The Mark Lodge of Charity is reborn as a Past Masters Lodge |
| Following the pandemic, and after some years of not finding any candidates, the members of the Lodge of Charity No. 935 made the difficult decision to hand back the warrant of the Lodge to the Provincial Grand Master. |
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Malcolm Cook,
John Barnes,
Peter Benson WM,
David Whitmore,
Giles Berkley and
Robert Heyes |
After an initial attempt to save the Lodge as it was, with joining members and help from Province on a recruitment drive, the decision was sadly made to cease the Lodge as a regular Lodge, and at the suggestion of the Provincial Grand Master, it became a Past Masters Lodge at the last regular meeting. |
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| At that meeting on July the 5th, two new joining members were surprisingly voted in, without any objection! They were none other than our Deputy Provincial Grand Master Geoffrey Lee, and Assistant Provincial Grand Master Giles Berkley. At that meeting we also balloted successfully to give four members of long service Honorary membership – W Bros Robert Heyes, William Malcolm Cook, Stanley Hesketh and Brian John Dietz. |
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| The meeting was naturally a mix of sadness for the change from the old Lodge, and excitement for the future. Our new Honorary members were clearly moved by their exalted status. There is a strong rumour that our Provincial Grand Master has accepted Honorary membership of the Lodge, pending a vote in favour! |
| The Lodge has the ideal name to transform into its new mission, to become the new Past Masters Lodge for Charity Stewards and Almoners within West Lancashire. This will preserve the history, name and number of the Lodge for future generations. It is also hoped that this Lodge will enable contact between Charity Stewards and Almoners from around the Province, and generate new and bold ideas for the raising and distributing of our charitable donations. |
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| The Lodge is now open for joining members who have been, or still currently serve as, Charity Steward or Almoner of their Mark Lodge. It is also open to members of the Provincial Charity Executive and committee, and the Group Almoners and Charity Stewards. You will be pleased to know that we have 3 more joining members at the next meeting on Thursday the 22nd of September – our Provincial Charity Steward John Sarti, and our Provincial Almoner Les Norton, as well as Martin Stokes, the Provincial Grand Masters Special representative for the area. |
| The Lodge will meet at Bryn for the next meeting and the Installation. We all know what the food is like at Bryn – some of the best in the Province. This is your opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of Bryn, but also to make a real difference in helping our wonderful charitable causes. We are also looking for officers for the Installation in February. |
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| Graham Corday, the Lodge Secretary, is available to receive applications by email on gcorday@outlook.com or by telephone on 0772 251 9242. |
| We look forward to welcoming you into this exciting Lodge |
| Giles Berkley |
| Words by Giles and pictures by Geoffrey Lee |
