Lions President Petra Curtis enjoying giving back to area
NEW Lions Club President Petra Curtis plans to raise awareness about the many projects the volunteer-run organisation supports within the New Ross community and wants to give something back to an area whose people have supported her over the years.
The Glenmore native said: ‘I had always been aware of the Lions Club, mostly from their tree ribbons during the Christmas season, but I hadn’t really understood how much they did within the community. It was about three years ago when a couple of members from the New Ross Lions Club gave a talk at the Better Business Breakfast morning, that I had the opportunity to see how much the club does within our community.’
At that time, Petra was thinking about joining a charity organisation, to give back something, as New Ross has been a great support to her through her business The Design Nut over the years. ‘What really appealed to me about the New Ross Lions Club was that - although it’s an international organisation - our club focusses on mostly local and community based projects. Also, with the Lions Club we don’t focus on one specific cause, we are open to deal with and support a wide range of local causes which may need our assistance. That appealed to me greatly as I felt I could help in a variety of ways for a variety of people in our community.’
She said one of the club’s past successes is the Dunbrody Famine Ship, which is a product of the JFK Trust, which in turn was started by New Ross Lions Club in the early 1980s.
‘Another project which took wings was the Meitheal anti-bullying programme for secondary schools. It is now running in all second level schools in Wexford and was funded initially by our club. A wonderful ongoing project is the Mock Interview initiative, which gives TY students the chance to take part in interview sessions to prepare themselves for future job and college interviews. I love this project and really enjoy getting to know the students and seeing their great potential for their futures. They were more prepared than I was!’
She said a project the Lions Club got back up and running this year was the Peace Poster campaign for primary schools.
‘ This is another project that is close to my heart - with the topic this year being “Reduce, Reuse & Recycle”. This is a very important message which is thankfully catching on. Some of the students from Bunscoil Ris and St Canice’s national schools took part and made fantastic posters, and we had winning prizes and an overall prize of an arts and crafts hamper for the schools.’
She said when the opportunity arose to be president of the New Ross Lions Club for the coming year, she gladly accepted.
‘I am passionate about nurturing our community and seeing it develop. I believe that, together, the small steps we take lead to greater things, which we can all enjoy. I hope that within this year we can raise awareness for our group and that anyone who would flourish from our support will feel free to contact us. Like many volunteer groups working behind the scenes, a lot of what we do in New Ross is out of the public eye. I would hope that we can raise awareness and that our small group of local volunteers will grow and with that our accomplishments.’
The group meets on the first Wednesday of the month, at the Brandon House Hotel at 8 p.m. They can be contacted by email: lionsclubnewross@gmail.com, and also have a facebook page.
‘Please feel free to like and share,’ Petra said.