Cavan Lions Club to disband

The Cavan Lions Club is set to disband after serving its community and beyond for over 38 years, during which time it donated in excess of €1 million to various charities and organisations.

In one final act of benevolence, the club will empty its coffers later this month in support of four local charities - Be Buddies Not Bullies, Cavan Autism Parents Support (CAPS), Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club and the Cavan Alzheimer’s Support Group.

Founded by the late Ray McDwyer in 1984, with Der Cogan the club’s first president, Tony Finlay, who was among the original charter members, says there was always a strong community interest when the group traditionally held its meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.

“The clubs were mushrooming around Ireland about that time, and I’d presume it was word of mouth really, that’s where it then took off. We had surely 30 plus members starting off. You’d the likes of Seamus McConnon, he was the first club secretary; John Nallen was a bank manager; the Commander in the army; Ray Carr was a guard - people who were used to dealing with people. It was a great bunch, and that remained the core for many years. I got an invite from Der, that’s how I got involved, and my late brother Brian, he was with the club as well.”

He adds: “It was something new as well and there was a feeling the country needed things like that at the time. There were a lot of people leaving the country, but the idea behind it all was that this would be a group of ordinary people, from all walks of life, who’d give of their free time to put something back into their community. And it worked!”

Projects with which the local chapter of the Lions Club have been involved down through the years are varied and all had a positive impact, all the while certainly living up to the Lions Club motto: ‘We Serve’.

One of the highlights Tony recognises with immediacy was the completion of the children’s playground at Con Smith Park. It cost €120,000, and was delivered in conjunction with Cavan County Council, where the Lions Club provided the equipment and the local authority donated the site. There were fundraisers galore - Bazaars in the Town Hall and charity cycles - not to mention the Lions Day Out, a trip for the elderly, and later for carers, another of the club’s success stories, inviting up to 50 people for an all-expenses paid vacation to a seaside resort. It became so popular, remembers Tony, that often members would meet people from the trip the day after who’d enthusiastically ask where the club day out was going to be the following year. “Little things we got involved in, what time seems small in the greater scheme of things and all that goes on in the world, but made a big difference in the lives of these people.”

Christmas Food Appeal

However, no single initiative quite had the impact, nor scale of effort, than the club’s Christmas Food Appeal, that first began as part of a national effort in 1987.

At the height of its demand, the club, delivered upwards of 300 food parcels to families in need. Volunteers worked in conjunction with statutory agencies and other charities to ensure support got to where it was needed most.

It was an eye-opening experience for many, suggests Tony.

He reflects on one house visit in West Cavan calling to the door of a house where, only after, he learned there had been a tragic death in the family. “You’d go out and deliver the parcels and normally you’d try to get back to Cavan as quick as you could to meet up with the rest of them, but it struck me this house, they’d nothing and now were going through this tragedy as well. It still stays with me,” says Tony.

“Another time, we went to an estate and, when the door was opened to us, inside the family had nothing, and I mean nothing. The table was an upturned box. I nearly couldn’t speak after. But at least you knew, if only for Christmas, what you were doing would hopefully do some good.”

Hospital boxes

On a smaller scale, the club also provided hospital boxes to Cavan General for patients rushed into hospital who arrive without the money to equip themselves with basic hospital/toiletry requirements.

Despite a broad spectrum of industry feeding into the Lions Club make-up, it wasn’t until several years later that the group would welcome its first female members, acknowledging that strength through diversity by electing a number of lady presidents including Mary O’Connor, Helen Veale and Concepta Bolger.

Linda Scott has been a member of the Cavan Lions Club for over 10 years. It was Tony who invited Linda to join the effort.

“That was it. I was signed up immediately,” laughs Linda, who went on to serve as Club President herself. “They were trying to introduce more women into the group, which was an important progressive step forward.”

Like many Lions Club members, Linda encouraged her own family members to help with the appeals. It made a difference, she says, not only providing an example, but “leading by example” also.

“It felt like putting something back into the community, and being in a positive place to help people, it was nice to be able to do it. I got my own family involved when it came to the Christmas parcels, like Enda and his own kids, and I’m sure Tony did as well.”

However, despite their collective successes, as is often the experience of many long-time organisations, recruiting new members has proven more difficult in recent years.

Pre-pandemic club numbers were steady at above a dozen. Now that number is just four.

“Covid has caused logistical complications especially for members with young families, and some of the older members have other concerns,” explains current club president, Enda Baker.

He says, as part of winding up the organisation, the Lions Club will empty its bank reserves, which have always been in place in order for the group to be able to “react” to need as and when it appears.

“With Covid, fundraising has been difficult, so we’ve used our resources to carry on things like the food appeal and things like that. So we’ll use what’s left now and donate to our four chosen charities.”

The cheque presentations will take place next Thursday, August 25.

Cavan Lions Club has also flagged its decision to disband with the Charities Regulator.

Enda thanked the public for their support down through the years. He also hopes that other organisations might step up and help fill the void left by the Lions Club once it disappears.

“We’ve worked in tandem with a number of organisations over the years to successfully deliver things like the Christmas Food Appeal, so there has been a lot of shared effort, and we’ll ensure that anyone who did come to us in need in the past will be redirected to the proper resources going forward.”

As the last and outgoing President of Cavan Lions Club, Enda reflects on a proud legacy.

He says the group has always operated with the best interests of the community at heart.

“It’s with regret and a degree of sadness it has come to this, but there are positives to take from it too. That the Lions Club and its members have supported the community here in Cavan for almost 40 years, that’s important to remember. We still have people whose families have benefitted say, from the Christmas Food Appeal in the past, who years later came back to us and made a donation and were able to say ‘you helped my family when we needed it most, and now I’m passing that on to the next person’.”