£2,500,000 announced by the PGM
The Provincial AGM finished with the exciting news from the Provincial Grand Master VW Bro John Arthur that we have reached the sum of £2,500,000 on our quest to reach our target. I’m especially pleased and proud of everyone who has supported us to date, whether it’s a direct debit, a lodge donation, gift aid envelopes, sponsoring an event or even taking part every little helps. the PProvGM Eric Heaviside always said “The dripping tap will fill the bath” and it is indeed doing just that. I urge you all to continue on until we conclude in 2021 to reach the personal goal of Festival Steward, either by donation of by taking part in one of our many events. Or for your lodge to reach its potential to turn that bronze award to Silver, or to reach the target and maybe even push onto platinum and join the 19 lodges who have already reached this goal.
Thank you for your continuing support to me and our team and ultimately those who benefit from MCF support.
WBro John Thomson, Festival Director
An exert from the PGM Address at the AGM, Dunston 29th June 2019
“The masonic charities are one of the major things we hold most dear, and Festival is the time for us, as a Province, to show our support for the Masonic Charitable Foundation. We are very proud and fortunate to be raising money in the name of The Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys and all of the money raised will be used to support children and young adults who need our support.
The financial and welfare support they provide to children and young people aims to reduce the impact of the tragedy and hardship they have experienced, often from a very early age. MCF support aims to enable higher academic attainment, improved standards of day-to-day living as well as better life and employment prospects. Currently, almost 2,000 Masonic children and young people are benefiting from our support across England and Wales each year, at a cost of around £9m per year.
In 2018 support for Masonic families in Durham totalled £400,475, with a further £150,500 supporting 21 charities. That’s an average of £10,586 per week for those who need it most in our Province. This is equivalent to over £6m over the 11 year time period between Festivals.
We are extremely proud of everyone who has accepted one of the challenges set by the Festival Team, this includes, running, walking, canoeing, cycling, skydiving, skiing next week and of course the dragon boat racing in September for which I’m informed we still have places. I thank the organisers, sponsors, support teams and the participants which totals over 200 masons with their family and friends who to date have raised over £50,000.
Your generosity, from those with regular direct debits, donations from lodges, and our of course our sponsored events is quite remarkable.
Together all of this support has increased our total raised to £2,500,000. Congratulations to you all. Last year we raised an average of about £10,000 per week which was beyond our expectations but if you recall The beneficiaries in our Province received on average £10,586 per week from the MCF last year. This goes to show how important it is to keep supporting the Masonic Charitable Foundation until our Festival conclusion in 2021. Remember Brethren, when we finish supporting the MCF in 2021 they won’t stop supporting us.”