News

Severn Dean Lions have given £800 to Found in the Forest Youth Theatre in Cinderford.

The youth theatre is run by AIR in G (Arts in Rural Gloucestershire), the county's rural touring arts charity. It meets every Thursday in term time at The Wesley on Belle Vue Road. Juniors aged 8 to 12 meet from 4pm, and seniors aged 13 to 18 from 6pm.

Severn Dean Lions have given £2,000 to the Palace Theatre (Palace Cinema) in Cinderford to help keep its projectors running.

The Palace is one of the oldest picture houses still showing films in Britain. It dates from the early 1900s and has survived two fires and years as a British Legion hall. In 2005 it reopened as a two-screen cinema. Karen and Andy Lougher have run it for twenty years. During Covid they put everything they had into keeping it open, including Andy's pension.

This Sunday, 20 September, the Wild Boar Chase is back. Hundreds of riders will roll out from Speech House Field for the Forest of Dean's biggest off-road ride of the year: up to 51 miles of forest tracks, bridleways and big descents down towards the River Wye, with 5,000 feet of climbing for anyone brave enough to take on the Full Boar.

Join Severn Dean Lions for our summer Coffee Morning on Saturday 4 July 2026. Everyone is welcome to come along for coffee, cake and a friendly chat, with all proceeds supporting our charitable work across the Forest of Dean and Gloucester. We look forward to seeing you there!

Our annual Wild Boar Chase mountain bike challenge returns in September 2026, taking riders off-road through the beautiful Forest of Dean on routes to suit all abilities. Entries are already open and filling fast — dozens of riders have signed up so far.

This year's route once again passes Dean Forest Cycles in Parkend, who are kindly sponsoring the event. As always, the final route and date are agreed with Forestry England closer to the day. To enter or find out more, visit the Wild Boar Chase website.

Our flagship Bonfire & Fireworks display returns to Speech House on Saturday 7 November 2026, run jointly with Forest of Dean Lions Club. Expect a spectacular fireworks display, refreshments and a raffle, with all proceeds going to local and national good causes.

Tickets will be available online ahead of the night — keep an eye on our news page and social media for booking details nearer the time.

The Severn Dean Lions Santa Sleigh got the festive season under way at the Christmas Fair on Thursday 27 November 2025. Through December, Santa and his Lions helpers toured the towns and villages of the Forest of Dean, collecting for good causes. Thank you to everyone who came out to wave and donate.

The Lions of Forest and Severn Dean held their annual Bonfire & Fireworks display at Speech House on Saturday 1 November 2025 — our flagship event of the year, run jointly with Forest of Dean Lions Club. A spectacular display by Firemagic UK lit up the Forest, with refreshments and a raffle on the night.

Thanks to everyone who came along, the event produced a distributable surplus of £10,790, shared equally between the two clubs — £5,395 each — to support local and national good causes, with a £10,000 reserve carried forward to make next year's display possible.

Severn Dean Lions held their annual Macmillan Coffee Morning on Saturday 27 September 2025 at St. Peter's Church, Newnham. Everyone was welcome to join us for coffee, cake and good company in support of Macmillan Cancer Support. Thank you to all who came along and gave so generously.

The Wild Boar Chase returned on Sunday 21 September 2025 — our annual off-road mountain bike challenge through the beautiful Forest of Dean, run with the Forest of Dean Mountain Bike Enthusiasts. With routes to suit all abilities, riders headed out to discover new parts of the forest while raising money for local good causes.

Wild Boar Chase website