15 minute read
Charities
A Beacon of Light in the Darkness
The Leicestershire and Rutland Masonic Charity Association has donated £1,000 to the local charity, The Bridge, offering light for all those who live in the shadows of homelessness.
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The Bridge’s main vision is that everyone in Leicester has a place to call home and has hope for the future, by providing support and opportunities to those trapped in poverty and homelessness. They do this through the core guiding principles of compassion, respect, hope and ensuring that every individual matters.
One of their projects, The Lighthouse Project, helps strive for every individual who needs it, to have a beacon of hope to grasp on to when they feel alone and surrounded by waves of change. With the help of mentors, who metaphorically light the way, individuals are provided with direction through a non-judgemental and professional relationship with the mentee. The mentor ensures the mental health of the mentee, as well as their physical health needs, are met through providing access to practical help and providing reassurance through regular phone or face-to-face meetings for up to six months. This listening ear helps reduce loneliness and improves the wellbeing of the mentee.
The donation from the LRMCA will go towards training, as wells as support, for volunteers who are suitable for the role of being a mentor, ensuring they have the right qualities, skills and attributes to take on the challenging role of helping to change a life.
A Soft Touch
Soft Touch Arts is an award-winning charity using arts, media and musical activities as tools to engage with and change the lives of disadvantaged young people. They were recently awarded £1,000 by the Leicestershire and Rutland Masonic Charity Association to help continue the impact they have on the lives of young people in Leicester and Leicestershire.
Soft Touch has been using creative projects to engage with and transform the lives of young people in challenging life situations since 1986. Leicester has over 30,000 children who live in poverty, one of the highest areas of deprivation in England, and its children are more likely to not achieve 5 good GCSEs by the time they leave school. As a result, these young people have low aspirations and a future with little hope of rising out of the deprivation they came from. Soft Touch provides the opportunity for young people to engage with them and help transform their lives, recognising potential that conventional education may not have tapped into, and supporting the development of life skills that will give them equal opportunity in comparison with their more privileged peers allowing them a sense of purpose and aspiration to achieve. Helen Abeles, Director of Soft Touch Arts, sincerely thanked the masonic community for the generous donation and the opportunities that it will be able to offer the young people.
Jason Clothier
Helen Abeles, Director of Soft
Touch Arts, said,
Soft Touch Arts works with young people who need that extra bit of support to help them reach their potential. This generous donation from LRMCA will help us to offer more opportunities for young people to feel a sense of achievement through getting creative.
A Wish Come True
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy affects 1 in every 3,500 boys born; combating it is the charity, Alex’s Wish, which is run by Emma and Andy Hallam, whose son Alex was diagnosed at the age of four. The charity has received a match funded donation of £2,000 from the Leicestershire and Rutland Masonic Charity Association to help support research into new treatments to help eradicate this form of muscular dystrophy.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is an aggressive form of Muscular Dystrophy that leads to progressive muscle loss, where every single muscle is destroyed due to a lack of protein. It eventually affects the heart and the lungs, and with very few treatments available to help children at present, Alex’s Wish was set up to fund vital research into how this devastating disease can be treated as currently there is no cure. The charity states, “We hope that this generation of children will be the last to die, or the first to live.”
Jason Clothier
Forest Schools at Parkland Primary
Recently, I spoke in lodge about the concept of charity as relief, and the need to not only give financial assistance but go and see it in action. Today, I write, not only about a donation from the LRMCA, but working alongside its benefits every day. In a recent donation, the LRMCA gave £1,000 to Parkland Primary School, part of the Discovery Schools Academy Trust, to continue the development of their Forest School initiative.
Parkland Primary School serves a community in South Wigston, which is recognised as one of the most deprived areas of Leicester. Many of the children who attend the school do not have a garden, outside space or have access to safe natural green spaces. Covid-19 impacted the area tremendously, restricting the access that the community, but especially the children, had to outdoor spaces. The ability to share key childhood experiences and socialise with peer groups had been taken away. For those who were school ready, their formative years of learning were cut abruptly short, having a clear impact on their social skills, health and learning behaviours. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of children suffering from anxiety or needing social, emotional, and behavioural support. Over the last 30 years, more sophisticated technologies have meant that fewer people are spending their free time outdoors and playing in the natural environment. Children are spending more time indoors on computers and devices such as
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Forest Schools at Parkland Primary (continued)
phones, tablets, or gaming platforms. This trend has been augmented by parents becoming more wary of, and reluctant in, allowing their children to play outdoors in their local neighbourhoods, which are perceived as becoming less safe. This is leading to a major problem called Nature Deficit Disorder.
