THE Lions Club of Richmond is well-known for its generosity to community groups, and last week yet another volunteer group was rewarded with a Lions donation to continue their good work around the district.
St John Ambulance-Hawkesbury division, was the recipient of some good-old Lions love with a donation of $2000 to the group to purchase a multipurpose chair for its ambulance.
Lions Club members took time out from feeding the masses at their sausage sizzle tent at the Hawkesbury Show to present St John Ambulance Hawkesbury volunteers, who were joined by St John NSW commissioner Warren Glenny, with the new chair.
The small, compact chair folds neatly into the back of a St John ambulance, and is used as a lightweight yet robust wheel/carry chair.
St John officer Tony Jansen said the chair was designed as an alternative to a wheelchair and was designed to fit into tight spaces.
“Wheelchairs are often too big and bulky to be used at various events, and this kind of multipurpose chair is exactly what we need to be able to better help our Hawkesbury residents when they need us the most,” he said.
“It’s fantastic that the Lions Club have given us this donation to help equip the ambulance our volunteers are building up for the community.”
Mr Jansen said the recent lack of horse events due to equine influenza cost the group in excess of $17,000 worth of donations, so the generosity of the Lions Club was very much appreciated.
Lions President Norman Jones said Lions was happy to help St Johns.
“St John Ambulance volunteers perform an outstanding service to the community, and we’re pleased to be able to further help them in their cause,” he said.
“We hope to continue our support of St John Ambulance into the future.”
Commissioner Glenny said the Hawkesbury ambulance, and the new chair, would be a vital tool for the upcoming World Youth Day celebrations at Randwick, where St John would be deploying 500 volunteers to help at the event.
Photo caption: Richmond Lions’ Eddy Ginns, Harry Ginns, Geoff Ingram, Bev Maybray, Astrid Wolvram, Barbara Sholte, Marjorie Jones, Sophie Burg, Les Selby, Norman Jones and commissioner Warren Glenny with St John volunteers Leanne Keevers and Brian Warwick.