Corby & District Lions Club celebrate 50th anniversary by planting 50 trees

Corby & District Lions Club have commemorated 50 years of service to the community by planting 50 trees, one for each year of their service.

The trees were planted at East Carlton Park yesterday (Thursday, October 5).

A plaque dedicated to the Lions was unveiled by Lord Lieutenant Mandy Young, MBE in the presence of the mayor of Corby, the Lions’ district governor and other dignitaries.

Two oaks, which could last hundreds of years, were planted, along with some other species.

Lions clubs are clubs of people who have joined together to make their community better. According to their website, there are more than 600 clubs in the UK with approximately 10,500 members.

The Corby club is well known throughout the town, having been part of many charitable events throughout the years.

Corby Lions club president, Navin Bhatia said: “We’ve had good support from local people and also our King, His Majesty, one of his passions is about volunteering, environment, and also biodiversity and in line with that we thought it would be a fantastic idea to help with the environment and plant 50 trees, one tree per year for the Lion’s service.

“We’ve had that opportunity and we’re very thankful that we had a representative of His Majesty today, officially unveiling the Lion’s plaque, so we were quite happy and we thank everybody who has supported us and especially the public from Corby who have been very supporting in our fundraising events and generally it’s been a lovely day and hopefully we as Corby Lions will leave a legacy behind for the next many, many years.”

Mayor of Corby, Cllr Leanne Buckingham said: “We need to celebrate the first 50 years of the Lions because we hope they’re still here in years to come.

“The amount of value they’ve put into our community, really helping those who are in difficult days, it’s a great team/connected unit and they’re all working towards that shared goal.

“This is a really special place for a lot of people in Corby and the surrounding areas. We’ve got beautiful scenery, we’ve all brought our families up here, so what a wonderful way, 50 trees, 50 years, a legacy left for nearly a thousand years to come with the big oaks.”