Beyond the Barbecue With the Hamilton Lions Club

Published on 20 October 2026

It’s not hard to list the ways in which Hamilton is a lucky community. Surrounded by natural beauty, with a strong agricultural sector, top tier sports facilities and great schools, but one area that Hamilton punches well above its weight is volunteering.

From school groups to sports committees, tidy towns to charities, more than 1 in 4 people donate time and effort to the betterment of their community. In the face of such figures, it’s hard to stand out and be noticed for your volunteerism alone; but when you have the dedication and output of the Lions Club of Hamilton, it’s hard to be ignored.

“We’ve got a great community behind us, we get a lot of great support,” says Lions President Raelene Hadden.

“We have Lions club mints in the shops, and we do the Christmas cakes and puddings to raise money for the Children’s Hospital,” she says, beginning the mammoth list of Lions club contributions.

“We do a lot of barbecues in the community. We've got a team that goes out into the schools to do eye screening with the children. That's all free of charge of course. We've got members that do volunteer driving at the hospital, taking patients to and from appointments in Warrnambool, Ballarat and Geelong. We have drivers that take kids out for driver training with the TAC L2P programme through Council.

“We do a lot of fundraising for Children's Hospital Appeal, which is probably our number one cause. People will know that we do a lot of raffles, we do Meals on Wheels, we help with the Hamilton Eisteddfod Music too. Right now, we have a very big ‘Show and Shine’ event with a car boot sale to look forward to.”

She’s not finished listing things, not by a long way.

“We have the cancer van that travels all around Victoria and New South Wales doing skin checks. We fundraise for the hearing dogs and the Cadet unit in Hamilton, we put a lot into the hospital too. We actually just donated four big clocks to the nursing home in Coleraine. Actually, just this week we’ve finished a fundraiser to send support to disaster areas internationally, but we have a focus on our home too, supporting the Uniting Church with their food program.

“The team stays busy,” she says, laughing at her own understatement. She begins listing more charitable concerns, more people in need of help, more areas of focus for this extraordinary group. The catalogue is growing, she’s listing bushfire appeals, free meals for those in need, Legacy Badges and prostate cancer research.

For all the good they do out in the community, the Lions Club of Hamilton also needs a little help closer to home.

Their headquarters at the Hamilton Showgrounds houses the equipment that keeps the club’s fundraising engine running. But the old roller doors had become increasingly difficult to operate, particularly for older members regularly hauling equipment in and out.

The club sought funding through a budget bid with Southern Grampians Shire Council to have new and more secure roller doors installed at their home base.

“New doors will make a huge difference,” she says.

“That’s where we store our equipment. As you can imagine, the fellas are towing these out all the time. Anything to make life that bit easier is going to get us moving a lot faster.”

With fresh renovations complete, the Lions Club of Hamilton can look to the next challenge; finding more Lions.

“I’d love to get new members on board,” said Raelene. “That’s really important to me right now. It’s just eighteen of us, and more than half are over eighty.”

Once upon a time, the Apex Club provided something of a natural pathway into Lions. As members grew, they often found themselves floating across to the Lions, but unfortunately that feeder is no longer there

“That would have been the ideal age group too, people who can get out and do a few jobs, people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. That’s what we need.”

When asked about the age group she wanted to recruit, she could only laugh.

“When you ask people if they’d consider joining, they’ll say something like ‘oh, you mean the grey-haired lot?’ The impression people have is that we’re sort of an oldies club, but the reason we’re old is because we’ve been doing it so long without new members!”

It’s a fair point. And one that Raelene hopes more people will take seriously. While the club may have a few more grey hairs than it once had, the work is still important, and just as relevant to the community as ever.

When asked what makes a good Lion, Ralene barely pauses for thought.

“We’re givers. We give to people. We want to help where help is needed, that’s what we do really. We’re there to help people or help communities, wherever the need is, we’re there for them.”

There’s no convoluted selection process involved. There’s no requirement to turn up with a decade of committee experience or your own barbecue. All the club looks for is community-minded, resourceful people who are willing to lend a hand.

“We work across such a broad range of things that we can usually find a use for anyone. Bring whatever skills you have,” says Raelene, “we can certainly find a job for you.”

That might sound alarm bells for anyone handy with a screwdriver or a paint brush, but it represents what volunteering is all about. Bring what you can, do what you’re willing to do, meet some people, and make connections.

The Lions Club of Hamilton meet fortnightly at the Hamilton Showgrounds. The 2nd Wednesday of the month is a business meeting and the fourth is a dinner meeting. They are open to anyone over the age of 18 looking for a hobby that gives back.

If you’re very lucky, they’ll even let you work the roller doors.

Interested in the Lions Club of Hamilton? Contact Raelene or the team at hamiltonviclions@gmail.com.