Council Secretary Report to Convention 2023
PCC Lion Peter Burnett
My role is to oversee and to support our National HQ operations and to support Council and Council Chair Alastair at Council meetings both face to face and on zoom
Council
As we moved away from Zoom Council meetings it has been refreshing to meet again face to face and other than one meeting in January on zoom we began our face to face council meetings at Chesford Grange Hotel. This coming year we will be moving Council meetings to The Abbey Hotel at Redditch after negotiating a better deal with them. We were using The Abbey prior to Covid and now the Hotel has reopened we will return to them for future Council meetings
National Headquarters
It is a privilege to support the team we have in our National Headquarters. They are a hardworking and dedicated team under the leadership of Office manager Brigitte Green.
Whatever we seem to send their way they not only manage but manage well and do a wonderful job not just to support Council but also MD Officers and all our Clubs in every District
I am proud to report that we are one of the only Headquarters within the entire Lions family worldwide delivering not just an admin and support function but also to manage and co-ordinate two huge Service projects – that is Lions Message in a Bottle and also the team manage the second Spectacle and hearing aid recycling centre. As you may be aware the spectacle recycling centre was developed at National Headquarters to support the excellent work done at Chichester Club.
My job as Council Secretary is made all the easier because of the work carried out by the team and in particular I am most grateful to Brigitte for her determination and dedication to give us all the best support possible.
Multiple District Headquarters Report to Convention 2023
Office Manager Lion Brigitte Green MJF
Our mission is to serve those that serve ……
The following our some of the day to day services we provide:
Customer service - We encourage all clubs to make contact with us in National Headquarters when they have an issue or query. We may not always have the answer however we usually know someone who will be able to assist them and make the contact. In the course of one day we can get any amount of queries from updating 0345 contact numbers, insurance issues, producing club certificates and other marketing tools. Advice on MyLCI and MyLion along with hundreds of other issues. No two days are ever the same.
We have certainly developed into a triage hub to continue our support to our members
MIAB - We are still very involved with this project and no day passes when there are not requests for bottles for either the public, health institutions, care homes, Lions clubs, etc.
Membership/Leadership – working closely with the GMT and GLT co-ordinators we support them in their initiatives and events and provide an administration service to ensure the officers have backup.
Club Supplies – We offer a one-stop shop for all supplies and regalia for clubs and I would encourage all clubs to place their order via MDHQ as a cheaper option than ordering from our international HQ.
0345 / PPL / PRS licence – We encourage all clubs to advertise events using an 0345 number which we can set up for a club at their request.
We also assist in obtaining Christmas music permissions with the PPLPRS licencing team.
Marketing and PR - We are delighted to have a close working relationship with our Marketing and PR team and work closely with them on a number of issues to ensure our clubs are getting the best marketing tools available when requested.
Data Protection Audit – We have worked closely with our Data Protection officer, Robyn Banks, and have supported her in the excellent workshops she has run across MD105.
Health and Safety Audit – A full audit is completed annually at HQ and an action plan worked to keeping both the team and the building safe
MD Convention 2023 and 2024 –As always its hard wok but so rewarding to work on our national Conventions both for this year and next
UN Day April 2023 – We supported International Officer Lion Neil in this very special event as always a privilege to both work on and attend the event in the palace of Westminster
Peace poster and Essay Competition – Please see the Peace Poster and Essay report for further details- again this year every District took part and produced some wonderful artwork for judging.
Spectacle Recycling – Having completed a full year on this project it is incredible to us just how many spectacles there are that need a new home wherever that may be, We have managed to deliver glasses to The Gambia, Ghana, Bangladesh, Chad ,Mali, Nigeria and Tanzania. We have developed links with other Charities to enable us to ship boxes of spectacles to these locations and we will continue to develop those links.
