Lions’ golden giveaway

FOR half a century, a group has been serving Wokingham, raising funds for worthy causes.

To celebrate its 50th Anniversary, Wokingham Lions Club is making 50 donations of £500 to support borough charities and community organisations.

Charitable groups are invited to apply for one of these funding opportunities.

Debbie Slay said: “We’ve decided to make the whole of 2024 our special year, and we’ll celebrate by giving out golden awards to 50 charities throughout the calendar – around four per month.”

To qualify, charities must have a registered address in the Wokingham Borough Council area.

A registered charity number is also essential, and groups must also have up-to-date accounts and annual returns with the Charity Commission.

Preference will be shown to grant applications that seek to provide a new activity or service rather than covering general running costs

And the organisation must be happy for Lions to publicise the grant and its purpose.

The organisation arranges numerous fundraising events in the borough, including Wokingham’s May Fayre, its Winter Carnival, Spring and Autumn Wokingham Walks, and regular comedy nights and quizzes. They will also hold a Wokingham Car Rally in June, and a new event, The Wokingham Swimathon - also in June.

“It’s a growing organisation,” said Ms Slay.

“We have a number of Lions who have been with us for a long time, some of them 30 or 40 years, but we’ve also had some new members join us last year.

“It’s a great way for people whose children no longer need them to always be around, or for recent retirees, to enjoy giving something back to the community.”