Lions Clubs International District 105cw Charity Trust Fund
Charity 514602
Overview
Summary
The Charity Trust Fund appears to be the grant-distribution arm of Lions District 105CW: a regional mechanism that gathers donations from a wide network of Lions clubs and redirects them to charitable purposes chosen by the clubs. Its role is therefore less about delivering a single specialist service and more about converting locally rooted volunteer fundraising into flexible support across local, national and international causes. The available evidence suggests that its reach is unusually broad, while its grantmaking priorities remain deliberately open-ended.
Operational geography
Coverage: International
Operational areas:
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Acocks Green
Confidence: medium
The district’s current official Zone 6 list includes Birmingham Acocks Green Lions. The Trust’s latest accounts describe its operating model as receiving funds from Lions Clubs in District 105CW and disbursing them to district initiatives and wider Lions appeals. This supports a material operational connection through the club network, but does not identify a specific Trust-funded project in the ward.
- Lions Clubs International District 105CW, 'Zones & Regions' page
Zone 6 currently lists Birmingham Acocks Green among the district’s clubs. - Lions Clubs International District 105CW Charity Trust Fund, trustees' report and accounts for year ended 30 June 2024
The Trust receives donations and payments from Lions Clubs in District 105CW and distributes them to Lions International, Multiple District 105 and District 105CW initiatives; projects within the district are supported by clubs within 105CW.
Handsworth
Confidence: medium
Birmingham Handsworth Lions is listed as a current Zone 6 club in the Trust’s district network. The evidence establishes network-based reach rather than a directly evidenced service location or grant recipient in Handsworth.
- Lions Clubs International District 105CW, 'Zones & Regions' page
Zone 6 currently lists Birmingham Handsworth among the district’s clubs. - Charity Commission register, charity 514602
The charity states that it receives donations from Lions Clubs, including clubs in Birmingham, and distributes funds for local, national and international charitable purposes.
Moseley
Confidence: medium
Birmingham Moseley & Kings Heath Lions is a currently listed district club, providing evidence of a material local-network connection. Its name supports inclusion of Moseley, but available evidence does not specify the club’s activities, meeting base, or Trust-funded projects within the ward.
- Lions Clubs International District 105CW, 'Zones & Regions' page
Zone 6 currently lists Birmingham Moseley & Kings Heath among the district’s clubs. - Lions Clubs International District 105CW Charity Trust Fund, trustees' report and accounts for year ended 30 June 2024
The accounts state that projects within District 105CW are supported by clubs within 105CW.
Brandwood and Kings Heath
Confidence: medium
The official district network includes Birmingham Moseley & Kings Heath Lions, and the linked district website identifies a Kings Heath location for Lions International national headquarters. However, the location is not demonstrated to be a site owned or operated by this separate Charity Trust Fund, so this is evidence of network presence rather than a confirmed Trust premises.
- Lions Clubs International District 105CW, 'Zones & Regions' page
Zone 6 currently lists Birmingham Moseley & Kings Heath Lions. - Lions Clubs International District 105CW website
The site identifies a Kings Heath location as the Lions International national headquarters.
Erdington
Confidence: low
The district’s Zone 6 list includes Sutton Coldfield & Erdington Lions, indicating an operational relationship extending to Erdington through the Lions network. The combined club name does not establish where within its named catchment it is active or whether the Trust has funded activity in Erdington specifically.
- Lions Clubs International District 105CW, 'Zones & Regions' page
Zone 6 currently lists Sutton Coldfield & Erdington among the district’s clubs. - Charity Commission register, charity 514602
The charity identifies Birmingham City as a place where it operates and describes its role as receiving funds from Lions Clubs and distributing them for charitable purposes.
Remaining uncertainties
- The Trust is principally a fundraising and grant-distribution vehicle, rather than a direct service provider. Available records do not identify the Birmingham wards in which its grants, district projects or beneficiaries are located.
