LIONS Clubs International celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, embracing as it does a network of men and women who work together to try to address the needs that challenge communities around the world.

Among them are Lions clubs in Alton, Woolmer Forest (Bordon Whitehill), Petersfield, and Meon Valley.

Lions Clubs International was formed in 1917 by Melvin Jones, a Chicago business leader who wondered what would happen if people pooled their talents to help improve their communities. As a result of his inspiration, today 1.4 million men and women are members of the world’s largest service club organisation, with some 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries.

In the UK, Lions clubs came into existence at the instigation of Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) who, during the Second World War, had been so impressed with the support provided to British children by Canadian Lions that she sent her equerry, Colonel Edward Wyndham, to Canada to meet them. With the sponsorship of Windsor Lions Club of Ontario, Col Wyndham agreed to start the first club in the UK, acting as its founding charter president.

Today, there are some 15,000 members in 841 Lions Clubs in the UK with The Countess of Wessex, a member of the Wokingham Lions Club, as their royal patron.

The Lions Club of Alton was founded in 1972 and is grouped with Meon Valley, Petersfield and Woolmer Forest to form an East Hampshire zone.

In Alton, over the last 45 years, Lions have made a substantial contribution to the community, not only in staging events to raise funds but also providing inclusive community experiences. Through the 1980s and 1990s Alton Lions were known for the Alton Carnival, whereas today the club organises a wide range of events to meet a variety of needs in the community. These include film nights, quizzes, golf days, craft markets, road and cross-country races, and in the summer Alton Lions stage the Party in the Park which this year will celebrate 100 years of Lions Clubs International with a magical Harry Potter-themed event in the Public Gardens.

The results of these fundraising activities enable grants to individuals in need, local charities, schools, organisations and for community events and facilities. Although it is not possible to determine how much has been distributed since the club was started, over the last five years more than £120,000 has been distributed through the participation and generosity of the people of Alton and its surrounding villages.

Other activities include Message in a Bottle, the Christmas gift project, tea parties for the elderly, band concerts, youth projects, and the children’s day out to Paulton’s Park. One of the most recent projects has been the installation of an emergency defibrillator outside the Assembly Rooms.

In addition, Alton Lions also participate in wider Lions programmes and in recent years have collected more 2,000 pairs of spectacles as part of the SpecTrek project. These spectacles are graded and then shipped to Third World countries. The project reflects a long-term affinity to saving and improving sight that followed Helen Keller’s challenge in 1925 for Lions to become ‘Knights of the Blind’ and together with former American President Jimmy Carter Lions formed a partnership to defeat preventable blindness in Africa and Latin America.

The Peace Poster competition is an opportunity to encourage young people in local communities to think about the importance of world peace and each year Lions clubs around the world sponsor the contest in local schools and among youth groups to achieve more than 350,000 participants worldwide. Winners receive a cash prize, the national winner enjoys a visit to Parliament, and the international winner receives a trip to the United Nations (UN).

Lions International has a lasting bond with the UN following its assistance in drafting the non-governmental organisation section of the UN Charter, and this continues today.

This global outlook was strengthened in 1968 with the establishment of the Lions Clubs International Foundation, which was designed to tackle global problems as well as assisting Lions with large-scale humanitarian projects.

By January this year, the Lions Clubs International Foundation had surpassed $1bn in grants made throughout the world in terms of disaster relief, ongoing support and specific humanitarian projects such as saving sight, all made possible through the combined efforts of individual Lions clubs.

However, with all this activity Lions firmly believe in ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’, so as well as enjoying the community events and activities clubs develop strong social programmes to ensure that there is playtime to add to the reward for contributing to the community well-being.

Alton Lions are always looking for new members to join them in making a difference in the local community and throughout the world. It’s easy to meet Lions, visible in their yellow tabards at events such as the Party in the Park this Saturday (June 10) or at the regular craft markets in the town centre. Alternatively, visit altonlions.org.uk or call 0845 833 2701.