MD 105 Convention - 2026

9th May Newcastle

Youth Lead - Lion Paul Murphy

Young Ambassador - Lion Paul Murphy

Dudley was the place to be over the weekend of 20th to the 22nd February! What a weekend celebrating the Young Ambassadors we had! 

For the second year running, we had 8 amazing young people representing our 8 districts and it was a privilege to be in their company and the company of their parents, club supporters and other visiting Lions over the weekend. We were also joined by Caitlin Tierney, the Young Ambassador for District 133 and her mum and sister. 

It was a busy weekend, with 60 covers for the Getting to Know You Social on the Friday evening, 81 for the Gala Dinner on Saturday and over 100 in attendance for the Sunday Morning presentations. The Young Ambassadors, supported by members of Sandwell and Dudley Lions also went Ten Pin Bowling and ventured into a karaoke room too! 

My grateful thanks must go to the Young Ambassador Officers for their determination to find candidates, support them through the process and being there over the weekend. I must also thank Lions Stu, Martyn and Melissa for their unwavering support over the weekend. A special mention must go to Lion Sally Marsh too for her support with the next steps for our Shipshape and overall winner! 

Our Young Ambassador 2026 is Hugo Hughes-Slattery, sponsored by Letchworth and Baldock Lions Club.

Our Shipshape Winner 2026 is Grace Cadwallader, sponsored by Cheddar Vale Lions Club.

If you'd like to see a fuller update about the weekend, please take a look at the Lions Magazine, March 2026 edition, where Lion Brigitte has put together a great article about the YA Programme. 

As always, a special mention must go to our Foundation, for the financial support for this event. Lion Paula, as MD Foundation Treasurer must also be thanked for her time and support in making the event happen and for paying the bills! 

If your club members ask what their £6 contribution to the Foundation is worth - tell them to get to The Village Hotel next February to experience it first-hand. 

I notified Council Chair Lion Stu that I won't be continuing in post at the end of this Lion's year but would like whomever takes on this exciting role to know they will have my full support. 

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Young Leaders In Service - Lion Sue Hibbert

My focus this year was the introduction of a digital reporting form. This means there are fewer administrative tasks and the participants' names etc are correct as they enter the details. The Google Form also creates a spreadsheet so Jan at HQ does not need to keep one.

The number of YLIS Awards completed are steady but, as always, it would be better if we rewarded more young people with the certificates. It's fabulous PR for your club too.

I recently attended a presentation by Garforth and District Lions. Not only the Lions but also the participants parents, grandparents, school leadership team and classmates were in attendance. You could contact any youth group that has young leaders e.g. Scouts.

The Duke of Edinburgh participants complete over 24 hours voluntary service as one of their sections. Peer mentoring in schools is also volunteering, and all schools have that in some form. So please try to increase your contribution to encouraging young people to give service by rewarding them with a YLIS Award. You enjoy serving your community and so will they. 

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Youth Exchange - PCC Lion Philip Goodier

TO CREATE and foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world.

1. Background

Fact: the state of the Youth Exchange programme in MD105 in July 2024 when I was appointed was a disgrace and an embarrassment.

Following my appointment, I had several conversations and it was agreed that I would, effectively, be building the MD Youth Exchange programme from scratch.

Before applying for the Youth Exchange Officer position, I made enquiry as to what resources were available; 'not much' was the consensus and that was being generous!

For very many years MD105 had an enviable reputation as the provider of an excellent youth camp and associated hosting; in addition, Clubs throughout the MD invited and sponsored young people in their communities to participate in youth camps & youth hosting overseas.

It used to be that our youth camp was over-subscribed, but we had a ready pool of experienced Lions willing to participate in family hosting, so those applicants not selected for the Youth Camp had the opportunity of being hosted in different parts of the country. We used to be strong enough to offer family hosting over Christmas & New Year to youth exchange participants from Australia & New Zealand.

Over the past few years and especially post-covid, that has all been lost. Our youth camp programme was operating on a hand-to-mouth basis, there were no camps planned beyond 2024. We have lost 'host families' and they have not been replaced and very few Clubs sponsored young people in their communities to attend camps overseas.

We had become the poor relation: in 2024, MD103 France, hosted no fewer than nine youth camps.

There was an almost total lack of knowledge and understanding about what is one of the Association's greatest programmes.

2. Progress

I am pleased with the progress being made in rebuilding the youth exchange programme; when appointed I advised that it would be a slow process, and it is hampered by not having an Officer in each District.

3. Current Situation

I sincerely thank District CE, who are hosting the 2026 MD Youth Camp, Loughborough legends, at Loughborough University, Leicestershire between the 10^th & 20^th August; the facilities are excellent and some of the best Jacqueline and I have seen over our many years involvement with Youth Exchange.

A programme of activities has been developed for the 10 days of the Camp that includes free time, team building and Service activities. I communicate regularly with Lion Sue Hibbert who is leading.

3.a Inbound Exchange

There are, as at 31^st March, 18 applications from 14 nationalities. The gender mix is 13 female: 5 male and includes 1 Leo with an age range between 18 & 21.

The primary airport for arrivals & departures is Birmingham International where they will be welcomed by the Host Committee. Onward transport to Host families will be arranged.

There are currently, as at 31^st March, 10 family hosts in place though I am aware of ongoing discussions with a further two possible hosts; work continues.

