How to find us

I welcome you all to our May Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge and I am grateful to you for attending in such goodly numbers.

It has been a busy year in the Province, with many important events and activities having taken place. Each one in turn has been special, but, briefly, they have included: celebrating the centenary of Andrew Lodge No 3328; amalgamating Trafford Park Lodge No 4486 and Broad Oak Lodge No 7239, to become Trafford Park Broad Oak Lodge No 4486; dedicating the new Masonic Hall at Garstang; and celebrating 50 years of outstanding service to Freemasonry by four very distinguished Brethren - Past Provincial Grand Master, RWBro Colin Wright, Past Deputy Provincial Grand Master, VWBro Tom Blackburn, and Assistant Provincial Grand Masters WBro Teddy Dickson and WBro Brian Wright.

On the social front, the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity Festival was held at Southport last Saturday and it was again hugely successful and well supported. Last March, the Provincial Grand Festival and Ball were held at Blackpool and attracted a wonderful attendance of nearly 800. May I say that I am already looking forward to next year, when the Festival and Ball will celebrate its 150th anniversary. Brethren, I readily accept that there were shortcomings last March, but these were not the fault of this Province, and I am confident that this Province has the strength and confidence not to allow others to affect our continuing involvement and future enjoyment.

I am pleased to report that during my first year, the greater part of my declared plans for the Province have been fulfilled, thanks to the help and support of so many. I wish to make reference to two very important areas of change.

First, the Province has been restructured and this has meant that my Deputies, Assistants, Group Officers and others are now more deeply involved in our work, resulting in a greater sharing of that work. This was to some extent referred to when I re-appointed my Deputy and Assistants.

As part of the new structure, I have set up a Planning and Development Committee with a wide brief, including the preparation of a five-year rolling plan and programme for the Province, the consideration and review of the evolving masonic population and its impact upon the structure of the Province, and the development of a marketing and recruitment strategy.  Our five-year rolling plan has been completed and will appear on our Provincial Website shortly. I will come back to mention our marketing and recruitment strategy later.

Secondly, our Masonic Halls, and their hard working directors and trustees, will have experienced an upsurge in the help and support coming from the Province. The Masonic Halls, the Groups, the lodges, and the Province together represent Freemasonry in the Province of West Lancashire and each part is dependant and interdependent with the other parts.

For the first time ever, we will place on record our recognition of the status of our Masonic Halls by including their details, along with particulars of those running them, in our West Lancashire Year Book, which is published in the autumn. We have issued a Code of Practice for Masonic Halls, being a reference point and a helping hand for Directors and Trustees. We have held an interactive seminar and meeting with the Chairmen of Masonic Halls, and what a wonderful attendance and serious participation we had at that meeting.

My Assistant Frank Wilkinson has formed a small committee to support Masonic Halls requiring advice and help on legal matters, health and safety issues, financial problems and so on. The Province and all Brethren must support our Masonic Halls, but, in turn, the directors and trustees of each Masonic Hall must never forget that they provide a home for my Freemasons.

I return to our Provincial marketing and recruitment strategy, which represents one of the most exciting and fundamental changes to be introduced in our Province. At the end of last month, I appointed WBro John Wingfield PPrDGSuptWks to the new office of Provincial Membership Officer.

This will be the first step in building upon our successful public relations strategy which has been followed over the past number of years. The overriding  intention is to employ positive and appropriate marketing techniques in the recruitment of new members. In this aim, the Provincial Membership Officer will develop a team of assistants at Group level. In accordance with my policy of involving Group Chairmen whenever possible, the Provincial Membership Officer will consult and work with my Group Chairmen in the appointment of Brethren, who are capable of taking up and developing membership recruitment, at a local level, as part of a coherent and consistent Provincial policy.

The next stage is to identify opportunities in the public domain for the promotion of membership of the Craft, for example, exhibitions and shows within the Province and other similar opportunities, such as Open Days at Masonic Halls. Obviously, all of this must be supported by the Province with the provision of core equipment and appropriate display materials. One of the key elements for the Provincial Membership Officer and his team will be to develop an effective follow up practice and procedure for dealing with enquiries and interest as and when they arise from any of the promotional work mentioned.

I should also mention that our Provincial Website is being re-vamped, so that it is more navigable and user friendly to both Masons and Non-Masons. I feel sure that this will also promote enquiries and interest, which will fall to be promptly and effectively dealt with by the Provincial Membership Officer and his Group colleagues.

I turn to the subject of charity. Our 2010 Festival is gathering even more momentum as we enter the final year. I loudly applaud the generous giving to date, which stands at approximately £4.3 million, and I respectfully call upon all Brethren and Lodges to do whatever they can in this final year and ‘to make a difference’ to those in need and less fortunate than ourselves. In the company of the Chairman of the Festival WBro Stuart Thornber and all his team, I attended the AGM of the Masonic Samaritan Fund Board, which was held here in West Lancashire last month. The Chief Executive of the Fund, Richard Douglas, gave a very moving and impressive presentation of the wonderful and important charitable work being undertaken by the Fund. Brethren, this really is a Charity worth supporting.

Continuing on the subject of charity, I recently attended a presentation in London by our four National Charities and I can tell you that, notwithstanding the current financial climate, they are all prudently and properly prepared to meet and support the Masonic and non-Masonic demands which may be placed upon them. Here in West Lancashire, I can also say that our own West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity is similarly prepared  to meet the challenges that may be placed upon it and so continue our long and proud history in the Province of local charitable support and giving.

The West Lancashire Freemason has been printed and is now available in hard copy, as well as appearing on the Website. WBro Derek Hunt and his team have excelled themselves in respect of this publication and they are to be warmly thanked. Please read it, show it to your family, friends and others, because it makes impressive reading and it is an outstanding public relations and marketing tool. 

As you know, the third limb of my aims and objectives as Provincial Grand Master is for us all to meet the challenge of giving even greater service in and for our communities. The West Lancashire Freemason greatly encourages me in this respect, by reporting on the very many avenues of community service that we are engaged in. Brethren, it is so important that we show by our good deeds and actions that we are indeed good citizens, for by the kind of life we live, will Freemasonry be judged.

I am truly grateful to our Provincial Grand Secretary, WBro Geoffrey Lee and his team for their planning and administrative work not only for this meeting but also for the demanding task of managing the expanded honours list this year. Further, I know that we all enjoy and much appreciate the work of WBro Mark Dimelow and his team in their excellent work of directing our ceremonial activities. Also, we are grateful to our medical and sound teams for what they do.  A special word of thanks to WBro Neil MacSymons who retires today after a sustained period of office in charge of our ceremonial equipment and preparations, first as Provincial Pursuivant and latterly as Tyler.  Thank you to you all.

May I thank the Widnes Group, under the chairmanship of WBro David Redhead which has acted as the host group for this meeting. In particular, and on behalf of all who have attended today, may I thank WBro Michael Roe the Captain of Stewards and his team for the very efficient and effective way in which they have looked after our every need.

In conclusion, Brethren, I will continue to encourage, in this Province, the development of a team approach, so that we create a culture of mutual help and support. Working together, we can leave a legacy of which we can all be proud.