WHILE it’s hard to imagine anyone dedicating a lifetime to the one charity or club, three Queanbeyan Lions Club members have notched up more than 130 years of charitable service between them.

For Peter Stapleton, Elaine Perrin and Gordon Walsh it’s their way of giving back to the community they love.

“It’s been marvellous,” said Perrin. “The club is our life.”

Together they have been involved in hundreds of fundraising efforts for all sorts of worthy causes.

Queanbeyan Lions Club president Max Carrick said the club is “incredibly proud” to have such long-serving members.

“The volunteers do an amazing job,” Carrick said.

“There is so much history amongst our members, we are a happy bunch, and we get a lot done.”

At 91, Stapleton, an OAM recipient, is the club’s longest living Queanbeyan Lion.

A former store assistant for the original JB Young’s department store in Queanbeyan and a well-known local window dresser, Stapleton joined the branch in 1958 and is still committed to fundraising for the club.

“I just sponsored two students from Karabar High School to take part in an outdoor education program called Outward Bound,” Stapleton said.

“That project has always given me the most satisfaction and so I’ll do whatever it takes to keep sponsoring students to take part in it.”

Chartered in 1957, the Queanbeyan Lions Club was the first Lions club established south of Sydney.

Although Lions has long been associated with programs for preventing and curing vision impairment, it’s raised money for many other causes over the years.

“One year we purchased an iron lung – a machine used to treat polio – for the Queanbeyan Hospital. We also bought an ambulance, and filtration equipment for the pool,” Walsh said.

More recently, the club has partnered with cerebral palsy associations providing funding for Hart Walkers and other mobility devices that allow children to stand and walk.

“We heard about a little boy who always wanted to water the pot plants with his mum, but he couldn’t get off his back, so we donated a Hart Walker to him,” said Perrin.

“To see the little boy being able to help his mum in the garden, with the help of the walker, was incredibly heartwarming.”

In Lions, 100 per cent of the money raised from the public goes to support community projects.

The club’s bookshop on Monaro Street has raised $90,000 for local projects since opening in 2018.

“We are also heavily involved in the Lions hearing-dog program, which houses hearing dogs with hearing impaired members of the Queanbeyan community,” said Carrick.

Next year, the Queanbeyan Lions Club celebrates 65-years of service to the community. The year also marks 75-years of Lions in Australia.

Originally an all-male membership, Lions began admitting women as members in 1987.

For Elaine Perrin, 85, the Lions club has been like a family.

“I joined the club in 1991 after the death of my husband,” Perrin said.

“They are a marvellous bunch of people and they really helped me out when things were tough.”

Retired building inspector, Gordon Walsh, 84, said a love of helping others inspired him to join the club 42-years-ago.

“My fondest memory is the year we invited people to lay out a kilometre of dollar coins. It stretched from the old post office, which was near the police station, right up to the hospital and we raised $65,000 for medical equipment for the Queanbeyan hospital,” Walsh said. 

One challenge facing the Lions is recruiting younger volunteers, Carrick said.

Yet surprisingly the 34-member club welcomed 10 new members in 2020.

“People just want to help out,” Carrick said.

“The numbers might go up and down, but we will never die out as an organisation because we get much pleasure out of what we do for our community.”