Family hosting in 2026 is from 5^th to 10^th August.

3.b Outbound Exchange

For many years MD105 used to send 50+ youths outbound annually.

In 2024 only one individual was sponsored by a Club in MD105 to a youth camp overseas. In 2025 14 individuals were sponsored, the majority by Ringwood & Fordingbridge Lions Club, through the work of Lion Stephen Sherring.

Information regarding Youth Camps being held throughout the world has been circulated to District Officers with the request that they circulate their respective Clubs to encourage outbound participation, hopefully that has been happening.

As at the date of compiling this report I have received and forwarded twenty two (22) outbound exchange applications, from four Districts, with Ringwood & Fordingbridge LC leading the way with 12. Places have been offered at Camps in Brazil (3), Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia (2) and Japan (3); a very diverse selection.

I suggested to the District Young Ambassador Officers about inviting district young ambassador winners to participate in the 2026 youth exchange programme as a means of maintaining a relationship with them and rewarding them for what they do in their communities and am delighted that two Districts have submitted applications

4. Future Focus

Council accepted my recommendation that we develop a rota of future youth camp hosts, by District. Every District has the capacity to host a Youth Camp and Lions with the necessary skills.

District CN will be the host District in 2027, and I will offer every assistance and support. Edge Hill University is the venue selected. Jacqueline and I visited Edge Hill in early December 2025 to view the facilities, which are very good; PDG David Seager is leading on behalf of the District. 

In my July 2025 Council report, I invited District CW to host in 2028; as at the date of compiling this report I have had no response to the invitation.

Objectives 2025-26

I set 5 objectives for the role and I am pleased to say that most have been achieved.

1. To increase the level of understanding of the Youth Exchange & Youth Camp programme in Clubs & Districts.  2. To ensure that we have volunteer Clubs or Districts to host youth camps in 2025, 2026 & 2027.  3. To increase the pool of members willing to host youth exchange participants and to increase the number of participants being sponsored to travel to overseas youth camps.  4. To draft a new 'Guide to Hosting' and associated 'Bid to Host' so that clubs/Districts know what the hosting expectations are and have approved guidelines to work to.  5. To provide a flow of information, working with District Officers, to improve knowledge and awareness of the youth exchange programme to Clubs and individual Lions and encourage Clubs or Districts to bid to host future youth camps.

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Leos (Alpha) - Lion Mollie Speed

Actions since taking the post/over the year:

Since taking the post I have been getting in contact with the District Governors across our MD to discuss Leos, some of them then passed on my details to their District Leo Officers. Through this I have shared details on getting new members, starting new clubs and supporting existing Leos clubs. I have continued to do this throughout the year

I started my year as Leo Officer at internation convention in Orlando, where I met with SW's Leo Officer and discussed some things that they wanted to see across their district, where at that point in time they didn't have any Leo's clubs. We actually signed up the first Leo in SW there, a son of a Lion, who has now worked tirelessly to spread the impact of Leos and Lions. I am now happy to say that SW have two clubs progressing in their District. We now also have another club progressing in District CE as well.

Over the year, I have been working on some promotional things for Leos, including posters, leaflets, etc – many of them are targeted for the way that International Leos run, which we don't quite do the same within our MD. Also, with this, creating QR codes and social media resources so that clubs that are strengthening their online presence can use these also. My biggest movement within this has been working with Brigitte at HQ to create some free New Member Leos packs, so this way clubs aren't put off by the cost of sponsoring the club, paying for the new members packs, and having to support it a lot during the start of its progression. This can also make starting a Leo's club more appealing for clubs that might not have access to those financial resources as much as others. This pack includes their certificate, a new members guide, a poster with info and a checklist for things to do in their first month as a Leo – the final works regarding the badge are now being done!

Over the year I have also been able to share the word of Leos at various events, starting with Lions Share with their Winter Warmers project, and also the Celebrations of Service weekend in CE where many clubs that had been in contact with the District as much before approaching me to get more information. Alongside this, I attended Symposium 9 in November 2025, where conversations about Leos and the projects that the clubs had undertaken were common, and many people wanted to learn more about what Leos were and what it could do for them. More recently, I attended CE's District Convention where I did a presentation on what Leos can do for you, where I talked more about how yes Lions can support Leos, but also Leos can support lions clubs in ways they may not have thought about before. At our MD Convention, Leo Thomas from SW will be talking about Leos!

I am also working on introducing some personal development opportunities for the Leo's, whether this be some form on 'training' sessions on organising events or public speaking opportunities to allow them to gain more for their cv's. I'm also open to developing things of their choice.

Looking at the portal, in 105MD we have a total of 92 Leos, with a net growth of +10.87%. IN our MD we have only dropped 3 Leos, this is due to aging out, and from what I am aware I believe these have all gone onto become Lions, but we have gained 13 members this year.

Future Plans:

I am still trying to get fully in contact with some of the Leo Officers from the Districts, many didn't get back in contact unfortunately. I am hoping that once I have all of the contact details from HQ I can create a group chat for them to use, to hopefully take away some of the formalities of emails and allow some new ideas and updates to flow more freely.

My focus at the moment is the grow and strengthen our current Leo clubs, and through this and publicity of their work I believe we can gain more Leo's and crest more clubs.

Decisions for Council:

None.  

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ROAR - Lion Lesley Spence

nationalheadquarters@lionsclubs.co.uk