Fun Horse Racing Night – Saturday 22nd January
Fantastic evening of fun and horsing around at our virtual horse racing night hosted by our WM. Well attended by Lodge members family, friends and support from other Lodges from the Gravesend Masonic Centre. The raffle and racing tote raised £400 which will be dnated to Making Miracles, a charity which supports families who have suffered child bereavement and trauma.
Christmas White Table Event – 14th December 2021
Our Lodge held a white table event at the Gravesend Masonic Hall on Tueday 14th December. The event was an opportunity for our Lodge members to invite their families and friends to join us for a traditional 4 course Christmas meal held after our regular meeting and an opportunity for anyone who was not a Mason to enter the Temple and ask questions about Freemasonry.
The evening started with a welocme to all guests and visitors delivered by our Charity Steward who also advised that all proceeds from the raffle, auction of a magnum of Champagne and personal donations would be donated to the Gravesham Sanctuary who suppoprt homeless people in our local community.
A fun table quiz consisting of general questions about Christmas was completed by all tables during the meal which generated a great deal of discussion, friendly disagreements and ultimately in a winner! How would you have fared in the questions below? I was surprised just how few peolpe knew the history of Christmas tradiditons.
The raffle was well supported by personal donations with some woderful prizes. One lucky person staggered off with a magnum of Champagne and we received a considerable sum of personal monetary donations. In all, we raised £400 which was donated to the Gravesham Sanctuary. A BIG thankyou to everyone who attended to what proved to be an enjoyable, funfilled and charitable evening!!
Charity Stewards Breakfast 30th October 2021
The annual Charity Stewards Breakfast took place at Manor Road Masonic Centre in Chatham on Saturday 30th October 2021 and was represented by our Lodge Charity Steward and Secretary. Our PGM and the head of fund raising for the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) were in attendance accompanied by a further 80 Charity Stewards and accompanying Brethren representing other Lodges and Chapters across Kent.
The morning began with a fantastic full English breakfast followed by copious amounts of coffee. Our guest speaker from the MCF then eloquently presented some interesting facts about the work of the MCF and gave an insight into the funds which have been distributed to deserving charities and causes. The following is a brief summary of those figures and facts:
£100 Million has been raised by Freemasons since the MCF was established in 2016 which has been granted to disadvantaged families, individuals and communities throughout the UK and overseas. This is a tremendous achievement by the Masonic Fraternity which has made a significant difference to people’s lives. This equates to grants of £50,000 per day or £34.00 per minute! In terms of funds raised that is an average of £13,000 per Lodge or £450.00 per member!
The money has assisted 3,000 charities including our very own Freemasons and their families. The MCF has received 50,000 enquiries with 32,000 grants being made. This equates to 4 grants on average per lodge! In East Kent 938 grants have been made totalling £1.2 Million to 69 local charities benefitting from this magnificent sum and £2.1 Million to Masonic families.
Despite the impact and challenges of the COVID pandemic the MCF with funds previously raised were able to continue their / our support by providing £10,000 to each Province to support their local charities and an additional £1Million being donated by United Grand Lodge of England. £100,000 being donated to overseas and £1 Million to the UK community. In total, £3.6 Million has been donated to local communities & £4 Million to the Masonic community.
The event finished by a rousing speech and encouragement from our PGM to continue the good work throughout our province
The Libertas Secunda Lodge No. 6433 