With a new baker, the traditional Lions Christmas Cake is currently being baked and shipped by the hundreds of thousands to eager customers around the country.
Tony Fawcett drops in on the cake bake.
It’s raised more than $60 million for worthy causes, been savored by our troops in Afghanistan and other war zones and become an icon for generations of Australians. For hundreds of thousands it’s a festive must. It is the Lions Traditional Christmas Cake.
Biting into a luscious, moist slice is an occasion to be savored. Yet despite it phenomenal fundraising record, the cake might never have been but for some early Australian Lions who played a hunch. It’s all part of the cake’s colourful history.
First released in 1965, clubs are annually flooded with requests for deliveries of the cake, and some of those requests are far from ordinary. Overseas emails regularly ask that cakes be delivered to loved ones around Australia, and many Australians send cakes to friends and family overseas.
Saving sight
While the cake largely sells itself, in its half century-plus history Lions have excelled at promoting the project in many inventive ways. In 1992 a TV advert queried, “Did you know that eating a Christmas cake can prevent blindness”, a clever reference to Lions’ SAVE SIGHT initiative.
There have been Lions Christmas Cake decorating contests and cakes are regularly served to dignitaries at official functions, making it as synonymous with Lions as the Bunnings sausage sizzle.
Biggest bake names in Australia
While the cake’s traditional recipe has barely changed over the years, it has been produced by the biggest names in Australian baking history, brands such as Big Sister, Arnott’s and Top Taste.
A year ago when Top Taste, the cake’s baker for 35 years, announced it was going out of business some alarmist sections of the media foreshadowed the end of the much-celebrated cake. No way.
Our cake was way too big a favourite for that.
After lengthy research and a bake-off by the final two contenders, Lions Australia late last year announced Melbourne family company Traditional Foods as the new custodian of the cake. Already Traditional Foods-produced Lions cakes are being shipped Australia-wide.
This week the company’s CEO Stephen Heath announced 70% of this year’s expected 400,000 to 500,000 of cakes of various sizes, including a Lions Christmas pudding, had already been taken from the oven and were heading to clubs for delivery. The products include the familiar 1kg and 1.5kg cakes plus an 80-gram slice, along with the 900-gram pudding.
Meet the new maker
For Traditional Foods, established in 1993 by Stephen Heath’s father, it has brought a hefty lift in production at its state-of-the-art, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) accredited Dandenong South facility. Now the company’s biggest bake job, it’s roughly double that of the next biggest product. The initial bake took just over two months and will be followed by a top-up bake in October-November to satisfy late customers.
“It’s the cooking that takes the most time,” explains Stephen. “The larger cakes take two to three hours to bake, so that limits how many we can do in a day.”
Moist taste
“The recipe for puddings is unchanged,” says Stephen, “but the cake recipe has been modified to our recipes with a slightly greater percentage of Australian ingredients, 49%, than the previous one.” Ideally, Stephen would like to see them containing 100% Australian fruit but supply shortages and/or excessive costs prevent this.
Although he modestly declines to compare his company’s Lions cakes to what went before, he admits it was pleasing to receive feedback when he joined with Lions in offering samples at the May MD201 Convention in Canberra.
“The taste buds are in the eye of the beholder but the feedback there was all positive, and what I’m hearing is that some thought it was moister than the previous cake.”
Likewise, he is thrilled that what his company is producing is of such huge community worth Australia-wide.
“Hats off to Lions for getting this project up and running in the first place, and for sticking with it for all these years,” he says. “It’s a great project to be involved in.”
Story adapted from original by Tony Fawcett.
Hero Lion – Harvey Allen
/in Lion Hero /by adminLion Harvey Allen is a member of the Lions Club of the Entrance in NSW. Harvey has been a supporter of the Lions Sensory Gardens at The Entrance as well as scholarship for schools and higher education.
A piece of cake…
/in OUR STORIES /by adminWith a new baker, the traditional Lions Christmas Cake is currently being baked and shipped by the hundreds of thousands to eager customers around the country.