- The Charity Commission lists a contact address for the Trust, but this should not be treated as a service or operational site. The Commission also records that the Trust does not own or lease land or property.
- The Kings Heath location on the district website is labelled as Lions International national headquarters. Available evidence does not show that it is operated by, or is a physical base of, charity 514602.
- The evidence supports a Birmingham presence through affiliated Lions Clubs in several named localities, but does not support a conclusion that the Trust directly delivers services across all Birmingham wards.
- Beyond Birmingham, the Trust’s operating model is regional through District 105CW clubs, while its disbursements include national and international appeals and projects. Its overall coverage is therefore assessed as international, although its core organisational network is regional.
Additional evidence needed
- The latest trustees' annual report or grant schedule with named recipient organisations, project locations and amounts for Birmingham.
- Current records from Birmingham-based Zone 6 clubs showing which local projects receive funding routed through the Charity Trust Fund.
- Confirmation from the Trust of whether its listed contact address is solely a correspondence address and whether it uses any regular operational or meeting premises in Birmingham.
- A current district project map or programme report distinguishing club-led local activity from grants administered by the Trust.
Areas of work
- General Charitable Purposes
Who they help
- The General Public/mankind
How they help
- Makes Grants To Organisations
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A shared funding vehicle for a dispersed club network
The Trust Fund appears to pool charitable resources from many autonomous or locally focused Lions clubs, allowing a district-wide structure to distribute funds beyond the capacity or geography of any one club.
Why it matters
This helps explain the organisation as connective infrastructure within civic life: its value may lie in coordinating many small-scale sources of support rather than operating programmes itself.
Show evidence
“Receives donations from over 91 Lions Clubs.”
Source:Charity Commission“The district has over 1,400 members in 95 clubs across the Midlands and South Wales.”
Source:Organisation
Flexible grantmaking may be a strength and a visibility challenge
Its charitable objects and stated activity indicate broad discretion to support charitable bodies and purposes at local, national and international levels, rather than a narrowly defined issue area.
Why it matters
This flexibility could let the Trust respond to varied needs and complement specialist organisations. It also makes its strategic identity harder to assess without evidence of actual grants, priorities or decision-making criteria.
Show evidence
“For such charitable purposes and/or for the benefit of such one or more charitable bodies, trusts, associations, institutions or organisations as the club shall determine.”
Source:Charity Commission“Distributes funds for local, national and international charitable purposes.”
Source:Charity Commission
The Trust may translate local volunteering into wider-scale solidarity
The combination of community-oriented Lions clubs and grantmaking across multiple geographic scales suggests a possible bridge between local fundraising relationships and causes beyond members' immediate communities.
Why it matters
This may make the Trust a useful partner for organisations seeking access to locally embedded volunteers and fundraising networks, particularly where a need can be framed as both locally meaningful and part of a wider humanitarian concern.
Show evidence
“Lions give their time freely to serve their community and beyond through support and aid.”
Source:Organisation“Distributes funds for local, national and international charitable purposes.”
Source:Charity Commission
- Which organisations, places and causes receive grants, and in what amounts.
- How grant decisions are made and how much influence individual clubs have.
- Whether the Trust has priorities connected to Lions' stated causes, such as vision, hunger, diabetes, environment or childhood cancer.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent annual reports, accounts and grant recipient lists.
- Grant criteria, governance arrangements and examples of funded projects.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Receive donations from over 91 Lions Clubs in South Wales, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Birmingham, West Midlands, Leicestershire, Rutland, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, parts of Wiltshire and Somerset and distribute the funds for Local, National and International charitable purposes.
Charity objects
FOR SUCH CHARITABLE PURPOSES AND/OR FOR THE BENEFIT OF SUCH ONE OR MORE CHARITABLE BODIES TRUSTS ASSOCIATIONS INSTITUTIONS OR ORGANISATIONS AS THE CLUB SHALL DETERMINE.