As well as fund raising, our club is involved with various projects which help the local community & promotes public awareness of Lions Clubs international.

These are

Diabetic Screening

Glasses collection

Medic alert

Message in a Bottle

Hearing Trust

Peace poster Competition

The main project of Lions clubs international is blindness prevention, called the Lions eye Health programme (more information here at www.lions105ea.org.uk/lehp.htm) . Almost every Lions club around the world does something towards blindness prevention, this is what we do to help the local community in that regard as well assist other Lions clubs around the world.

Diabetic Screening

Lions became involved in diabetes education because diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among people between the ages of 20 to 74. Nearly one-half of people with known diabetes have some degree of diabetic retinopathy. Our club organises free of charge diabetic screenings, (a test to see if you are diabetic) in association with St. John’s Ambulance & Lloyds Pharmacy . Advance notice of where & when the club does this is given on our events page. At our last screening we tested 110 people for diabetes, 30 of those tested were referred (asked to take another test). below are pictures of our clubs last diabetic screening (in June 2007).

d> Glasses collection What do people do with their old unwanted spectacles? Some recycle them. Some give them to charity shops. Some give them back to the opticians. Some just keep them in the drawer. Some just throw them away. We can use them to help others to see properly again. Throughout the year, Lions, Leos, and other volunteers collect used prescription or non-prescription glasses or sunglasses for donation to Lions glasses Recycling Centres that are located throughout the world. The used glasses are cleaned and classified by prescription. The glasses are then distributed to those in need by Lion volunteers and other organisations hosting optical missions in developing countries. If you have used prescription or non-prescription glasses or sunglasses in your drawers, desks, or closets, you can donate them now! Children’s glasses are especially needed. The club has a collecting box in the Friends of Lions shop, which you can donate your old glasses at any time during their opening times, see our club shop page for details. other box locations include Boots Opticians & Specsaver’s in Rayleigh High Street, Mendoza Opticians @ 15, North Street, Rochford & the Perfect Vision Opticians shop in Hullbridge.  Website: http://www.perfectvision.org.uk/ MedicAlert MedicAlert is the only non-profit making, registered charity providing a life-saving identification system for individuals with hidden medical conditions and allergies. This takes the form of body-worn bracelets or necklets. This charity is supported extensively by Lions Clubs & by our club. More information here at http://www.medicalert.org.uk/ Hearing Trust The Lions District 105EA Hearing Trust is a charitable organisation with objectives to promote and encourage better communication with the hearing impaired. As a club we have assisted in printing & distribution of a quarter of a million door hangers (see below) in hotels & guest houses throughout the country, which has been very successful & requests for more are coming in, which has resulted in planning another print run. The club also provides training sessions for Deaf awareness throughout the year. More information here at http://www.lions105ea-hearingtrust.com/ Message in a Bottle The Lions Message In a Bottle scheme is a simple idea designed to encourage people to keep their personal and medical details on a standard form and in a common location - the Fridge. the bottle is shown below.   Whilst it is focused on the more vulnerable people in our community, anyone can have an accident at home, so this scheme can benefit anyone, including you. The bottles are supplied free of charge to anyone who wants one by our club, our club keeps a supply of them at all times (please use the contact us email address on our contact us page) More information here at http://www.lions.org.uk/miab.htm Peace poster Competition For more details, please click on the peace poster button.