Tony Fawcett drops in on the cake bake.
It’s raised more than $60 million for worthy causes, been savored by our troops in Afghanistan and other war zones and become an icon for generations of Australians. For hundreds of thousands it’s a festive must. It is the Lions Traditional Christmas Cake.
Biting into a luscious, moist slice is an occasion to be savored. Yet despite it phenomenal fundraising record, the cake might never have been but for some early Australian Lions who played a hunch. It’s all part of the cake’s colourful history.
First released in 1965, clubs are annually flooded with requests for deliveries of the cake, and some of those requests are far from ordinary. Overseas emails regularly ask that cakes be delivered to loved ones around Australia, and many Australians send cakes to friends and family overseas.
Saving sight
While the cake largely sells itself, in its half century-plus history Lions have excelled at promoting the project in many inventive ways. In 1992 a TV advert queried, “Did you know that eating a Christmas cake can prevent blindness”, a clever reference to Lions’ SAVE SIGHT initiative.
There have been Lions Christmas Cake decorating contests and cakes are regularly served to dignitaries at official functions, making it as synonymous with Lions as the Bunnings sausage sizzle.
Biggest bake names in Australia
While the cake’s traditional recipe has barely changed over the years, it has been produced by the biggest names in Australian baking history, brands such as Big Sister, Arnott’s and Top Taste.
A year ago when Top Taste, the cake’s baker for 35 years, announced it was going out of business some alarmist sections of the media foreshadowed the end of the much-celebrated cake. No way.
Our cake was way too big a favourite for that.
After lengthy research and a bake-off by the final two contenders, Lions Australia late last year announced Melbourne family company Traditional Foods as the new custodian of the cake. Already Traditional Foods-produced Lions cakes are being shipped Australia-wide.
This week the company’s CEO Stephen Heath announced 70% of this year’s expected 400,000 to 500,000 of cakes of various sizes, including a Lions Christmas pudding, had already been taken from the oven and were heading to clubs for delivery. The products include the familiar 1kg and 1.5kg cakes plus an 80-gram slice, along with the 900-gram pudding.
Meet the new maker
For Traditional Foods, established in 1993 by Stephen Heath’s father, it has brought a hefty lift in production at its state-of-the-art, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) accredited Dandenong South facility. Now the company’s biggest bake job, it’s roughly double that of the next biggest product. The initial bake took just over two months and will be followed by a top-up bake in October-November to satisfy late customers.
“It’s the cooking that takes the most time,” explains Stephen. “The larger cakes take two to three hours to bake, so that limits how many we can do in a day.”
Moist taste
“The recipe for puddings is unchanged,” says Stephen, “but the cake recipe has been modified to our recipes with a slightly greater percentage of Australian ingredients, 49%, than the previous one.” Ideally, Stephen would like to see them containing 100% Australian fruit but supply shortages and/or excessive costs prevent this.
Although he modestly declines to compare his company’s Lions cakes to what went before, he admits it was pleasing to receive feedback when he joined with Lions in offering samples at the May MD201 Convention in Canberra.
“The taste buds are in the eye of the beholder but the feedback there was all positive, and what I’m hearing is that some thought it was moister than the previous cake.”
Likewise, he is thrilled that what his company is producing is of such huge community worth Australia-wide.
“Hats off to Lions for getting this project up and running in the first place, and for sticking with it for all these years,” he says. “It’s a great project to be involved in.”
Story adapted from original by Tony Fawcett.
Hero Lion – George Nagy
/in Lion Hero /by adminLion George Nagy is a member of the Lions Club of Carisbrook, Victoria. This is what his fellow Lions say about George.
George has been our Treasurer for a short time and Secretary of our Club for over 9 years.
Big Heart, big thoughts for the future or our club, he is respected and admired as a mentor, speaker and organiser.
Riverside Lions build mobile amenities unit for homeless in Launceston
/in HUMANITARIAN, NEWS /by adminMembers of the Riverside Lions Club in Launceston Tasmania have built a mobile amenities unit providing homeless people access to warm showers and a place to wash and dry clothes.
