Newsletter | Newport & Usk Vale L

The members of the club and the friends of Lions continue to support local organisations, events and activities across our area. Many Lions within district 105CW may not be aware of the area we cover. As well as the City of Newport, our area extends to the towns of Cwmbran, Pontypool, Usk, and Caerleon. We cover an area over 250 square miles and a population of 150,000.

We try wherever possible to have a visible presence across our area, and some of the ways we do this include:-

The geographic area covered by the Newport and Usk Vale Lions club is extensive and is home to a large portion of the Monmouthshire Brecon and Abergavenny Canal as well as being located within the Brecon Beacons National Park. It was therefore no surprise that the Lions club formalised their links with the Monmouthshire Brecon and Abergavenny Canal Trust.

The approach confirms that Newport and Usk Vale Lions were embracing and replicating the MD approach with their partnering of the Canals Trust.

The Newport and Usk Vale Lions Club have become members of (and will provide volunteers to) the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canal Trust. The club and its members are now developing links with the local Canal Trust’s management and volunteer team, working out of Goytre Wharf.

Club members are now registered volunteers of the canal trust, working alongside other volunteers in renovating and maintaining the current boats run by the Trust, namely the Edith Elizabeth and the Lord Raglan. Local picnic areas and woodland paths are also maintained by the volunteers on a regular basis.

Some of the Lions members have become volunteer crews for both boats which offer rides on the canal. Training will be given by the canal trust, including how ‘tiller’ training to allow the volunteer to captain and steer the boat/barge.. Lions will also look to maintain the toll paths by involving themselves with litter picks along sections of the canal. This initiative will link to the District WASUP project collecting litter and reaching a goal of 2022 bags of litter linking to the Commonwealth Games 2022 being held in Birmingham.

In addition, the Canal Trust is a member of the Goytre Wharf Regeneration project and our members have been sharing their knowledge, skills and talents on helping the project group source suitable grant awarding bodies and helping with the writing of their ‘bid’ documents.

The club will also explore how they can help the canal trust financially, from within club fundraising processes.

Monmouth, Brecon and Abergavenny Canal Trust (MBACT)

As a club we are a formal support organisation of the MBACT. Several lions are volunteers of the trust and 1 has undertaken a 3 day course and is now a qualified helmsman and Boat Manager. Another is a member of the boat crew, whilst others participate in organised litter picks to keep the environment free from litter whilst supporting the District 105CW 2022 litter pick challenge.

Litter picking challenge 2022

We are a club of 20 members, and our approach has always been to work in partnership with other groups within our geographic area. We have developed formal links with a range of other organisations, and expanded our ‘Friends of Lions’ groups. We now have ‘litter pickers’ across the area including:

Beechwood Women’s Institute (Newport)
Torfaen Litter Champions (Cwmbran and Pontypool)
Osbourne Lodge Nursery Pontypool
Litter pickers from Trevethin in Pontypool, Griffithstown, New Inn and Sebastopol (Torfaen)
Business supporters through the clubs BNI (Business Networking) groups
Individual Lion members

As a club and through sponsorship of some businesses in BNI we have bought hi viz jackets, litter grabbers, litter bin hoops and plastic bags for individuals and groups to encourage their participation and supplement the equipment supplied through our local authorities. To date we have been able to contribute over 300 bags of litter to the District 105CW 2022 litter picking challenge.

Usk Show

2021 has seen the return of one of the largest one day agricultural shows within the United Kingdom and the only one within Wales to take place this year. For many years our club has supported the Show by running and stewarding the Park and Ride car park the west side of the town. This year we were asked if we could provide 20 Stewards for the day, which with the help of our ‘Friends of Lions’ we were able to do. Individuals acting as Stewards attended the Health and Safety Briefings which were held on 3 separate days and times. We were required to cover 27 steward positions throughout the day plus provide standby stewards throughout the day and we manned our own fundraising stall and gave out our new ‘Lions Bookmarks’ as well the Stepping Forward booklet. In all, approximately 20,000 people attended the show and Lions were on duty from 0745hrs until 1830hrs.

