London Members Attend Swedish Anniversary

Members of The Bedford Lodge No. 157 have attended the 125th Anniversary meeting of St Johanneslogen Kärnan, held at Helsingborg in Sweden.
     The Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Sweden, together with 150 Masons, were present to congratulate their Master, Lars Johansson.
     Afterwards, Paul Rutland, Master of the Bedford Lodge presented to the Master, Johansson a book on Masonic Firing Glasses, suitably inscribed. In the evening 250 guests attended a banquet with the Lady Mayoress of Helsingborg as the principal guest.

In Good Voice at Bath Concert

Wiltshire Lodge of Agriculture No. 9090 has again organised the local Voices for Hospices event in support of the Dorothy House Hospice near Bath. The Concert raised £2,500 to which Provincial Grand Master Francis Wakem added a further £2,000 from the Provincial Charity Fund.
     The concert was hosted by ITV West Country presenter Peter Rowell and featured the City of Bath Male Choir.
     The concert included specialist items by local young soprano Rhiannon Lambert and violinist Lizz Lipscombe Voices for Hospices is a series of simultaneous concerts around the globe which takes place on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day every two years.

Cathedral Event for Festival

St Edmundsbury Cathedral at Bury St Edmunds was filled to capacity last November when Suffolk Freemasons, friends and families attended a celebration Evensong to coincide with the culmination of their Festival for the Masonic Samaritan Fund.
     Members also viewed the Chapel of Transfiguration, where the provision of furnishings have been supported by the Suffolk masons, aided by the Freemasons’ Grand Charity, with a donation of £15,000.
     Lessons were read by Provincial Grand Master Barry Ross and Grand Superintendent Dr David Watson.

Durham Remembers

Remembering the fallen – Durham Provincial Grand Master Norman Heaviside, accompanied by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, Professor Denovan Wilson, led a masonic contingent of about 40 brethren from Burdon Road Masonic Hall to the War Memorial to attend the City of Sunderland Remembrance Service. All five Assistant Provincial Grand Masters formally attended other Remembrance events.

Harrow School Fishing Day

Harrow School was the venue for a day’s coarse fishing for 28 disabled and disadvantaged children from three local schools provided by the London branch of The Masonic Trout and Salmon Fishing Charity (MTSFC).
     Sponsored by the London Masonic Charitable Trust, the chief angler for the day was Russell Race, Metropolitan Grand Master. The MTSFC provides disabled and disadvantaged adults and children with a day’s fishing and a mentally stimulating experience.
     Go to www.mtsfc.co.uk for more information.

Bikers Riding to Support the Fallen

The Ride to the Wall (RTTW) is the national motorcycle ride to the Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, National Memorial Arboretum of service personal who have died since the end of World War Two, in which masonic bikers participated.
     RTTW was set up by non-mason and former marine Martin Dickinson. This year that figure rose to 6,000 and included members of the Widows Sons national chapter of Freemasons.

Normandy Marathon for Injured Soldiers

A group of Gloucestershire masons have carried out the wish of Noel Driscoll, who died a few weeks after being installed as Master of Tyndall Lodge No. 1363, to raise funds for BLESMA – the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association.
     In his memory, four of his brethren decided to emulate one stage of a mammoth fund-raising walk he had undertaken for BLESMA in 1987, by walking from Cherbourg to the Pegasus Bridge in Normandy.
     The quartet – Richard Harris, Steve Bullen and Phil Green of Tyndall Lodge and Shaun Harris of Kingswood Chase Lodge No. 4666, took just over four days to complete the 112 miles and have raised almost £10,000 for the charity.
     Donations can be sent to richard@harveyshopfitters.co.uk or go to www.justgiving.com/pegasus2009 for more information.

Alf, 94, Takes the Chair

Alf Tattersall, at the grand old age of 94, has been installed into the chair of Ye Olde Bargate Lodge No. 5296, which meets at Albion Place, Southampton.
     This was the first time he had been a Master, as he came into Freemasonry late in life, at the age of 88.
     Brian Bellinger, Provincial Grand Master for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, who sent his best wishes to Alf, said: ‘This is obviously a very special occasion and I think that Alf holds the record, in this Province, for the greatest age of any Brother for a first Installation as WM.’
     Alf, born at Fenton in the Potteries, has lived in Southampton for most of his life, retiring as a Division Officer with the Ordnance Survey in 1976.

Mark Backing for Deafness Research

Deafness affects one in seven of the UK population and is the second most common disability. To help Deafness Research UK in its work on prevention, diagnosis and treatment, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Mark Masons have donated £10,000.
     This will go towards specialist equipment to be used in cochlear implant surgery for patients with severe loss of hearing and receive little or no benefit from even the most powerful hearing aids.
     The piece of equipment is known as the Medelec Synergy, and it is located at the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre based at Southampton University. It is only the second building in the world which has this technology, the other being in Australia.

Three Brothers Join Together

Three brothers became Brothers together in the same ceremony, when Daniel, 26, Christopher, 21, and Darryl, 19, were all initiated by their father, Paul Sison into Old Emanuel Lodge No. 5399 at Freemasons’ Hall, London.
     The evening was concluded when Chris Caine presented the lodge with the Metropolitan Grand Master’s Platinum Award Certificate for the London Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution Appeal.