“Mentoring is a fundamental form of human development where one person invests time, energy and personal know-how in assisting the growth and ability of another person.”
Masonic mentoring is the same – a more experienced brother invests time, energy and Masonic experience in assisting a new brother to enjoy his Freemasonry to the full.
Click here to read a welcome to Craft mentoring, by the Pro Grand Master, Peter Lowndes.
The Provincial Mentor is Stewart Cranage, his role is to support mentoring coordinators and group mentors throughout the Province.
Stewart provides a scheme of training and support across the whole Province.
A summary of his responsibilities are:
Prepare mentoring guidance tailored for the Province using, for example, ideas provided and shared by the United Grand Lodge of England.
Undertake the day-to-day management of the Provincial mentoring scheme.
Support lodges within the Province, including the provision of advice and guidance to lodge mentors.
Deliver training as required, and on request for lodge and personal mentors.
Share best practice between lodges and share experiences, successes and failures with other Provincial Grand Mentors.
Liaise with and be the assigned single point of contact to the United Grand Lodge of England on all matters relating to mentoring.
Encourage events for new Masons, their families and/or mentors.
Outline Duties
a) Maintain an up-to-date database of group mentoring coordinators, their addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for frequent updates and training information, (in compliance with GDPR).
Furthering
your Masonic
education through mentoring
b) Actively pursue those groups / lodges without mentoring coordinators or group mentors, to encourage the adoption of the scheme and to visit and support events to publicise the scheme.
c) Report to the Provincial executive committee as appropriate, with regular periodic returns on mentor numbers, successes, problems and training initiatives.
d) Provide the necessary material to enable the Provincial Grand Master to report on the progress of the scheme and identify the importance and the range of services the Provincial Mentor is able to provide.
e) Organise group mentor training days at least once a year, so that ideas can be exchanged and new initiatives explored.
f) Encourage the establishment of support groups, so that networking is possible between sister or nearby lodges.
g) Encourage lodges to ‘publicly’ appoint their lodge mentor at the annual installation meeting, to encourage the address to the mentor to be delivered and to encourage the introduction of the individual mentor to the candidate immediately after the ‘charge’ is delivered.
h) Assist in the arrangement of new members’ meetings and networking events for new Masons, including for example dinners and informal meetings, where at least one of the senior officers of the Province will be present.
i) Actively promote ‘supported visiting’. This allows new candidates to be accompanied on visits to other lodges, where he can watch an appropriate ceremony, in the company of members of his own lodge.
j) Identifying and sharing best practice in mentoring around the Province, through a combination of the mentoring area of the Provincial website, newsletters, email network, social media or workshops.
k) Development of bespoke Province online and interactive mentoring and training material, including evaluation of the benefits of the Provincial mentoring area on the website, the development of concise guides in particular for initiates, fellow crafts, master Masons, ‘taking office for the first time’ and ‘master elect’.
l) Ensuring that any mandatory rules or regulations that impact on the mentoring programme are communicated and adhered to within the Province.
m) To attend meetings and liaise with representatives of the Ambassador for Freemasonry, Membership and Pathway teams under the guidance of the appointed APrGM.
n) To act as Provincial coordinator and advisor for all mentoring initiatives relating specifically to the Royal Arch; to develop strong relationships and associations between lodge mentors and lodge Royal Arch representatives.