Reepham Lions’ first Bingo Night on Wednesday 6 May proved a great success, with players enjoying an evening of fun and friendly competition. The special flyer game was won by a Reepham resident who took home the £75 prize, while the raffle winner pocketed £20.

“It was my first experience of bingo and I was delighted to see everyone enjoying good company and great fun, “said Reepham Lions president Kevin Long. “There were line and full house prizes being won by lots of different people in the room. I’d like to thank everyone who came along to support us.”

The next Lions Bingo Night will take place on Wednesday 3 June at Stimpson’s Piece Pavilion, Bartle Court, Reepham. Doors open at 7.15 pm with eyes down at 7.45 pm. Tea and coffee will be available, and players are welcome to bring their own refreshments, including alcohol.

All proceeds from the Bingo Nights support Reepham Lions’ work helping good causes in and around the local area.

Photo: Reepham Lions

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Reepham Lions will launch a series of bingo nights this spring, with the first event taking place on Wednesday 6 May at 7.45 pm at Stimpson’s Piece Pavilion and Community Hall, Bartle Court, Reepham.

The group says the format will be kept simple, with cash prizes, based on the money raised on the night, awarded for winning lines and full cards, including the special “flyer” round. Raffle prizes will also be cash‑based, with half of the raffle proceeds paid to the winners.

Attendees are welcome to bring their own refreshments, including alcoholic drinks. Tea and coffee will be available to purchase for those who prefer a hot drink.

The Lions hope the evening will mark the start of a long‑running monthly social event for residents in and around Reepham. Dates for the next sessions have already been set for Wednesday 3 June and Wednesday 1 July.

All proceeds from the bingo nights will be used by Reepham Lions to support good causes, primarily within the local community.

Image: Reepham Community Press

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A Norfolk vocal group will fill St Michael’s, Reepham, with love‑themed songs later this spring. The Leap Day Singers are set to perform their concert, All You Need is Love, at 7.30 pm on Saturday 25 April.

This ensemble meets once a year for a full day of rehearsals before presenting the pieces they have learned to a local audience. After covering costs, the group donates the proceeds to a chosen charity – and this year’s beneficiary is Reepham Lions Club.

Admission is free, although donations to the Lions will be welcomed on the night.

Reepham Lions member Brenda Gostling said: “We are so grateful to Carol and the rest of the Leap Day Singers for choosing us as their charity this year. The money raised will be used to support good causes in Reepham and beyond.”

Photo: Leap Day Singers

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Following the success of the 2025 Reepham Christmas Tree Festival, Reepham Lions presented a cheque for £742 to Reepham’s Parochial Church Council (PCC). This was a half share of the total proceeds from the festival, once all the costs had been paid.

The cheque was presented at a recent Saturday coffee morning in St Michael’s by Michael Black, treasurer of Reepham Lions, accompanied by several members of Reepham Lions Club, including president Kevin Long.

The cheque was accepted on behalf of the PCC by Dr Jane McLarty, licensed lay minister for the Reepham & Wensum Valley and Matlaske Benefices, and Rosie Foottit, churchwarden.

Photo: John Tym

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Reepham Lions had a successful 2025 Reepham Christmas Tree Festival, with 26 trees being sponsored, of which eight sponsors asked a charity or organisation to decorate their tree on their behalf.

The festival recorded the highest number of visitors to the festival, with the Christmas in Reepham event on Saturday 6 December swelling the overall total.

The profit for the Christmas Tree Festival increased to £1,484, which was shared equally between Reepham Lions and Reepham Parochial Church Council.

As in previous years there was a wonderful display of decorated trees and the Lions received many compliments about the festival. Visitors also enjoyed the opportunity to vote for their favourite tree. The results were:

Adults’ section

• 1st: A Sustainable Christmas, sponsored and decorated by The Country Salon, Reepham
• 2nd: Cook, Craft, Grow, sponsored and decorated by Reepham Country Market
• 3rd: Breast Cancer Awareness for the Breast Screening Unit at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, sponsored and decorated by C W Johnson Chartered Surveyors

Childrens’ section

• 1st: Inspirational People, sponsored by Friends of Reepham Primary School and decorated by the primary school children
• Joint runners-up: The Little Robins Christmas, decorated by The Little Robins Football Club, and Be Prepared for Christmas, decorated by Reepham Cubs; both trees were sponsored by Barry and Liz Howes

Rosemary Black, Reepham Lions’ Christmas Tree Festival co-ordinator, said: “Without everyone’s support this event would not be possible, so thank you to the 18 sponsors returning from last year (three more than 2024) and the eight new sponsors who joined us in 2025. We hope many of you will come back and take part in our next Christmas tree festival in 2026.”

