Tuesday 22nd July: Some more replies to the cream tea invite, two to be precise. Still many people have not replied. I will raise the issue of reciprocal communication at our next meeting on 6th August.

Friday 18th July: Artisans on Friday and who turns up but Pete Wilkinson, with Rob Owen & John Wilson. Seems his mother got taken ill and he forgot all about it, also forgot to get in contact, so we'll assume that at the moment he's not that keen.

More intersetingly, Rob says that he has more time for stuff now, and Lions may well be of interest, I'll give him a bell and see it we can have a beer and a chat, bit like Groundhog Day!!

Wednesday 16th July: Petanque at the Wheatsheaf, and guests Bob Wallace & Adam Lowe both turn up, and both enjoy themselves. A subsequent email to forward a link to our website and an invite to next meeting and The Cream Tea. Adam & Julie will join us on 7th September, and Bob will be coming along to our next meeting.

Good progress regarding new members!

The evening had started earlier at the Nelson with a one-to-one with David Ford. He's frustrated with the lack of progress, cannot get his team together, and believes no one is up for real change. I explain how I started at the club, actions, more than words. David offers to stand his committee down, but continue to work with Mike, Paul & I. I suggest that this is a little hasty, and let's see where we are in three months time, David agrees.

David makes the point that he is also representing members who have yet to join, but I counter with the view that I do not believe that the Whipper In represents a go/no-go issue for anyone considering joining, or if it does, maybe they have the wrong priorities.

Anyway the conversation itself was the important thing, and we'll see if it moderates David's impatience.

Sunday 13th July: Conversation with David Lovering re: Monday's meeting. He agrees it was a good meeting but with the David Ford caveat. I sound his views out, and like others feels that we need to nip David's full frontal style in the bud.

Well, we'll see if I make any headway after out tete-a-tete tomorrow.

Friday 11th July: A community service BBQ tonight at the Parks School on behalf of the Rotaract Parent Carers group. Paul Mills has offered to lead this event, and after a coaching session a couple of weeks back all is fine until he talks to Mike Owers who changes the plan a bit.

Instead of one of our own units, we use Mike's gas BBQ and a charcoal one of Paul's, too small collectively to cook the volume needed, so Margaret Owers and I spend time in the school kitchen pre-cooking burgers and sausages and transporting them to the BBQs for completion. It all works out right in the end but I'm not sure we were anywhere near the food hygiene standards we should have been.

It's a beautiful evening and the event goes well, we are thanked by Pippa Owen and her team, and we grab a PR photo by way of remuneration.

Monday 7th July: Our second Officers meeting, and a pretty full agenda. We sort out the committees and David Kirtland is taken on by Paul in Community Service, reluctantly. Paul is trying to initiate a new dawn for CS, and David is old school, but he will now be a lone voice as Bob Lucas has accepted Programme.

Three members will not be committee aligned, and my proposal for Lions at Large & Privileged Membership is not supported, so be it. This means we are now accepting the "Eddy Dorman" style of membership, non-attendance at meetings, but good support to various events. In a way this is good as it means we are no longer requiring some minimum attendance level, and it confirms us as primarily a service club and not a fellowship. David Ford also proposed that we redefine membership, a good idea I believe.

We settle on four/five main objectives, with the remaining paragraphs as supporting aims. We will ask each of the Officers to define their success criteria versus the main objectives. I offer to facilitate the Event Calendar, and everyone is fine with that.

All was going well until DF launches into a tirade against the Whipper In, and make some wild assumptions about the "malaise" at the heart of the club, and suggests we move to The Barn. I find this unacceptable, and feel for Robin. The maxim that has served me well throughout my working life, "Seek first to understand" seems to be alien to David, and it doesn't go down well with the other Officers.

Latterly I contact David and arrange to meet him for a one-to-one, whether I can mellow the angst remains to be seen. If David's view of the club is as bad as he intimated I'm not sure we are the right club for him, we'll see.

I have some correspondence with The High Sheriff and after explaining our non-sectarian, non-religious creed, he generously says he understands.

Sunday 6th July: Mike reports a second slow day at the transport festival,and I conclude we have only undertaken 74 man-hours, so I suggest a donation of £750, not the £1,000 originally agreed with Trevor.

David Ford raises the prospect of The Barn restaurant as a centre for Lions meetings, interesting.

Saturday 5th July: On the job, parking cars at The Rutland Festival of Transport, at Trevor Ellis's depot at Wireless Hill. This is a two day job, worth up to £1,000, but the public to do go for it in their thousands, and it's a very slow day, but fortunately we do have to use the over flow field, and I relieve Bob & Lorna, six of us are more than enough.

