Lions getting long in tooth

Leanne Lloyd says Lions trains the community's future leaders. Picture / Richard Robinson

The New Zealand Lions Club may be turning 50, but it has no interest in becoming a relic.

Things have changed since 28-year-old Gordon Barnaby joined the Avondale branch of Lions. Then the group's 25 all-male members had an average age of 40, Mr Barnaby said.

But that was 41 years ago.

"We're all getting grey hair now," said Mr Barnaby, a district governor-elect who is in Auckland this week to celebrate the anniversary.

The average age has risen to 50, and women such as 12-year member Leanne Lloyd have joined the ranks.

The club held its 50th anniversary celebration in Auckland this week, with leaders discussing new ways to boost the membership.

The traditionally all-male club now counts women as one-third of its members and is preparing to launch its first university chapter - steps that its leaders say will ensure a future for an ageing organisation like Lions.

Women have taken on leadership roles in the organisation.

Lloyd is the only woman in her Lions chapter. She is also its president and one of 10 district governors-elect in the nation.

"I've always wanted to serve the community, and Lions offers the service part," she said of her decision to join. "It also trains its future leaders."

A new chapter at Massey University will open tomorrow, and Lions hopes that the club will spread to other schools as well, pulling in young people who will be the next leaders.

"Gaining new members will always be a big focus," said Ron Lawrence, chief executive of the club in New Zealand, talking about a recent slump in the volunteer sector.

"Some organisations have fallen apart and gone. We've really held our own. But we can't be complacent. We want to get the new ones in, the younger ones."

The club's membership peaked at 15,000 in the mid-90s, said Lawrence, a rise he attributed to the 1987 decision to allow women to join. But this year, membership stands at 13,500.

Lions members have established a club for members between 18 and 35. Now, says Lawrence, "us older ones just have to say to the New Century Club: Do things different".

The Lions Club opened its doors in Auckland in 1955. The international social service organisation has 1.4 million members in 193 countries.

Members support a variety of communities and also provide emergency relief.

In 1925 noted blind and deaf woman Helen Keller spoke at a Lions convention, inspiring the organisation to become "knights of the blind

The numbers

460 Lions clubs throughout New Zealand
13,500 current members
7500 eyeglasses collected last year