At the start of the millennium, excluding Life and At Large members, there were some 13 people serving their community under the banner of Lions in Aberdeen. At the present time this has increased to over 85 !

Back then there was just Aberdeen Lions Club with 13 members. Now there is Aberdeen Lions Club with 27 members, our Westhill Branch with 7 members and our Leo Club with over 50 members. Back then the 13 Aberdeen Lions were all male (although we were mixed 'in principle' and had previously had female members) and, for the most part, well over the age of 50. Now we have 8 female Lions and have inducted new members with ages ranging from early 20's to 70's (around 5 Lions are under the age of 30).

So where did our new members come from? Well, we haven't done anything exceptional and certainly haven't found a 'magic key'. Its more a case of just keep plugging at it.

In part we have been fortunate to have ex-Lions/Leo's from elsewhere seek us out and current members introduce family/friends. However, seeking regular publicity has also helped, with some new members contacting us after seeing articles in the local Press. Taking the time to hand out Club flyers at our fund raising/welfare events and to man a specific membership display at local Fetes have also brought in new members, as have contacts made via our Club website. Although not available to all Clubs, being mixed has also added the wives of Lions from adjacent all-male Clubs to our membership, along with a small number of others from those areas who preferred to join a mixed Club.

We've also tried to keep membership losses to a minimum by varying our monthly meetings (one business/committees, the second brief business plus speaker) and holding regular varied social events. Has it worked? Well, attendance at Club meetings doggedly still hovers around 60-70%, but at least (excluding transfers out of the area) we've only lost 3 members over the period.

We've found that Branch Clubs don't grow on trees (excuse the pun). Kicking off our Branch in a nearby small town (10,000 residents), where Lions was almost unknown, took a concerted 2 month effort by an informal Zone team to plan the pre-publicity and launch. While the Branch has yet to grow (losses matching new Lions), it has been in existence now for 3 years and is established in its community.

Our real success has been our school-based Leo Club. This all started from our Lions membership stand at a local Fete, where we were approached by a senior school teacher who was 'looking for something to get involved in'. He became a Lion, introduced a second member from the same school and subsequently came to the Club with a proposal to form a Leo Club (the only one currently in 105NE). This chartered earlier this academic year with 50 members and is restricted to senior pupils (16-18 years), with the younger pupils shadowing the Club officers to ensure a high degree of continuity. They have already undertaken local and international projects as well as supporting the Lions Club at events.

So that's the current status. But what next?

Well, at our next Lions Club meeting we will induct our youngest member yet (19) and have another lady who has attended 2 meetings soon will also be invited to join. Who knows, we may yet make the magical 30 members by end of the Lions year!

In addition, several of the Leo's will leave for university in Edinburgh this summer so we're working with the District to see if/how we can use this to reenergise Lionism there - and there is even very early talk about forming an Omega Leo Club for those Leo's leaving school but remaining in Aberdeen (who knows, we may even get some joining the Lions Club).

All in all, not bad for a Lions Club that started the millennium with 13 members. However, we're ever conscious that what goes up can also go down, so we can't afford to rest on our laurels. Indeed, we still worry about membership just like everybody else.

See also: The Leo's pages