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ChanneL iSLandS air SearCh reCeiveS fundinG booSt guernsey and Alderney masons have donated £21,600 to channel islands Air search (ciAs), part of which will help refurbish a vital infrared rescue camera. provincial grand Master David hodgetts explained he remembered when the Air search organisation was set up and is delighted to be making a contribution towards the team’s high operating costs. ciAs chief officer colin ferbrache said the money would help towards the overall running costs, ‘which are now in the region of £85,000 a year’.
festival chairman peter Lightburn (far left) and provincial Grand master norman thompson with two of the contenders
cArlisle hOsTs knOckOuT evenT Cumberland and westmorland masons were in fighting form when they raised £8,000 to aid the royal masonic benevolent institution (rmbi). The Province’s first organised charity event in support of its 2016 Festival saw The Shepherds Inn in Carlisle transformed to accommodate a central boxing ring, complete with ringside tables. The evening included a fabulous Cumberland roast-beef dinner, followed by 14 bouts of amateur boxing, while Provincial stewards ran a tote, an auction and a very successful raffle for the RMBI.
helping hAnD fOr lichfielD cATheDrAl restoration work at Lichfield Cathedral has benefited from a £5,000 donation from the freemasons’ Grand Charity and £1,000 from the province of Staffordshire, as well as money raised by individual local lodges.
photography: peter jordon/alamy, Guernsey press
Repairs to the windows at the eastern end of the cathedral, known as the Lady Chapel, are costing more than £4 million. The medieval stained glass has been taken away for restoration, the stone work repaired and an outer layer of isothermal glass has been installed, but the costs still have to be covered. On the cathedral’s south side is a statue of Godfroi de Bouillon, erected by masons in 1890 for £35. The Freemasons’ Grand Charity has also donated £5,000 each to Exeter and Salisbury cathedrals. Left: Staffordshire provincial Grand master thomas Lloyd with the cathedral dean, the very reverend adrian dorber, along with provincial officers in the Lady Chapel. right: the stunning medieval stained glass and stone work, which requires further funding for restoration
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rOwing fOr gOlD two brothers conquer the atlantic for charity...
see p.36