A century of service by Lions clubs across the country was celebrated at Buckingham Palace last week - and members from Maidenhead and Burnham were there.

The Countess of Wessex is patron of Lions Clubs and she hosted the reception on Wednesday, February 28.

Lions Steve Spencer from Burnham and Trevor Tilbury from Maidenhead Lions clubs joined the hundreds who came along. Both are founder members of their clubs and have been Lions for 18 and 44 years respectively.

Lion Phil Nathan MBE, chairman of the celebrations said: "Lions Clubs have touched millions of lives of people that needed us. 100 years of service to the community is a remarkable achievement made possible by the selfless actions of many thousands of individual men and women, each of whom has sought to make ‘their’ community a better place.

"As we enter our 2nd Century, the cry for help from those in need will most certainly become louder and we as volunteers are ready to show as Lions 'we care'."

Lions Clubs International focuses on projects that address diabetes, youth, the environment, hunger relief, childhood cancer and sight issues affecting communities throughout the world.

There are 1.4 million members in over 200 countries, making it the largest service club organisation in the world.