Many of you may know a Lions Club or a member of a Lions club and the work they do in the community as part of the world’s largest voluntary service organisation, Lions Clubs International.
The Lions Club of Boroondara Central has been active in the Boroondara community for 62 years – long before the City of Boroondara was formed. These days we have a very visible presence through our Opportunity Shop located in the Burwood Village. We were formerly known as the Lions Club of Camberwell which was chartered in October 1957.
In those days it was a ‘Men Only’ club and the aim, as with all Lions Clubs, was to assist those in our community who may need some physical or other help. In 1984 another men-only Lions club was formed in Balwyn. Between them they serviced a very large part of the area now known as Boroondara. As with many organisations, the demographics and needs of the community began to change and the clubs had to do the same.
The Camberwell and Balwyn clubs amalgamated in 1997 and a name change was appropriate reflecting changes in our municipality. Members of both clubs are still active in the current club and, of course, we’ve collected some new members on the way.
Since 1987 women were accepted as Lions members in their own right, and today are a significant part of most clubs. Through a wide range of projects too numerous to mention, The Lions Club of Boroondara Central assists individuals and communities and welcomes new members and new ideas.
Whenever you shop or donate quality goods to our Op Shop, or enjoy a sausage from our Bunnings Sausage Sizzle, or buy, sell or eat our delicious Lions Christmas cakes and puddings, you are helping us to help your community. There is so much more to know about us and what we do.
Where there’s a need, there’s a Lion
Lions Australia is Australia’s largest service club with more than 1200 clubs in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Lions share a core belief: community is what we make it. Some Lions Club focuses:
Environment
Committed to caring for the environment, every year over 3000 environmental projects are carried out by Lions in Australia aimed to improve the quality of air, water and land, and protecting and preserving local flora and fauna.
Health Projects
Cancer Prevention, Treatment and Medical Research; Diabetes; Vision and Hearing; The Lions Alzheimer’s Foundation.
Youth
Youth of the Year; Leo Clubs; Youth Exchange.
Emergency Response
Lions Clubs support emergencies and natural disasters in Australia and overseas by providing direct help as members of
the local bushfire brigade or SES, helping out as tradespeople in rebuilding efforts, providing food, clothing or raising dollars to help local communities recover.
The Victorian Lions Foundation
Provides annual funds for a Neurobionics Research Fellow to undertake research with the neurobionics research team at
the Bionics Institute. The aim is to support exploration of implant devices that monitor neural activity in the brain and spinal cord, and/or stimulate nerves electrically for therapeutic applications. The focus is on applications to alleviate common disorders like epilepsy and blackouts, Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, and certain severe psychiatric conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder.
If you’d like to know more or if there is something you would like to see done in your community, perhaps we can help. We really are quiet achievers. Please email boroondaracentral@lionsclubs201v5.org or contact Pauline on 9836 0541 for further information.
PAULINE DARGAN
