BALSALL Common Lions have thanked the local community for their continued support of their fundraising Santa Sleigh.
For Christmas 2021 the Lions didn’t go knocking on doors with collecting tins, but, thanks to a bit of creative thinking – and a couple of very loud megaphones – they were able to raise funds towards local good causes.
And donations can still be made too, at: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/18175
The Lions stress that every penny raised goes to local good causes including £250 to the British Legion Christmas afternoon tea for local care homes, £500 across four local foodbanks and £365 to the Solihull Young Carers Christmas Party, providing a gift card to every child that came to the party.
The Lions also committed £250 to provide essential toiletries like nappies and sanitary products to support Afghan refugees, the donation being made up to £500 by other local Lions clubs with this amount matched by Lions nationally to make a grand £1,000.
David Felthouse from the Lions said: “We are now working with Billesley Ark in Birmingham, a drop off / distribution centre for Afghanistan Refugees, with anything donated going directly to the families.”
He added: “This was a massive team effort involving Lions, individual volunteers, and the support of local businesses.
“Thanks to all of our Lions members, and we could not have managed without the support of individual members of the public who also volunteered their time to help Santa.
“A huge thanks goes to Unity Automotive (Carstins), who have loaned a towing vehicle to Santa, and have sponsored the Lions Christmas cards for over ten years.
“We couldn’t let this moment pass without recognising our chief organising Elf – Lion Andy Pemberton plus, Lion David Hickson for being virtually ever present with the organising Santa’s sleigh.
“Finally, thank to all the people of Balsall Common for coming out to see Santa. I started as a Lion by helping Santa over ten
years ago, and seeing the faces of all those children is still one of the most enriching experiences of my life!”
The activity on the Lions’s calendar is a Winter Foodbank Collection on January 15, 2022 when, after the peak of Christmas, the
foodbanks need even more support in late January and February.