The club saw the need for all community members to have access to a safe space to shower and wash their clothes, so set to work building the unit from the ground up in the club’s own work shed.
The club received a grant from the Tasmanian Community Fund and was also supported by a number of local businesses, particularly Samios Plumbing Supplies.
Construction of the unit totaled $25,000 and the club was pleased to have Tasmanian Premier The Hon Peter Gutwein attend the opening.
The unit is located at the Shekiniah House centre for the homeless in central Launceston and is managed and maintained by a team of volunteers.
Oatley Lions Donate $30,000 to purchase neo-natal care unit at St George Hospital
/in DONATIONS, HEALTH, HUMANITARIAN, NEWS /by adminOatley Lions Club and the Australian Lions Foundation have donated $30,000 towards the purchase of a neo-natal bed for the local St George Hospital Special Care Nursery.
Money was raised through community support of the annual Oatley Lions Village Festival, a $5000 donation by the club’s major sponsor, Oatley Hotel, and the Australian Lions Foundation.
“St George Hospital is so important to our local community and we are incredibly proud to work with Oatley Lions to help care for newborn babies. Oatley Lions are good people doing good work and their fundraising always goes towards the benefit of our community,” said Oatley Hotel owner and licensee Lyn Humphreys.
The new unit will enable continued treatment and care of many newborn babies.
Margaret River Lions fundraise $15,000 to purchase interactive table for local aged care facility
/in HUMANITARIAN, NEWS /by adminWestern Australia’s Margaret River Lions are helping local elderly residents who are battling with dementia.
The club has donated $15,000 to Baptistcare Mirrarnbeena to purchase an interactive table which uses light animation to help with cognitive challenges.
The Tovertafel – also called a ‘magic table’ – was developed in the Netherlands and uses infrared sensors to detect hand and arm movements, allowing people to play games and interact with everything from colourful flowers and butterflies to bubbles and falling leaves.
Baptistcare had tested the technology and felt it would be perfect for some of its residents, but were struggling to come up with funding.
“Then something magic happened,” said Baptistcare’s Lesley Longfield. “Our dear friends at the Margaret River Lions Club saw the Tovertafel in action, and with their usual generosity and community spirit decided to fundraise so we could purchase one for Mirrarnbeena.”
The club’s Vice President Brian Pendergast said members were always keen to support the elderly thanks to a long association with Baptistcare.
“As soon as we saw the faces of the residents who were trialing the Tovertafel, we knew this was something worth getting behind,” said Brian.
Lions mobile skin check and awareness unit aims to reduce prevalence of skin cancer
/in HEALTH, NEWS /by adminAustralia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, but Lions Clubs in Victoria and Southern NSW are doing their bit to reduce that level and its impact on families.
The incorporated charity, the Lions V Districts Cancer Foundation, launched its mobile skin check van in March 2021.
With over $400,000 raise through the generosity of Lions Clubs and philanthropic donors, the van is now offering free skin check services, especially to those in rural and remote areas with limited access to specialist skin care professionals.
The van is operated by fully trained, certified and professionally supervised volunteers. As it tours around, the unit will be a valuable resource for local people to access not only the skin check, but timely information about skin care and self-checking techniques.
Each Skin Check Unit visit is hosted by the local Lions Club, and full-body skin checks are conducted for the people booked. Fully trained dermoscopists, who operate hand-held microscopes to check over the skin, identify any suspect lesions and refer people on to doctors if any are found.
The van made a special appearance at the recent Lions Australia Convention in Canberra, and was toured by media personality and skin cancer advocate, Deborah Hutton.
Click for more information.
Lions caring for kids in quarantine
/in HEALTH, HUMANITARIAN, NEWS /by adminCOVID-19 may have changed the way volunteers meet and fundraise in the community but one thing that hasn’t changed is the resilience and determination of volunteers.
The community spirit of West Australian Lions volunteers has been brightening up the days for children in hotel quarantine.
