Asda Daubhill

Asda Daubhill, Store Collection  - Saturday 17th May 2014

We were originally invited to collect at the store the week before, but due to our clubs commitments at the Multiple District Convention in Manchester, we could not get enough people for that weekend. Luckily, we were offered the following week, and were glad to attend, as we have not collected at this store before, although they helped us out for the first time during our Christmas Appeal.

Whilst the store is not a large one, as compared to our other Asda Store's we collect at, it was still pretty busy when I joined my son, Michael, for the last slot of the day from 2PM to 4PM.

It was nice to talk to the staff at the store during our collection, an advantage of being at a smaller store, and we were grateful for several tannoy announcements, telling their customers who we were, and what we were collecting for (another first). They were also doing a raffle which incorporated our collection, as children's names who donated to our collection, were put into the raffle, which was drawn as we left.

The picture below shows off our table, with the raffle plus our message in our bottle (which we give away free), as well as one of Lion members ready to start collecting.

Thanks go to to all the staff and customers at Asda, Daubhill for welcoming us into their store.

Lion John Crompton
5th June 2014

Store Collection Morrisons Harwood

Morrisons Harwood, Store Collection  - Tuesday 4th March 2014

Following on from the collection on Saturday for Marie Curie, we has a chance to boost on own funds with a collection at Morrisons Harwood on Tuesday 4th March. This store is one of our favourites as the people who use it, tend to be very generous in their donations to Bolton Lions.

This was, however, the first time we had ever done our collecting on a Tuesday, generally we collect over weekends at this store. We need not have worried, as although I was not myself collecting (being at work) my son Michael and the retired Lions were there, and they confirmed that they were very busy.

One Lion who wasn't there, was Ray Stafford, who lives 2 minutes away from the store, but was absent as he was unwell, or 'swinging the lead' as his next door neighbour told us at the store!

The outcome of the day was a fantastic amount of £315.16 raised, which is higher than most other stores in Bolton raise at weekends, so thanks go most definitely to the people of the Harwood area.

Our next event in our busy March is our Canopy in Bolton on 22nd March.

Lion John Crompton
21st March 2014

Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal

Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal Collection  - Saturday 1st March 2014

As well as our own collections for good causes in Bolton, Bolton Lions is part of a larger organisation, this being Lions Clubs International. As part of this, we do set up partnerships with other organisations, one of this is with Marie Curie, and this sees us helping them out with a collection in March, all the proceeds of which go to Marie Curie, rather than to Bolton Lions.

So it was that last Saturday, we were collecting in Sainsbury's in the centre of Bolton, from 9AM to 5PM. As you can see from the photograph below, whilst we wear our own tabards, we dress up with Marie Curie hats, which makes us even more visible than normal.

Although I did not collect this year, as all the slots were filled before I even knew about it, I know from last year, that we are even busier when we collect for Marie Curie, than we are on our own collections, and from talking to other Lions this seemed to again be the case. I guess that this is because their name is more recognisable than ours.

At the end of the day we collected a magnificent £377.93, and thanks goes to the people of Bolton for this.

Other Lions in other areas of the United Kingdom will be collecting during the month of March, and this should help to swell the coffers of this very worthy cause.

Lion John Crompton
4th March 2014

Moses Gate July 13

Moses Gate Summer Fayre - Sunday 28th July

2013

If you have read my previous reports, you will know that they are invariably weather related, and so this one will be no different. If you remember the month of July, it will be for the glorious weather we had for pretty much all the month. Well it all changed on the weekend of the 28th July, and boy did it change.

We managed to set up our canopy without any rain, but then it came in waves, one minute it would be sunny and warm, the next it was chucking it down, and this pattern continued right through to the close of the show. I was amazed that we has customers at all, but it just shows what a hardy bunch, us Northerners are, as whilst not rushed off our feet, our ducks still did good business (well it was perfect weather for ducks).

At least we could take cover under our canopy, unlike the bloke doing his act up on a wire, so we all had to admire his commitment, which is more than can be said for the birds of prey, who were nowhere to be seen.

As you can see below, we kept in high spirits through the day

Thanks to all those people who came to our stall on the day and those Lions taking part, it was a day for showing the British spirit!

Lion John Crompton
18th September 2013

Bromley Cross Summer Fayre

Bromley Cross Summer Fayre at The Last Drop - Saturday 11th May 2013
(Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you)

An early start for a Saturday morning was required, up at 7AM to help set up with Tony Foster at 8AM. Luckily the canopy shown below was already erected, so all we had to do was get all our wares for putting on the stall, onto the tables provided, and erect our own tables. More Lions arrived to help us do this, some of which can be seen in the picture below.

The weather forecast for the morning was not too pleasant, with heavy rain expected until at least midday, but at least we could shelter under the canopy, unlike a few stallholders, who had no protection apart from their umbrellas!

