St Georges Day Lions

There are hundreds of voluntary bodies in Bristol that do untold amounts of good work. Amongst them is the Bristol Brunel Lions Club and the Bradley Stoke Lions club. I would like to congratulate both on their superb work in together raising over £1000 to give children with special educational needs at Kingsweston Special School the chance to go on holiday. The cheque was presented to Richard Yandell, the deputy head of Kingsweston School at The Lions' special St.George's Day dinner, last Thursday.

I have visited Kingsweston Special school and seen first hand the extraordinary care and education they give to children who have special needs, and the ground breaking work they are doing with inclusion classes in six separate mainstream schools in the area. They are national leaders in giving children with SEN the chance to go to a mainstream school, with the support and backing of special school expertise and facilities where children need it. So congratulations to Kingsweston Special School and the Lions.

No political system can replicate the energy of the good-will I saw at the Lions' St.George's Day dinner. A political system can only help people like the members of the Lions Clubs to do their good work by removing bureaucratic obstacles from their path. As a city and as a country we should be proud of the army of voluntary workers who do so much, unpaid and unsung, to keep our country up and running.So what better way to celebrate our national day of Englishness than roast beef, treacle sponge, and the presentation of a fat cheque to a very, very good cause? Well done to the Lions and to all at Kingsweston School. A lot of your work might go unsung, but it's mostly people like you who've made our country great.