To combat this trend, a group of British nursery nurses visited Scandinavia in 1993, where the Forest School concept began, as being outdoors and involved in nature is a way of life, and observed the benefits they provide. Since then, it has developed into a nationally recognised strategy, with thousands of pre-schools and schools taking part. It is now seen as an educational and inspirational process that offers children regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning through experiences in a local natural environment. Accepted academic research states that free play is key to a child’s development and allows their imagination to run wild, which has been shown to increase their attention span and memory, also benefitting other schoolwork. By introducing Forest Schools sessions and providing regular opportunities for children, Victoria Brown, Forest School Lead at Parkland, commented that, “We can help to improve the children’s wellbeing and therefore their ability to concentrate and learn, having a positive impact on their education and futures [these] revolve around the idea of free play and free choice, but can include activities such as survival skills such as shelter building, fire lighting, knot tying; identification skills of plants, invertebrates and building skills through wood work
by creating bird boxes and insect houses.”
Since August 2021, a small, but dedicated, group have planted 150 trees in the school field that were provided free through a national initiative set up by the Woodland Trust. The children have been able to discover a new outdoor classroom and have enjoyed learning new games and working together to overcome challenges. But it needed more and newer set-up equipment for a dedicated area, and for session materials. It has been through the generous donation of the LRMCA that the resources and provision necessary for the next stage can now be fully realised. The school’s headteacher, Jo Andrews, commented that, “The school are extremely grateful for this support and look forward to being able to provide a better Forest School experience for all our children.” As the saying goes “…a little goes a very long way…” and at Parkland, they know that their small Forest School and its sessions will have a long-lasting, beneficial impact on the children who attend there for the rest of their lives.
Jason Clothier
Michael John 'masons' Quarter Page.pdf 1 26/11/2021 10:56
St Mary’s Lodge No.7164 Starts the Year with a Double Celebration
The Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Brian Carruthers, attended a meeting of St Mary’s Lodge in Melton Mowbray on the 24th January to present two certificates of service to Freemasonry.
The first duty was to present a certificate celebrating 60 years of service to Freemasonry to William Hutchinson, who was initiated into the Anglo-American Lodge No.2191 in London on the 9th January 1962, before joining St Mary’s Lodge in Melton Mowbray on the 27th November 1972. William is also a member of the Compass Lodge No.8765 in Syston, as well as the Gateway Royal Arch Chapter No.6513. The Deputy Provincial Grand Master then proceeded to present a certificate for 50 years of service to Freemasonry to Keith Hallam, who has been a member of St Mary’s Lodge since his initiation on the 22nd February 1971. He is also a member of the Vale of
Pictured left to right: Brian Carruthers, William Hutchinson Pictured left to right: Keith Hallam, Mike Brooman
Catmos Royal Arch Chapter No.1265. If that wasn’t enough for one evening, the lodge then welcomed into Freemasonry a new member, Chris Thurman, who was warmly welcomed by the Master of the lodge, Michael Brooman.
Rodney Dixon 60 Years of Service to Freemasonry
Rodney Dixon was initiated into the Jason Lodge No.7716 in Leicester on the 5th February 1962. It was not long after his initiation that his aptitude for keyboard playing was discovered, which soon became apparent as he took on the duties of playing the organ within the lodge.
Twelve years later, in 1974, Rodney became Master of the lodge, although it was soon after this, he again took his favoured place in front of the organ to add energy and entertainment to meetings. Still to this day, Rodney can be found on the organist’s stool, not only in Jason Lodge, but also in eleven other lodges, nine Royal Arch Chapters, and in many other Masonic orders. Without his music, the countless lodge meetings he has played for would not have been so enjoyable. The certificate to celebrate Rodney’s 60 years in freemasonry was presented by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, Andy Green, at the meeting of Jason Lodge on the 7th February 2022.
Robert Greenlees was Initiated in Lodge St John’s No.141 in Campbeltown, Argyll in the Grand Lodge of Scotland in November 1961. He joined Gabriel Newton Lodge No.9071 in 1983 after relocating to Leicester and was Master of the lodge in 1992 and again in 2008 before acting as Director of Ceremonies for the last 10 years.
Robert, more commonly known as Bob, was a Founder Member of Ratae Meridian Lodge No.9673 in 1998 and was Master in 2003. Bob is also active in many other Masonic orders and is often present as either a member or a most welcome guest. Bob’s certificate of 60 years of service to Freemasonry was presented by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, Andy Green, at the meeting of the Gabriel Newton Lodge, with many other Provincial Officers present on the 2nd February 2022.
Pictured left to right: Andy Green, Bob Greenlees
50 Years’ Service to Freemasonry for Ian Burton
The Holmes Lodge No.4656 who meet at Freemasons’ Hall in Leicester has a special bond with two other local lodges, Lodge Semper Eadem No.3091 and Prince Rupert Lodge No.7841.
Pictured left to right: Paul Wallace,Michael Turnbull, Ian Burton, Master of the lodge Ken Hornsby.
