There are a number of differences between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. One of those I notice most is the way different parliamentarians prioritise their time. MPs are usually required to spend at least some time raising their profile and so will find the time to attend constituency events, make after-dinner speeches and appear on ‘Question Time’, ‘Any Questions’ and, often, the news.

Whilst peers do some of these things too, I often find that peers are more able to make charity work a priority. Many peers are patrons, trustees, fellows, presidents and chairs of some, if not many, charities. I am personally involved with over 100 charitable organisations.

One of these organisations is the Lions Clubs International Foundation, a network of 1.3 million men and women in approximately 45,000 clubs in 202 countries and geographical areas in the world since 1917. They work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world. Known for working to end preventable blindness, Lions participate in a vast variety of projects important to their communities, ranging from cleaning up local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters.

Yesterday, Tuesday 11th March, Lions Clubs International celebrated Lions Day with the United Nations. This event was hosted in the Houses of Parliament. Speakers included Mark Francois MP, Peter Kessler of UNHCR UN Refugee Agency and Vice Chairman of the Special Olympics GB, Paul Anderson. At this event, I was caught completely off-guard when I was made a Melvin Jones Fellow for humanitarian services and presented with a plaque. Lions is a unique organisation, contributing so much to alleviate disadvantage suffered by people across the world. It is a pleasure to work with such organisations and I know my colleagues, in both houses, feel the same.