Message from the President Mary Anne Abela
During the last Convention of the Association of Lions Clubs Walled Cities that took place in September 2021 in San Marino, I was selected as President of this Association to follow the outgoing President Giuseppe Guerra.
This is a great honour for me, partly because I was one of the seven representatives of Lions Clubs who initiated this association in Lucca in 2004, and secondly because I happen to be the first female and the first non Italian Lion to chair this prestigious group.
However, I feel that this will add a certain amount of responsibility to my role.
The first seven Lions clubs to set up this association came from Italy, France, Spain, San Marino and Malta. This is what made this association International.
Over the years many other clubs joined the association, all thanks to the past presidents who were chairing this group. We have now reached over 200 Lions Clubs coming from at least 23 different countries all over 4 continents.
Since the birth place of this group is Italy, the number of member clubs coming from Italy has always been quite high, but now it has outnumbered by far the clubs coming from other nations.
In the past years many international clubs would participate during the annual congress of the Association of Lions Clubs Walled Cities. Throughout the years participation from foreign Clubs has been slowly diminishing, and this is where our challenge lies.
We need to encourage these foreign clubs to take a more prominent part during the annual meeting. We need to bring out the international aspect of our group.
After all the aim of these gatherings is to showcase our walled cities in all their beauty, to expose the cultural that lies within our mediaeval walls and to encourage visitors to our hometowns.
So let us all make a little effort to get to know each other better and communicate freely between us all Lions.
We are always looking forward to hearing from you through this website or through our Facebook Page.
Best wishes to you all
Mary Anne Abela
President
Associazione Internazionale delle Città Murate – Lions Club