Page 18 - Essex Mason Issue 85

Charity

Festival Thermometer Festival 2022 Update
2022

£5m The big £2.2 million Festival thank you
£5m
ith three years to go we have already banked a whopping
£4m
W£2.2 million towards our £5 million target for Festival2022.
It is a magnificent achievement and thank you to all those Lodges,
Chapters, Masonic Orders and individuals who have made it possible.
£3m
The even better news is that all that money has already come back to
Essex to support local charities and Masons and their families in need.
£2.2m
£2m
Be under no illusion Brethren – what’s raised in Essex, stays in Essex – that’s why we still need your
support.
£1m
We still need you to commit to Regular Payments. They can still be spread over five years even though
the Festival finishes in 2022. All we ask is for £2 a week or £8.50 a month for you to qualify as a Festival
vice patron and receive the appropriate jewel.
We still need you to use Gift Aid forms and envelopes. If every Mason in Essex did this, we would
receive £1 million from the tax man over five years – your money coming back to us. There is no reason
not to use Gift Aid if you are a tax payer.
We still need you to transfer money now from your Relief Chest to the FEST2022 one. You will earn 2% interest – why
wait until the end of the Festival. Your money goes to the MCF – your local charity – and as I have already mentioned,
it is being well used across the Province.

The MCF - Use it as your Local Charity

When you donate to the Festival your money is not lost within some faceless organisation – quite the reverse. The MCF is your local
charity and you can influence how they spend the money. Go and talk to your local charities and encourage them to make a grant
application to the MCF with your support.

The MCF have the kind of money that can really make a difference for your charity - a major purchase, funding for a vital member
of staff. That’s Festival2022 in action brethren.

Charity Stewards Conference

We shall be holding the first ever Province wide Charity Stewards Conference at Saxon Hall, Aviation Way, Southend, on Thursday
March 21st. It will be an all-day event – starting at 10.00 - with lunch provided and will be attended by the PGM and provincial
executive.
It is requested that every Lodge and Chapter be represented, preferably by the Charity Steward or failing that, a senior member
of each unit.
The Conference will be an opportunity to bring everyone up to speed regarding the Festival but more importantly will clarify the
position and recent statement by the Pro Grand Master regarding the quality of Charity Stewards and Almoners.

Grand Lodge regards both these offices as vital appointments in every Lodge and Chapter and it is no longer acceptable giving
away the position to a Brother who cannot deliver or handle the duties of that position.
We have many, many, brilliant Charity Stewards but It has been accepted that some will require training if they wish or be prepared
to pass over that office even to younger brethren who have yet to go through the chair.

This and much more will be discussed at the Conference and I look forward to meeting you all there.

W.Bro Colin Felton PADGC colin.felton@essexpgl.org

Lodge of Good Fellowship
Essex 2022 Festival

t The Lodge of Good Fellowship No 276, Assistant Provincial Grand Master W.Bro. Peter Hollingsworth
APSGD received a check for £18,000 for the Essex 2022 Festival Appeal from our Worshipful Master W.Bro.
Patrick Ward, accompanied by Charity Steward W.Bro. Neil McLean PPAGReg.
W.Bro. Peter Hollingsworth said “This was an extraordinary amount and an excellent donation to the Essex 2022
left to right W.Bro. Peter Festival Appeal”. The donation to the Festival has given The Lodge of Good Fellowship No 276 Patron status,
Hollingsworth (APGM), W.Bro Patrick
Ward (WM) and W.Bro Neil McLean the certificate was handed to W.Bro. Patrick Ward and with a little more work is close to achieving Grand Patron
(Charity Steward) status, which is well deserved from all the hard work put in by their members.

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