June 09 Curdridge Parish News - Hampshire County Council

member Ian Cresdee suggested
that he might consider joining the
Meon Valley Lions Club.
positive force in the community
and which continues to thrive in
the UK and internationally.
Lions’ cash goes
to good causes
Roger Huntley, District Governor
for Lions 105D district was our
guest at the April monthly
meeting and took the lead in
f o rmally we lcoming a n d
inaugurating Joe Kennedy as a
new member of the Meon Valley
Lions Club. Joe lives in Titchfield
Common with his wife Heather
a n d i s t h e M D o f
Xploit-Technology Ventures Ltd, a
Data Centre Design Consultancy.
Joe and Heather have supported
community voluntary groups for a
number of years. In the past they
have helped the Titchfield Bonfire
Boys Society with their annual
Carnival and Blues at the Abbey
events and have both been
Community First Responders,
until the Titchfield group
disbanded earlier this year. Joe
was looking for an opportunity to
continue his voluntary work and
was delighted when Lions
At the meeting we were also
pleased to receive a presentation
from Andrew Tyrrell who talked
about his commitment to the
Scout movement. Andrew is the
son of Lion Jon Tyrrell and Meon
Valley Lions have contributed to
some of the costs involved in his
activities during his pre-University
gap-year, 2007-08.
During this time, Andrew has
completed his Gold Duke of
Edinburgh Award and fulfilled his
ambition to become a Queen
Scout – he received his badge
from Chief Scout Peter Duncan,
at a ceremony at Tate Modern
and attended a service at
Windsor Castle in the presence of
The Queen. Becoming a Queen
Scout involved Andrew in
numerous activities, including
work on a National Trust Project
in the Brecon Beacons and
attending a trip to Switzerland
with Romsey Scouts. During 2008
he also supervised a number of
Scout events including the Scout
centenary celebration at
Brownsea Island and an
international Scout Jamboree in
New Zealand. It was refreshing to
see a young person giving so
m u c h b a c k t h r o u g h a n
organisation that is such a
We have recently received news
from old friends Nigel and Sarah
Barettes. Although now resident
in France, they have committed
themselves to supporting projects
in Africa, following a holiday a few
years ago which gave them an
insight into the poverty and
suffering so common throughout
the continent. In their most recent
visit they have donated gardening
tools to schools so that staff and
pupils can grow their own
vegetables. Meon Valley Lions
has supported their work with
money for hand pumps that allow
communities to access clean water
supplies. In one school of 800
children, water was being
provided by hand-carrying on a
daily basis, before the pumps
were deployed. Nigel and Sarah’s
efforts have been covered in “The
Point”, one of Gambia’s National
newspapers and we were
delighted that our financial
support got a mention too. In the
native home of the Lion, it’s
interesting to wonder what sort of
image Meon Valley Lions
conjures up to the newspaper’s
readers in the Gambia!
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