There is a small “army” of women volunteers who regularly, on a Wednesday, turn up at the Holsworthy Memorial Hall to help local charities raise funds at their coffee mornings.

Many thousands of pounds are raised, every year, for a wide variety of good causes.

The “Coffee Morning Ladies” decided to host an event themselves to raise money for the relief work in Turkey and Syria following the recent devastating earthquakes.

Their only problem was how to get the money, safely, to the affected area. The Holsworthy and District Lions Club was approached to come up with the answer.

LCIF, Lions Clubs International Foundation, whose mission is to support the efforts of Lions clubs and partners in serving communities locally and globally, giving hope and impacting lives through humanitarian service projects and grants. They make funds available, sometimes in less than 24 hours, to Lions clubs in the immediate locality of the disaster, the Boscastle flood of 2004 was an example of funds coming to the UK for the Bude Lions Club, now closed, to administer and distribute.

The Holsworthy Lions are able to channel the money raised at the coffee morning directly to LCIF ensuring that there are no deductions for administration with the assurance it will be used in the most effective way by the volunteers in the affected areas.

The regular coffee mornings also help to pay for the constant maintenance needed to keep the memorial Hall alive.