Lioness Club Combines Service with Socialising

Are you aware that Martinborough is home to a Lioness club? Community service clubs such as Lions and Rotary are well known in most parts of New Zealand, and Martinborough is no exception. Lionesses are less well known but also put a great deal into your community and would love to welcome new members to the Martinborough Club.

At each Martinborough Fair the Lionesses run their busy café stall offering food to all those eager fair-goers, and by doing so raising funds that are then put back into the community throughout the year. They cater for events such as the Charity Cycle Ride, birthday parties, and various other private functions. Lionesses have assisted with a variety of events held in the Martinborough Town Hall, including Madcaps performances.

Funds raised are used to support many different causes including well known organisations such as the Life Flight Trust, the Cancer Society, Ronald McDonald House in Wellington, and Wairarapa Riding for the Disabled. Within our local community Lionesses have made donations to Wharekaka, the Medical Centre, the Youth Trust and the library as well as supporting fundraising for many individual cases of need. Examples include giving petrol vouchers for those needing to travel significant distances for medical reasons, or to assist the purchase of specialist medical equipment.

However, belonging to Lionesses is not all about working to raise money and then deciding how best to give it away to help people in our community.  It is also an opportunity to get away with a group of women and have fun. Lioness meetings and associated social events offer a non-threatening way to get to know other women in Martinborough, women who have in common a desire to help local people and improve life in our community.

Meetings are held twice a month, on the first and third Monday evenings. While one of these is a business meeting, the other is a dinner meeting that can include a speaker, movie, or theatre show. At a wider level, get-togethers are held regularly in the South Wairarapa area involving both Lions and Lionesses groups. Once a year a North Island Fun Forum is held, providing a chance to share what is going on in each region, and to brainstorm and gain ideas from a much larger group. The emphasis is definitely on having fun! This year’s Forum in September is to be held in Tauranga.

Gaylene Selby Neal or Anne Firman would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to visit a meeting or join our local Lioness club to get involved in the community, bring new ideas, and enjoy the company of other women. Gaylene can be reached on 306 9340, and Anne on 306 9995.
Rachel McCahon