It is a matter of fact that we are now less than 2 years away from our Festival which is to be held in June 2009. For many Lodges that means between another 8 and 10 meetings and it is not a lot of time to enable them to transfer the funds that they are holding, and indeed anticipate generating, into the Provincial Festival Account.
The good news is that at the present time we are holding a figure in excess of £1.5 million and I anticipate that this will increase quite substantially during the course of the next 20 months.
I am delighted to announce that as at the end of June this year, 15 Lodges had become Grand Patrons, 34 had become Patrons and 52 had become Vice Patrons. It is very encouraging that a number of the Patrons will soon become Grand Patrons and those that are Vice Patrons will become Patrons. In addition there are a number of Lodges that have nearly reached Vice Patron status and I hope that by this time next year the vast majority of the Lodges in the Province will have achieved at least Vice Patron status.
To become Vice Patrons, a Lodge has to have transferred to the Provincial Festival Account the sum of £5,000 and if any of the Charity Stewards are uncertain of their Lodge’s status they can contact W. Bro. Peter Trowell, the incoming Provincial Senior Grand Warden, who is monitoring all the monies that are received. His email address is peter.g.trowell@btopenworld.com
A full list of those Lodges that have achieved patronage status is available on the Provincial website and I do hope the list continues to grow as we get nearer to our goal.
I do know that the Charity Stewards of our Lodges are very keen to ensure that their individual Lodge supports the Festival as much as the Members are able to. I also know that many Lodges are holding a number of special events to generate additional funds and I would urge their Members, and friends and guests to support them as much as they are able.
I have been pleased to be in attendance at a number of Lodges during the last year to present them with their Patronage Certificate and there are more in the pipeline. I am always delighted to do so and please do not hesitate to contact me. If I am free to attend I would be more than happy to do so.
I would urge the Charity Stewards of all our Lodges to seek approval to transfer whatever funds are available to the Provincial Relief Chest. I would stress that any monies so deposited continue to earn a considerable rate of interest based on the monies that have been so transferred and thus no Lodge is losing out by not holding monies in their own account.
If any Charity Steward is uncertain of his role and wants to find out more, then the names of the Assistant Festival Co-Ordinators, who are based at each of the Provincial Masonic Centres, is available on our website. Please do not hesitate to contact them if there are any matters upon which you need advice or guidance.
Finally, I would like to thank the other Orders in the Province who have contributed to the Festival so generously, and I know that we all look forward to their future support.
Graham King