Lions pride as numbers grow

The club, best-known for hosting the town’s bed race, recently hosted a successful beer festival as part of FEVA with a number of people expressing interest in finding out more about the organisation at the event.

Club President Mike Pyle expressed delight about the influx of new joiners.

He said: “Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Knaresborough has really thrived as a community with people supporting one another.

“We’re overjoyed to welcome so many new members to carry on this great work and we know that they will all be excellent additions to our club.

“We have several more interested applicants, but for anyone else who would like to find out more, we meet at Knaresborough Working Men’s Club on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 8pm.

“We are already starting to gear up for Christmas and have dusted down the sleigh ahead of taking Father Christmas out around the streets in December.”

From the funds raised by the Lions, donations are given to to help with particular needs of local charities, sports clubs, medical facilities and other organisations.

“We support initiatives in schools and community centres, and help individuals and families facing hardship,” added a club spokesman.

“At Christmas, we help with funding and distributing food parcels for the elderly, and we run an afternoon tea for those who might otherwise be on their own.

“We also volunteer as marshals and stewards at many community events in the local area. You can often see us in our distinctive tabards.”

The club is also part of Lions Clubs International (LCI), a non-political network of 1.4 million volunteers in about 46,000 clubs in over 200 countries.

LCI raises funds for a variety of international causes, including disease prevention and support programmes.

Up to 20 per cent of funds raised by the Knaresborough Lions are donated to international causes.

Anyone interested in joining Knaresborough Lions, should go to: https://www.knaresboroughlions.org