April 2026
Dear Lions
Not long to go until our District Fun Day @ Marwell on 7th June 2026. See the Funday page
Cost for Lions - £24
Adults - £24
Children over 2 and under 16 - £24
Children under 2 free
Carers free
Please don't forget to fill in the names of the organisations that you are sponsoring to attend. Names of individuals are not required this year unless they don't belong to one of the organisations.
Once booked payment can be made to our Charity Trust Account. Please put the reference Marwell and club name.
Sort Code: ** ** **
Account number: ********
Abbreviated Name: ***
Full Account Name: ***
[Details will be sent with your booking confirmation]
If you require any information, please email gst@lions105sc.org.uk
Warm regards
Sandra Manktelow
Immediate Past District Governor
Multiple District Foundation
21st April 2026
Dear Lions
At Convention I talked about our own Multiple District Foundation of which some Lions were unaware. Our Foundation supports 4 areas of service – preserving sight, serving youth, disaster relief, humanitarian efforts.
The money comes from various sources – donations from past and present members, legacies, bank interest and donations from clubs across the Multiple District to support Youth Camp, Youth Exchange, Young Ambassadors. Multiple District supports youth camp to the tune of roughly £1,000 per person for up to 24 and it pays for the Young Ambassador weekend and bursaries for the entrants.
Each year clubs are asked for a voluntary contribution per club member. This year it is £8 of which £6 goes to the MD and £2 to our 105SC. That money can come out of a club's charity fund.
As well as supporting Youth the foundation will also look at any grant requests. Any club across the MD can apply for a grant - in 2022 Jersey Lions successfully applied for a grant when there was a gas explosion.
When there were floods in Monmouth, just before Christmas, four clubs raised £2,750 and asked the Foundation to match fund so that they could support families by providing white goods. After the trustees met and discussed the request it was decided to give £5,000 bringing the total to £7,750. The impact of the donation meant that 16 families had replacement electrical appliances including cookers, freezers, fridges, washing machines and smaller appliances. The grant also covered a new industrial cleaner and mats for Monmouth Kitchens (sustainable food bank), the food bank with £200 worth of dry food products and £470 worth of logs to an outlying village that was dependent on log burners for heating as most domestic supplies were washed away. One resident was also helped to get an electric mobility scooter. With the £7,750 it has been estimated that 350 to 400 people have been helped. Which goes to show that Lions are ordinary people who do amazing things.
So how is our District doing? In 2021/22 60% of clubs donated and from 2022 to 2025 approximately 55% of clubs donated.
To date in this Lionistic year 40% of clubs have donated to our Foundation. If your club is one that has not donated, please discuss whether you could donate. Together we can make a difference.
Warm regards
Sandra Manktelow
Immediate Past District Governor
Maidenhead Charter
Lions Club of Maidenhead
53rd Annual Charter Lunch – Booking Form
On Sunday 31st May 2026 at 12/12.30 for 13.00
At CIM Business Centre, Chartered Institute of Marketing, Cookham, Maidenhead SL6 9QH
Please complete names of all attendees and their menu choices below. Then email this booking form as soon as possible, but definitely by 20 May 2026, to lions@maidenheadlions.org.uk or post to
Lion Brenda Butler (address in Directory)
| Name | Club / Position held | Starter choice – enter code S1 – S3 | Main course choice – enter code M1 – M3 | Dessert choice – enter code D1 – D3 |
I am booking for ..................... people @ £35 per person. Total cost £ ............................
Pay by on-line bank transfer to: Maidenhead Lions CIO – Lloyds Bank, account no. ******** - sort code ** ** ** reference your name on the payment; or you may send a cheque made out to "Lions Club of Maidenhead". [Details will be sent to you]
I wish to sit with …..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. |
Signed ........................................................... from Club .................................................................................
| Menu Options | 3 courses - £35 per person | Code |
| Starters | Tomato Soup | S1 |
| Red onion tarte tatin | S2 | |
| Avocado & prawn cocktail | S3 | |
| Main courses | Slow braised feather blade of beef bourguignon, glazed roasted carrots, savoy & butter mashed potatoes | M1 |
| Grilled salmon, potato leek cockle & mussel risotto, glazed vegetables | M2 | |
| Cheese & spinach tortellini, split white wine cream with dill oil, sweet potato & vegetable brunoise | M3 | |
| Desserts | Warm honeycomb chocolate brownie, vanilla pod ice cream | D1 |
| Glazed lemon tart meringue, chilli fruit salsa | D2 | |
| Fresh fruit salad | D3 | |
| Meal includes tea or coffee |
