Lions Clubs New Zealand

Media Release
28 February 2007

Celia Lashlie confronts 300 Lions in Feilding

At the Civic Centre in Feilding on Saturday 3rd March, members of the public are invited to join over 300 Lions to hear Celia Lashlie discuss her “Good Man” project.

Described as a social justice advocate, Lashlie has spoken to many groups, including boys and often their parents, in an effort to throw some light on the problems occurring in what she calls "the dangerous years". She will be sharing with the Lions Convention her ideas on how boys could "cross the bridge of adolescence" with fewer traumas and come off the bridge ready to develop into good men.

Like many, she is deeply concerned that so many teenage boys go off the rails and end up not fulfilling their potential, in trouble with the law, in prison or worse still killed in car accidents or committing suicide. Her background as the first female warder in a men's prison in New Zealand, and her first-hand experience of seeing the suffering and frustration caused for the prisoners and their families gives her a unique perspective from which to comment. Her message is not only relevant to young men. As manager of the Christchurch Women's Prison she worked to awaken among the general public an increased awareness of the difficult lives and problems which had brought women to the point of committing crime.

Joyce Violich, Convention Chair of Feilding Kowhai Lions said that the Convention is expecting a strong turn out from members of the public as well as from Lions Club members to hear Ms Lashlie. District Governor Margaret Gregory adds, “In every community it is often the local Lions Club that gets the first call to help when something needs to be done. Lions tend to be very practical people and very connected into their local community, and our experience is that our communities depend on strong, lively young people coming through. It seems a chronic waste to have so many of our young people miss out on making a safe transition into adulthood.”

The Convention is for three days, from Friday 2nd March through to Sunday 4th March. Members of the public, who wish to hear Ms Lashlie, are invited to attend from 9am to 10.30am on Saturday 3rd March.

The event will draw attendance from throughout the Lions District 202D, which stretches from New Plymouth and Ruapehu in the north to Foxton in the south. The general convention theme is “Bonding Together in 007” and numerous James Bond-related activities have been planned throughout the weekend, including having an Aston Martin car on display.

ENDS

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