It’s a very sobering experience to stand still and realise just how much of the Lions year has gone by already. Since District Governor Bob has been in office, his MERL team has barely had the opportunity to stand still, and we’re not there yet!
As Membership Chairman, I have visited a number of clubs around the District and with a great deal of pleasure presented the 'Club Care' programme. The Club Care programme is basic information presented in a slightly different way and encourages each club to examine itself, its practises and its goals. The programme offers a starting point for self-examination and assessment (something that doesn’t always sit very comfortably with us) and it encourages club membership not to be frightened of looking at some of the things they may have done for years in a different light.
Each club I have visited and presented the programme to during this period has provided me with valuable feed back and several have embarked upon their own membership drives. One of the most important things that I have tried to leave with members is the simple fact that clubs that may be struggling are not alone in their plight.
With each Membership Chairman’s Report that I have delivered to Cabinet, I have encouraged clubs to reach out to their neighbouring Lions and offer a hand when it may be needed. There is nothing that can replace one club’s support for another and there is nothing more disappointing to discover a club is decaying when its neighbours could have helped. The MERL team have talents, experience in their fields, techniques and in come cases literature but they are not magicians. We are a team of four people made up of the Membership Chairman (me), the Extension Chairman (Lou SCHOLTEN), the Retention Chairman (Valda PRITCHARD) and Leadership Chairman (Terry UNIACKE).
The core functions of Membership and Retention Chairman have seen Valda PRITCHARD and I work hand in glove on many occasions over these past months. That is because those functions, though different, have many similarities and naturally intersect at many points. Valda has been a joy to work with and I thought it a little funny one night when we were both giving a presentation to a club and we found ourselves finishing each other’s sentences!
One of the most surprising things we’ve gleaned from our visitations however, has been the number of Lions (some with in excess of 30 years membership) who didn’t know we had a MERL team, let alone what it was and who was on it. I can say that by the time we’ve left a club visit there wouldn’t be a member present who hadn’t heard of us!
Before I became a MERL team member, I didn’t appreciate the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. A club in trouble may reach out through their Zone or Region Chairman or in some cases directly to us (the MERL team) seeking help. We then, depending on the type of problem, decide whose area of expertise is involved before we venture down for a face-to-face meeting. Family commitments, logistics, work schedules and sometimes other Lions commitments must be taken into account before we can get together. A plan of attack so to speak is usually the end result of the first contact and we may leave with the ailing club having been left some 'home work' to do before our next gathering. Many times during a crisis intervention meeting, the ailing club will come up with its own answers, all they need is a fresh sounding board, some brain storming and a positive, 'can do' attitude. Attitude is the most important aspect of the battle, it can over come obstacles or reinforce them – the clubs or to be more particular, some of the members make the decision which of the two roads they will take. Most problems within a club involve people and some people like to treat their club as their own personal property, which of course, it’s not!
Lose sight of the big picture, the reason we became Lions in the first place, and we lose sight of our reason to stay. People will stay for people, but they will leave because of them also.
In addition to visiting clubs throughout the year, I have had a myriad of contacts via emails and the good old telephone. Many hours have been spent listening, suggesting, asking questions, asking advice and there has even been the odd occasion where I have travelled to meet individual club members, as the case may be, away from their home territory. Like clubs seeking support from other clubs, MERL team members seek support from other Senior Lions as none of us pretend to have all the answers. Constitution and By-Laws Chairman PCC Bruce HUDGSON and Cabinet Treasurer PDG John GREENWOOD have been of enormous help and encouragement to me. Always and with every situation I have faced as a MERL team member, I have enjoyed not only the support of the rest of my team, but of District Governor Bob also and for that I am extremely grateful.
So you see, we don’t act alone and as MERL team members, we also appreciate the importance of asking for help.
Lion Wayne OAKES
Membership Chairman 2009-10
As Membership Chairman, I have visited a number of clubs around the District and with a great deal of pleasure presented the 'Club Care' programme. The Club Care programme is basic information presented in a slightly different way and encourages each club to examine itself, its practises and its goals. The programme offers a starting point for self-examination and assessment (something that doesn’t always sit very comfortably with us) and it encourages club membership not to be frightened of looking at some of the things they may have done for years in a different light.
Each club I have visited and presented the programme to during this period has provided me with valuable feed back and several have embarked upon their own membership drives. One of the most important things that I have tried to leave with members is the simple fact that clubs that may be struggling are not alone in their plight.
With each Membership Chairman’s Report that I have delivered to Cabinet, I have encouraged clubs to reach out to their neighbouring Lions and offer a hand when it may be needed. There is nothing that can replace one club’s support for another and there is nothing more disappointing to discover a club is decaying when its neighbours could have helped. The MERL team have talents, experience in their fields, techniques and in come cases literature but they are not magicians. We are a team of four people made up of the Membership Chairman (me), the Extension Chairman (Lou SCHOLTEN), the Retention Chairman (Valda PRITCHARD) and Leadership Chairman (Terry UNIACKE).
The core functions of Membership and Retention Chairman have seen Valda PRITCHARD and I work hand in glove on many occasions over these past months. That is because those functions, though different, have many similarities and naturally intersect at many points. Valda has been a joy to work with and I thought it a little funny one night when we were both giving a presentation to a club and we found ourselves finishing each other’s sentences!
One of the most surprising things we’ve gleaned from our visitations however, has been the number of Lions (some with in excess of 30 years membership) who didn’t know we had a MERL team, let alone what it was and who was on it. I can say that by the time we’ve left a club visit there wouldn’t be a member present who hadn’t heard of us!
Before I became a MERL team member, I didn’t appreciate the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. A club in trouble may reach out through their Zone or Region Chairman or in some cases directly to us (the MERL team) seeking help. We then, depending on the type of problem, decide whose area of expertise is involved before we venture down for a face-to-face meeting. Family commitments, logistics, work schedules and sometimes other Lions commitments must be taken into account before we can get together. A plan of attack so to speak is usually the end result of the first contact and we may leave with the ailing club having been left some 'home work' to do before our next gathering. Many times during a crisis intervention meeting, the ailing club will come up with its own answers, all they need is a fresh sounding board, some brain storming and a positive, 'can do' attitude. Attitude is the most important aspect of the battle, it can over come obstacles or reinforce them – the clubs or to be more particular, some of the members make the decision which of the two roads they will take. Most problems within a club involve people and some people like to treat their club as their own personal property, which of course, it’s not!
Lose sight of the big picture, the reason we became Lions in the first place, and we lose sight of our reason to stay. People will stay for people, but they will leave because of them also.
In addition to visiting clubs throughout the year, I have had a myriad of contacts via emails and the good old telephone. Many hours have been spent listening, suggesting, asking questions, asking advice and there has even been the odd occasion where I have travelled to meet individual club members, as the case may be, away from their home territory. Like clubs seeking support from other clubs, MERL team members seek support from other Senior Lions as none of us pretend to have all the answers. Constitution and By-Laws Chairman PCC Bruce HUDGSON and Cabinet Treasurer PDG John GREENWOOD have been of enormous help and encouragement to me. Always and with every situation I have faced as a MERL team member, I have enjoyed not only the support of the rest of my team, but of District Governor Bob also and for that I am extremely grateful.
So you see, we don’t act alone and as MERL team members, we also appreciate the importance of asking for help.
Lion Wayne OAKES
Membership Chairman 2009-10