Mike, Paul & David T finish the afternoon with a couple of beers, and have a creative session, maybe a Lions choir, or setting up of scatter meetings, watch this space.

Thursday 3rd July: A visit to the Showground to meet Emma Jeremy Skipper and Richard Ferrand regarding fireworks. They are fully supportive and we discuss the location of the display. Car parking and lighting are discussed also, and we will need one or maybe two lighting towers, plus perhaps asking Lands End if we could use their car park as well.

Simon Harries is also there discussing the as yet unsigned lease; apparently the rugby club have not accepted the pitches yet, and a group of players who had come down to change are turned away......can't have it both ways.

We agree with Simon the usual arrangement for fireworks, they operate the bar, we operate the BBQ. Just Major Crouch to get onside, but I will leave that to Brian & Michael.

Wednesday 2nd July 2014: My first Wednesday as President and because we have nothing in the programme it's decided at the eleventh hour that we'll have a bring a guest evening. Two guests say they will come, one of whom, Peter Wilkinson I have chatted with in the Lord Nelson the previous Friday, explained all about Lions, and he's keen to come along.

Neither turn up, and I have empty seats next to me; I make light of it, but John Reid reminds me I haven't said Grace, I explain that the evening is informal, it's a buffet, but I decide we'll do both toasts. The planned resume by Mike O and Paul M is cancelled, but I run the slide show and it goes down well, as the performance with the gavel did at the beginning of the evening; nearly broke the table.

I thank Paul for his year as President, and thank Mike Saywood for his organisation of Charter Lunch, both get rounds of applause, I think I have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

I had decided to send personal invitations out to all members, a few ex-members and Bob's Widows; Mike C kindly distributes most of them for me, and they had only cost £3.50, better than the usual email. The invitations are for "An English Cream Tea", at Castle Cafe in September, my Meet the President event.

Most people seem pleased to welcome me as President, and several encourage me to enjoy my year, I aim to.

March 2013 to July 2014: Four years as a Lion, and much involved in various fundraising activity, press officer, webmaster and unofficial club photographer, and out of the blue, club President designate Paul Brook asks me if I would be his Vice-President. This means I will be President from July 2014 after only five years as a member............following in some esteemed footsteps.

I feel surprised, honoured, but will I have sufficient gravitas to carry out the job effectively. Over the next year, and with many coffee shop conversations I conclude that I have, and hopefully we'll make some changes. I ask Mike Cropper if he will be my Vice-President, and he agrees. We keep this quiet for several months just to ensure Mike is on-board; Charles even decides to take on the role as Secretary, just to ensure that he and Mike can keep me in check.

President Paul holds his "Meet the President", a most enjoyable BBQ lunch in his garden, on a beautiful sunny Sunday. He says a few words, "this year will be all about fun and hard work, hard work and fun" Well I'm sure Paul had some fun, and I sure put some hard work in. However, Paul is omni-present during his year, and I'm not required to stand in once, but I do sit on Nigel's Membership committee, and join the first Community Service committee meeting under Chris Wallis's stewardship.

I am put in my place very swiftly when I question the defibrillator proposal outside the Bowls club, seems like a conflict of interest with Chris pushing it. Anyway we patch it up and I make a case to Chris over a coffee to ensure we donate well during the year and reduce our charity account, which stood at over £10K at the start of the year. Chris does a great job and gives away over £18,000, a record for the club, well we had done a great job raising money, so we have to give it away.

Mike Owers runs an opinion survey after I suggest it will take the sting out of complaints about the food at The Whipper. I also help shape a proposal that David Lovering & Shane present to the club, to form a new committee aimed at being more proactive about recruitment.

Wednesday June 25th 2014: Our usual coffee morning, but I'm in a grumpy mood, and I give Mike & Charles a little feedback, it feels like I'm being lectured, and I don't like it much at all.

Tuesday July 1st 2014 : Day one of my Presidency, and a visit to CS Ellis to prepare for two days car parking at the Rutland Festival of Transport. Trevor also confirms that Steve Knight will take our containers at Navitron on Lands End Way, a perfect location.

Sunday June 22nd 2014: And my year as Vice-President comes to an end at a very good Charter luncheon, when Paul hands over the tools of office, the chain, the tankard, the gavel, and a President's lapel badge. Guests are The High Sheriff, Miles Williamson-Noble, and Town Mayor, Jayne Woodcock, plus representatives from four other Lions clubs.