On the 1st February 2022, The Holmes Lodge hosted a tripartite meeting of all three lodges in the magnificent Holmes Lodge room in Leicester. The first order of business was in the hands of the Past Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Michael Turnbull, who was delighted to present a certificate celebrating 50 years of service to Freemasonry to Ian Burton. Ian joined the lodge on the 3rd November 1970, steadily progressing to be Master in 1981. Ian is also a member of Prince Rupert Lodge, and also The Holmes Royal Arch Chapter, which he joined in 1976. With a packed agenda, the lodge concluded its business with a surprise cheque presentation to the visiting Provincial Grand Secretary, Paul Wallace, who was pleased to receive a donation of £3,000 towards the 2022 MCF Festival Appeal.
Pictured left to right: Andy Green, Kantilal Chudasama
50 Years from Tanzania to Loughborough
The Assistant Provincial Grand Master Andy Green was on hand to present a certificate of 50 years’ service to Freemasonry to Kantilal Chudasama, who was initiated In Mwanza Lodge No.7485 meeting in Mwanza, Tanzania on 19th September 1970, in the District Grand Lodge of East Africa.
Kantilal also joined Nandi Border Lodge No.4756, Eldoret in Kenya in 1982 and became Master in 1989 before joining the Howe & Charnwood Lodge No.1007 in Loughborough in 1999. The lodge is very pleased to have had his services as Treasurer for ten years starting in 2005. Many members were present at the meeting held on Tuesday 22nd February 2022 to celebrate his achievements.
Highcross Lodge No.4835 Present a Certificate of Service to the Past Provincial Grand Master
On the 6th January 1972, Highcross Lodge in Leicester welcomed a new member into Freemasonry, David Hagger. David became a very active member of the lodge, becoming its Master in 1988, before receiving his first appointment as a Provincial Officer in 1998. Holding several senior offices within the Province, David eventually became Provincial Grand Master in 2010, a position he held for nearly ten years.
Pictured left to right: David Hagger receiving his certificate of service from the Provincial Grand Master, Peter Kinder. As an active member of the Royal Arch as well as many other Masonic orders, David is a familiar face to everyone in the Province and beyond. On Thursday 6th January 2022, Highcross Lodge hosted a packed lodge room of Freemasons who had come to celebrate David’s 50 years of service. The Provincial Grand Master, Peter Kinder, was in attendance along with the members of the Provincial team to join in the celebrations, and to present David with his certificate of service. The evening was a joyous yet moving occasion, which continued over dinner and well on into the night.
A Night to Remember in Coalville
On Thursday 10th March 2022, many members and visitors were on hand at Grace Dieu Lodge No.2428 to celebrate Cyril Clark’s 50 years of service to Freemasonry.
On this evening the honour of presenting the certificate of service to Cyril fell to the Provincial Grand Secretary, Paul Wallace, who was accompanied for the evening by Ian Nesbitt. Cyril was initiated into Grace Dieu Lodge No.2428 on the 9th March 1972, becoming Master in 1985. During his time in the lodge, Cyril has held many offices and he now enjoys honorary membership in recognition of his unwavering support of Freemasonry in Coalville. On the same evening, a new Past Masters’ Board was unveiled in memory of George Dixon, who was initiated into Grace Dieu Lodge in 1997, becoming Master in 2007. The new board is a fitting tribute to departed merit, and its unveiling was attended by George’s son, Paul Dixon, who was initiated into Grace Dieu Lodge in 1985.
Pictured left to right: Ian Nesbitt, Paul Wallace, Master of the Lodge Guy Adkins, Paul Dixon
Pictured left to right: Paul Wallace, Cyril Clark
Michael Robinson has celebrated sixty years as a Freemason with a certificate presentation from the Provincial Grand Master, and a special gift from the Wiclif Lodge No.3078.
The Provincial Grand Master, Peter Kinder, attended a meeting of the Wiclif Lodge in Lutterworth on 13th April 2022 to present a certificate to Michael Robinson. The certificate is one seldom received, representing sixty years of being a Freemason. The recipient was Michael Robinson, a member of Wiclif Lodge, along with many other lodges, Royal Arch Chapters, and other orders. Michael was also presented a special helmet trophy, emblazoned with the lodge logo and messages by the Master, Ken Seymour, to celebrate not only his time in Freemasonry, but also his passion for motorbikes.
UNIVERSITIES SCHEME
Universities Scheme Conference
Members of the three Universities Scheme Lodges, Wyggeston Lodge No.3448, Castle of Leicester Lodge No.7767, Lodge of Science and Art No.8429, along with the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, Andy Green, took the trip to Bristol on Saturday 26th March 2022 for the biannual conference which was hosted by the Province of Bristol.
The theme of the conference was Moving Forward and included sessions on member migration, women’s freemasonry, university engagement, Association of Medical, University and Legal Lodges, and social media. Andy Green said, “After the pandemic it was fantastic to get together with other scheme lodges for a very interesting and enthusing conference. Many ideas and initiatives were discussed including on how our student membership can engage and support our local communities.”
Pictured left to right: Chris Butlin Lodge of Science & Art No.8429, Elliot Conway and Andy Green Wyggeston Lodge No.3448, Far right Mateusz Weclawowicz Castle of Leicester No.7767