Lions Clubs in Western Australia were contacted by the Department of Communities in 2020, regarding concerns around the health and wellbeing of children in quarantine.
Lions volunteers across the state quickly swung into action and raised funds to supply packages of books, puzzles and games tailored to different age groups.
Hundreds of care packages have been delivered to children in quarantine by Lions Clubs in Western Australia.
Several families have contacted the Lions project team to express their thanks and provide comment on the support they have received.
Matthew Morgan and his family decided to move back to Perth after living in Texas for the last 10 years. Children Amelia (8), Jakub (5) and Isabel (3), although excited to celebrate Christmas in Australia, had found it difficult passing the time in their hotel. A couple of days into their isolation there was a knock on the door and Matt was delighted to see three activity packages. The children were ecstatic with their new-found fun, as were the parents.
“We received three amazing packages of toys and books for my kids! They were so excited, and I’m so grateful. I really appreciate the effort taken to put these together and bring them to us, and I’m also really heartened to know that there are people out there who are thinking of us – even if we haven’t met yet!” said Matt.
Mother Martina Ricciardi is isolating with her two-year old son Benjamin and was also very grateful for the surprise gift at her door.
“I feel that the language makes it difficult for me to express how grateful I am for everything you do for the well-being of me and my son. Benjamin woke up today with a big smile and still did not discover the blocks or the bubbles! We have so many things to play and have fun with thanks to everyone who donated,” she said.
The project concept has been promoted to Lions Districts in other States around Australia.
Lions cleaning up their communities
/in ENVIRONMENT, NEWS /by adminMany Lions members are passionate about nurturing the environment and as an organisation it is one of our key global focus areas.
Each year hundreds of Lions volunteers participate in Clean Up Australia Day. This year the event coincided with Lions Awareness Day and over 100 clubs hosted clean up Australia Day Events in their community.
With increased social restrictions due to the spread of COVID-19 and with more people working from home, the event has never been more important to protect and conserve our local environments.
“This year has seen disruption to our lives, not least of all to our local environments which have been impacted by increased uptake of single-use, disposable items” said Clean Up Australia Chairman, Pip Kiernan.
Research reveals* more than 1 in 3 (34%) Australian households self-identified as producing more packaging waste during lockdown periods compared to previous years, and more than 1 in 2 (55%) reported they are now more concerned about product packaging waste than they were in 2019.
In addition to Clean Up Australia Day many Lions Clubs across Australia engage in important environmental work in their communities including tree planting, clean ups and managing parks and community gardens.
A special dog to assist Australians with Diabetes
/in HEALTH, NEWS /by adminSince the 1980s Lions has provided over 600 assistance dogs to deaf or hearing-impaired Australians and now they are on a mission to do the same for those with Diabetes.
Australian Lions Hearing Dogs has recently launched a new medical assistance dog program. The alert dogs will be trained to alert to low blood sugar levels in asymptomatic Type 1 Diabetics.
The first puppy to be trained in the program has been welcomed into its foster home and is currently completing his training. The working English Springer Spaniel, named Cody, is sponsored by parent Vicki who already has a hearing dog, as does her son.
Vicki says she looks forward to supporting Cody through the training and seeing the program introduced in coming years.
“I know first-hand how much an assistant dog can change someone’s life. Many hearing-impaired people like my son and I, can’t hear important sounds such as the knock at the door, a telephone or, most seriously, a smoke alarm. Our assistant dogs provide us with confidence and security. The Diabetes medical alert dogs will do the same for those living with low blood sugar levels. It’s a pleasure to be the foster home for the first Lions Diabetes medical alert dog,” says Vicki.
There is currently a very high demand for Australian Lions Hearing dogs with an increasing number of Australians suffering from some form of hearing loss. Unfortunately, this number is on the rise, as is the number of Australians living with Diabetes.
Across the country, 1.3 million people have been diagnosed with Diabetes and 283 people are diagnosed every day. Diabetes has been named one of the Lions’ 5 key focus areas and we are excited to be introducing this new program as part of this commitment.