Above (left to right): The winning tree from The Country Salon, the runner-up from Reepham Country Market and the Memory Tree, which was decorated by members of the public throughout the festival, although this was not included as a tree to receive votes. Photos: Reepham Lions

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The money will be used to fund licences for a phone app that allows rapid communication between the emergency response controllers and the responder unit, ensuring that the responder has the support needed as quickly as possible.

The licences are paid annually and this is the second year that Reepham Lions has provided the funding to cover them.

The first responders are all volunteers who attend emergency situations in their local area, including Reepham, providing early care in the time before an ambulance or paramedic arrives.

Club president Kevin Long expressed his appreciation of the service that first responders provide and the many hours that their volunteers give to the communities around them.

Above: Members of Reepham Lions with Fakenham Area Community First Responders at their training session. Photo: Reepham Lions

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Reepham Lions manage local collections in Reepham with collection bins in the Bircham Centre and at Kings Opticians, as well as branches of Cecil Amey in Holt and Aylsham.

When we have amassed a sizeable quantity of glasses , we sort them and box them up, then send them to the Lions central depot in Birmingham.

From Birmingham, they are shipped to Lions Clubs and other charities working in developing countries such as Nigeria, the Philippines and Nepal. These glasses provide the gift of better sight in countries where spectacles can be an expensive luxury. We are proud to support this work.

Hearing aids can also be recycled and reused; we accept them in our collecting bins too.

In addition, we are happy to receive unwanted designer spectacle cases, which are sold to raise funds for Lions Clubs’ work in local communities.

Most of Reepham Lions Club’s activity is focused on our own local area with funds donated for good causes close to home. However, we are proud to be part of the worldwide Lions community and do our bit to support campaigns such as the Recycle for Sight initiative.

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The donation will help fund a large number of generators that have been gathered together and will be delivered to the country by North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker.

Mr Baker visited Ukraine in November with donations of food, clothing and other essentials, and became aware of the worsening situation there where families are struggling to cope without power in sub-zero temperatures.

The club has also helped with a need much closer to home: Scrapbox is a charity based in Reepham that promotes the reuse of reclaimed resources, selling materials for use in community art and craft activities.

It contacted Reepham Lions with a request to help fund an anti-fatigue mat for the staff and volunteers who man the shop.

The 14-mm thick mat provides a cushion underfoot for the volunteers who have until now been standing for long hours on a cold concrete floor. Lions Club members were happy to approve the request.

Reepham Lions meets on the first Thursday of the month, 7 for 7.30 pm at St Michael’s Reepham. Prospective new members are welcome to come along.

Above : Reepham Lions Barry Howes (left) and Kevin Long (right) handing a cheque to Rob Scammel (centre), who led the trip to Ukraine. Below: Left to right: Reepham Lions members Gill Long and Barry Howes presenting a cheque to the two members of staff at Scrapbox, Tula Chenery, manager, and Gina Bailey, assistant manager. Photo: Reepham Lions

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The raffle is one of the club’s major fundraisers for 2022, offering a first prize of £250 to the lucky winner, with other cash prizes for runners-up.

The winning tickets will be drawn at Reepham Lions’ charter lunch on Sunday 6 November. Members are hoping to sell more tickets during October.

Club president Ann Graham expressed the club’s appreciation of the support they are getting from the community.

“I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket,” she said. “The funds we raise go directly to help people in and around Reepham. We couldn’t do it without you.”

Reepham Lions meet on the first Thursday of the month at St Michael’s, 7 pm for 7.30 pm. Potential new members are always welcome.

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Members spent the morning of Sunday 5 June preparing sandwiches and filling lunchboxes for the 250 residents attending Reepham’s Jubilee Tea Party.

The mountain of loaves in the town hall kitchen to be transformed into sandwiches was a daunting sight, but Lions members set to with gusto.

The boxes contained four different types of sandwich (cheese and pickle, tuna mayonnaise, ham and – appropriately – coronation chicken) plus a pot of crisps, as well as home-made cakes provided by Reepham WI, Reepham Tennis Club and other members of the community.

Sadly, plans to hold the tea party in the Market Place had to be abandoned because of the weather. The boxes were therefore distributed to the three wet-weather venues that had been planned in advance.

The boxes were appreciated by attendees at the town hall, St Michael’s and the scout hall, all of which were decorated by volunteers from many of Reepham’s organisations, including Lions, Rotary, WI, Scouts, Bircham Centre and the Church.

Brenda Gostling

Above: Members of Reepham Lions help with the preparation of 250 lunchboxes for Reepham’s Jubilee Tea Party. Below: Lunchboxes containing sandwiches, crisps and cake. Photos: John Tym

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