The show was a great success and the weather was kind. Some people trying to attend the show experienced long delays due to traffic congestion and road traffic accidents on the approach roads.For a small sized club, we are proud to be able to uphold the principle of Lions

Message in a Bottle

Following the easement of lockdown restrictions here in Wales, outdoor sporting activities have returned. As a result several of the National Squads of the Welsh Walking Football Federation have resumed their training across Wales, including Merthyr Tydfil, and Newtown.

The ladies Welsh Walking Football Squad with their Message in a Bottle.

As well as the National teams receiving the ‘Message in a Bottle’ several of the teams in the leagues, Llanederyn in East Cardiff and also in Neath, have also distributed their players with the ‘bottles’.

The Chairman of the Welsh Walking Football Federation has done a promotional video of the ‘Message in a Bottle’ which has been shared widely on social media.

Following discussion on what Lions clubs do. The chairman has agreed to ask all of the national squads to donate their old spectacles to the Lions club so they can be recycled as part of our sight-savers scheme.

The Last Few Months

It has been a busy time for the club. Within the past 8 weeks we have been involved in a wide range of activities and forward planning, as an individual club and with partnerships developed with other charities, organisations and community groups:

We met Lion Ian and Zara as they passed through our area on their 3million steps challenge. We provided transport to drive them from one area of the city to another.

Lion Jim Thompson presented them with a donation of £250.

As part of supporting environmental initiatives the club donated £150 for materials to build and replace 100 nest boxes in the Greater Gwent area.

As an ongoing commitment to the WASUP challenge we gave £100 to the 4th Gwent Boys Brigade to they could buy Hi Viz Vests to help maintain their safety as they do their litter picks.

As a Humanitarian Gesture we have donated £250 to support and help with the relocation of an Ukrainian family (2 Adults and 5 children aged 3yrs -11yrs) in the South East Wales area, we have sponsored Croesyceiliog Male Voice choir with their concert programme raising money for Ukrainian refugees with all profits being donated to the Club for dissemination at local, national and international level.

President of the Club, Jim Thompson travelled to the Commonwealth Games HQ in Birmingham to receive the Gatrad WASUP 2022 Commonwealth Games Challenge Trophy on behalf of District 105CW. The Newport and Usk Vale club has collected over 2042 bags of litter since April 2021.

We have donated £350 to buy a family tent for those in need.

A donation of £250 has been made to a school development in Uganda which is being supported by a local faith community.

We supported local communities over the Jubilee Bank Holiday and provided Stewards at a Beacon Lighting ceremony at Pencoed Castle and also a Jubilee Funday held on Llandevaud common which attracted over 1000 people.

Throughout the past 2 years fundraising has been a challenge for the club, but through its continued membership of BNI Celtic – Business Network where the club occupies the Charity Seat, weekly donations have been received from the members and their customers which have helped underpin the work of the club.

The club continues to distribute MIAB and also collect glasses for recycling this year alone collecting over 3000 pairs. The club have just secured support from a local factory whose workforce will now collect glasses on behalf of the club.

Looking Forward

In regards to forward planning, the club has been awarded £1000 from the Bron Afon Pitch4Pounds grant scheme to support our work in providing LED light bulbs to those in need through local food banks, foodshare schemes and community hubs throughout Torfaen. The club has branded this project as ‘Light into Darkness’. Families in receipt of food parcels will be able to pick the type of lightbulb fitting they need and these will be included in future food deliveries. This project will impact on sustainability, reduce waste and impact on poverty.

The club are now looking forward to the Usk Show on September 10th where members of the club, family and friends will be volunteering as Showground Stewards. The club will also have a Charity Trade Stand and the District will have a membership tent promoting the work of Lions International.

In December this year the club will be supporting and sponsoring the Welsh Hospital Choir Concert in aid of the Noah’s Ark Children’s Chairty. The concert for the first time is being held in Newport Cathedral.

Finally, to secure more income streams for the work being undertaken by the club they have become ‘Partners in Travel’ with Leyla Kent – Not Just Travel – and for every holiday, or break booked quoting ‘NewportRoar’ the club will receive a donation from Leyla.

Newport and Usk Vale are a small but active club and always tries to underpin ‘We Serve’ in its ongoing activities.

‘We serve’.

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