THE Amersham and Chesham Lions Club is mourning the death of one of its founders at the age of 82.

Peter Thomas helped set up the branch of the Lions Club after moving to Amersham from Waterlooville, Hampshire, in 1969 and went on to hold the title of President twice, in additional to many other roles.

He was also well known in the community for his charity work as part of the Lions group.

Mr Thomas set up the Lions' annual Christmas Parcel scheme to provide festive gifts for the lonely and needy, and organised a rota of members to take visually handicapped people to their weekly club meetings in Chesham.

The former City office branch manager of Lloyds bank also started the local branch of the Talking Newspaper for the Blind, and set up monthly Bingo sessions for the elderly. These were originally held at the Rushymead Care Home and continue to this day at The Croft in Amersham.

Outside of his Lions activities he was for many years a pro-active chairman of the governors of Heritage House, a special school for children with profound needs in Chesham.

He was a keen supporter of Norwich City Football Club and enjoyed his regular snooker games.

He was devoted to his wife, Monica, and family and will be much missed by them, the Lions and the wider community.