There is nothing you can do in England when it rains but adopt a positive spirit, and with the help of the DJ's from Bolton FM, this is what we did, with the girl guides singing and dancing, and the Air Cadets entertaining us with various songs, especially 'The Great Escape'.

The rain started easing at around 12.30, and then stopped completely for the Afternoon, which lead to an influx of visitors to the Last Drop, as we were located right next to the Arena, this meant we got a good share of those visitors.

We had taken, our dice game, some Jewelry, England merchandise and our 'hook-a-duck' game. As last year, the ducks were a magnet for smaller children, and we were very busy for a couple of hours, raising over £200, with about 95 percent of it from our lovely ducks.

You do get the sense of a good community occasion at these events, and it all makes for a good day out, which I would recommend to anyone for next year.

Going back to the title of this piece, always take the weather with you, as before 12.30 we only raised £15!

Thanks to all Lions who came down on the day.

Lion John Crompton

13th May 2013

Our completed stall, in the rain.









Some entertainment in the Arena, in this case the Accrington Pipe Band.

Sleigh

Christmas Sleigh with Bolton Lever Rotary Club  - December 2012

Having not written much for past activities since the NHS Health Fair, I thought I would share my time on the Sleigh at Christmas, before we start this year's activities programme with our collection at Asda Burnden Park being done today and tomorrow.

When I helped with our collection using Father Christmas (pictured above) and the Sleigh, we started from Lostock Railway Station on a bitterly cold Wednesday at 6.30PM, with temperatures stuck at -2 degrees Centigrade.

We headed North from the station, around some very prosperous neighbourhoods in the Lostock Area, unfortunately wealthy people can afford long drives and gates before you get to their properties, so that the music coming from the sleigh, and the ringing of our bell did not seem to reach them.

This meant that our collecting was very slow, but it was very rewarding talking to our Rotary colleagues on the evening, as it is the first time we have shared an event with them.

When we did get people to come out of their houses then we did get donations, and it is always a pleasure to see the faces of young children when they get close to Father Christmas, one mother did cut short her children's bath time and dragged them out to see us!

After about one hour (of the scheduled 2 hours), my nose was starting to run, but at that point unfortunately the PA system on the Sleigh packed in, and could not be resurrected. But out of bad always comes good, as at that point I was talking to a very pleasant couple, who came out to donate in more ways than one. Seeing how cold the night was, they offered me a nip of black Sambuca, which definitely warmed the cockles!

After a quick discussion, we decided to call it a night, as without any music playing, we would not be heard, which would make getting anybodies attention would be nigh on impossible.

Fortunately the other collection nights on the sleigh were problem free (apart from Father Christmas losing his beard on one night!).

We raised a lot of money and had a good time doing it, so we will do it again this year.

Lion John Crompton
15th February 2013

NHS Health Fair

Royal Bolton Hospital Health Fair  - 22nd September 2012

The Lion is let loose!

When we were invited to the Royal Bolton Hospital Health Fair, it seemed to our club too good an opportunity to miss, as we could promote our hospital radio service and give out some of our 'message in a bottle' bottles.

We were situated on the Erskine Car Park at the hospital, with the canopy already erected, so we just needed to put up our hospital radio display, our roll up banners and our Bolton Lions Club banner, and then stock up the table with bottles and leaflets and then we were ready.

Our banner can be seen at the back of the stall on the photograph below, as all the canopies had no backs, this proved opportune as it was both a wind break and useful advertising as it could be seen in all it's glory from the stalls on the other side of the road.

We also had brought our newest piece of equipment, the block rocker, which is a large piece of sound equipment, amplifying music from a ipod. This allowed us to entertain the other stalls on the car park, when the music from the speakers of Tower FM let us, with some Frank Sinatra songs from my son's ipod.

One of our Lions, Tom Slattery, had agreed to don the Lions costume (see below) and achieved his first target of getting a picture with Dave Spikey very quickly, and then proceeded to roam around the venue (well he is a Lion), followed by his official photographer (me!). He brought a lot of pleasure to the young children who were there, with most of them having a high five and receiving a lions sticker in return. He also has a few tests done at the Hospital Canopies, and was pronounced in good health! (Unlike John Fairhurst, who seemed to fail them all.)

Back at the stall, we gave out a number of our bottles and make several good contacts, so we were happy with how the day developed.

Packing up time was by 3PM, which we achieved, this was just as well, as they starting taking the canopy down at 3.01PM. For myself and Tom, we were off to Brookfield in Westhoughton to set up for our own Charter later that day, but that is a different story!

Thanks to all Lions who attended and the Royal Bolton Hospital for putting on an excellent event.

Lion John Crompton
12th October 2012

Look at all those lovely bottles.

                                                 A Lion between two thorns?