We recycle used spectacles

SOUP RUN

The soup run is one of the many community projects the Lions Club of Plymouth supports and is actively involved in.

A HOT meal at the end of the day is something many of us take for granted during the winter months. But more than 60 people are counting the minutes all day until it arrives at night.

Last year the Plymouth Soup Run served more than 23,000 meals. The highest number of meals to be served on one evening is 101 and on average they serve over 60 people, every single night of the week all year round.

Between Monday and Saturday the soup run route is mobile, stopping at four locations – Charles Cross, the Hoe, Devil’s Point and King’s Road. Every Sunday the soup run is moved indoors to Shekinah Mission
Lions Club of Plymouth carry out the soup run every 5th Thursday

Within the British Isles and Ireland, we have a very successful project we call “Message in a Bottle”

When the Emergency services are called to the aid of a Elderly or vulnerable person in their home, in order to treat the Patient Safely it is vital that the Paramedics  know the Medical History  of the person they are to assist, especially being informed of any allergies and current medication. Without these facts serious mistakes can occur.

Message in a Bottle, ( or MIAB for short) is a small container which is kept in the household refrigerator, and contains all of the important information required. For instance, Medicines currently being taken, whether the Person is Allergic to Penicillin or any other substance, name of Doctor and the contact details of any relations.

The container is kept in the fridge, as this is the safest place when  there is a House on fire, it will always be the last item to be destroyed.

On entering the premises the Emergency Services will see a  small  sticker (A GREEN CROSS ON A WHITE BACKGROUND ) in a prominent position alerting them to the existence of the container, and an identical sticker on the outside of the Fridge will confirm the position of it.

Within the Plymouth area we have in excess of 40,000 of these containers installed in various homes, and during the last 8 years, many lives have been saved by this project.

The cost we pay is around 27p each this is complete with 2 stickers and the detail paperwork inserted ready to be completed.

The Ambulance Service, Fire Brigade   and the Police have welcomed this initiative, and have found it to of great benefit to the officers called out to assist those in distress.

We are now encouraging the placing of these containers in the glove box of Motor cars, but in this instance with Passport Photographs added,  in case the person it details is not currently driving.

The sticker is placed on the underneath of the passenger sunshield, otherwise if it is on show it could be mistaken as a sign that there are medicines or drugs on board which will tempt someone to break into the vehicle. Again the emergency services welcome this information being instantly available to them, as minutes and seconds saved in treatment can often be the difference between life and death