Petersfield Lions Club celebrated their 49th charter evening at the Winton House Centre on Saturday with Jo Walters handing over the president’s chain to Clive Midson.
And despite all the constraints last year, the Lions raised £3,500 and paid out more than £9,000 in grants for fuel bills, laptops, blankets, and to the food bank.
Five new members joined the club, too.
Most of the Lions’ time since December has been taken up with marshalling for the vaccinations at the Festival Hall, where more than 53,000 vaccines have been administered.
Starting with just nine volunteers, it became clear more were needed, and Lion members Mike and Lin Piatek began recruiting more – as well as volunteers from Liphook Business Association, U3A and other locals.
As a result, they accumulated more than 800 voluntary hours ensuring the vaccinations could go ahead, and in recognition they were awarded the Mayor’s Award and The President’s Award for Service.
Jo Walters said: “We thank the fantastic people of Petersfield for supporting us over the past year, and we are looking forward to serving the community with our new president and to doing whatever we can to support those in need.”