Stawell Lions president Marie Hosking said the loss to the community would be 'enormous' if the club was to fold, but she hopes it does not come to that as it enters recess and is given two years to rebuild from the ground up.
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This step is necessary as the Stawell Lions Club's ageing members, many of whom have been with the club for 20 to 40 years, are resigning, and the club struggles to bring new members in.
"We just can't get new members, we can't get anybody to take it on," Ms Hosking said.
"We've got a lot of members that are resigning due to old age, which means we don't have enough members left to run the club."
Ms Hosking said the club has 'about half a dozen' active members who can do community activities like driver revivers and local barbeques.
To avoid the club folding, the Lions' global membership team will come in to try to rebuild the club from the ground up.
"They're hoping to make a difference within 12 months, but they've got two years to rebuild it," Ms Hosking said.
"At the end of two years, if they haven't been able to rebuild it, then the Stawell Lions charter will be handed back, and that will mean there will no longer be a Lions in Stawell."
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Ms Hosking said losing the Stawell branch of the Lions Club would have an 'enormous' effect on the community.
"We fundraise to put money back into the community and to support Lions Australia and Lions International in their good deeds," she said.
"In case of tragedy, Lions always step in with finances and support, locally, and in Australia, and internationally. And of course, once we stop, we will no longer be contributing to that."
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Recently, the Stawell Lions Club has been putting a significant amount of money it has raised back into the local community.
Among the club's latest contributions to the community was a $5000 donation to the oncology unit in Stawell to buy a new monitor and a special saddle for the Riding for the Disabled Association.
The club also donates $100 weekly to the Stawell Inter-Church Council Cottage, which provides emergency relief assistance to those in need in Stawell and the region.
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The local SES recently received a donation from the Stawell Lions Club.
"We've donated money to the SES to put it in a security system, which was over $6000, so that they could protect their equipment," Ms Hosking said.
"We've also supplied money for the Model Railway Club to put in a diesel heating system for their club rooms."
Anyone interested in joining the Stawell Lions Club is encouraged to reach out through the group's Facebook page or call the club.
"It's a good way, particularly for new people coming into the district, to meet new people," Ms Hosking said.
"Unfortunately, most of our members are resigning due to age, but they are a particularly wonderful group of people if I say so myself."
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John Hall
John is a news and sports journalist for the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. He is a former apprentice mechanic who earned his bachelors degree in journalism from Macleay College in Sydney.
John is a news and sports journalist for the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. He is a former apprentice mechanic who earned his bachelors degree in journalism from Macleay College in Sydney.
