The Lincolnshire Masonic Charity Association

Transcription

1 The Lincolnshire Masonic Charity Association Minutes of the half yearly meeting held at The Lincoln Masonic Centre on Thursday 9 Th March 2017 Present: Apologies: Rt. W. Bro G. Ives, Provincial Grand Master V.W.Bro W.J. Hockin, Deputy Provincial Grand Master - Chairman. W.Bro J.B. Crutchley, Assistant Provincial Grand master W.Bro R.S. Parsons, Chairman of the Provincial Petitions Committee W.Bro I.M. Pounder, Provincial Grand Treasurer W. Bro. J.F. Warwick, Provincial Grand Secretary W.Bro D.J. Grimwood, Provincial Grand Almoner W.Bro B. M. Goodman, Provincial Charity Steward W.Bro S.J. Swaby, Provincial Assistant Grand Secretary - Secretary 24 Charity Stewards 14 Almoners 9 Other Grand Officers and 5 other Brethren. Apologies were received from: 11 Grand Officers, 17 Charity Stewards, 2 Almoners and 2 other Brethren. 1. Introductory Remarks by the Rt. W. Provincial Grand master The PGM warmly thanked everyone for attending and, although endeavouring to finish by 3.00pm, Brethren were still welcome to ask questions at any time during the meeting. 2. Chairman s opening remarks V.W.Bro Hockin also extended a welcome to everyone present. 3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on Thursday 8 th September 2016 The Chairman stated that the Minutes of the previous meeting had already been circulated and, with no issues raised, they were duly accepted as being a true record and signed by the Chairman. 4. Matters arising from the Minutes There were no matters arising. 5. To receive and discuss the Provincial Grand Charity Steward s Report W.Bro Bruce Goodman began by stating that much in his report dating from January 2016 had been overtaken by subsequent events. Nevertheless the paragraph relating to Gift Aid envelopes was still relevant although happily the number of non-user lodges was down since publication. He has processed in excess of 26,000 envelopes during the period which represents a huge return from HMRC and urged members to continue their

2 use and invited everyone to renew their stock of G.A. Envelopes available on his display table. He also reminded members of the white gloves bearing the Provincial logo on sale at 5.00 each. He made reference to the MCF Community Awards 2017 in which Provinces will be invited to apply for a grant of up to 25,000 to raise the profile of the Foundation within Masonic, non-masonic and charity sector communities to coincide with the Tercentenary celebrations and cited those eligible charities which had been put forward. It is expected to invite the Masonic community, along with the wider public, to play an active part in deciding the size of grant to be given to each charity with grants of 4,000, 6,000, 15,000 and 25,000. The Chairman assured members that all the information on this initiative will soon be published and stressed the need to encourage everyone to vote to decide which charities would receive which grants. He emphasized the wonderful opportunity this scheme provided to engage with the public and encourage them to vote too. He warmly thanked W.Bro Goodman for his reliability and dedication to his work which met with the approbation of all those present. 6. To provide updated information concerning the Masonic Charitable Trust W.Bro Goodman explained that the Foundation had been making grants, including some to the Medical Profession, from its inception and was operating very efficiently. He urged members to visit the MCF website which was full of useful and interesting information for their lodge members. The first MCF committee meeting had been held last December with updates being passed down in a timely manner resulting in a seamless merging of the original four Main Charities. The PGM was pleased to add that everything was working extremely well after such an efficient changeover and members of the Executive Committee, which deals with Masonic and non-masonic grants, attended training sessions. 7. Any Other Business The Chairman, in responding to a question from the floor concerning Webinar, stated that work on this on-line conferencing facility is continuing and W. Bro. Goodman said he believed it could have many applications in the Province. 8. Chairman s Closing Remarks The Chairman proceeded directly to the Provincial Charity Committee meeting. W.Bro. Stephen J. Swaby, PGStdB Prov AGSec Signed... Dated... V.W. Bro W.J. Hockin, Chairman

3 Provincial Charity Committee Minutes of the half yearly meeting held at The Lincoln Masonic Centre on Thursday 9 th March 2017 Present: Apologies: Rt. W. Bro G. Ives, Provincial Grand Master V.W.Bro W.J. Hockin, Deputy Provincial Grand Master - Chairman. W.Bro J.B. Crutchley, Assistant Provincial Grand master W.Bro R.S. Parsons, Chairman of the Provincial Petitions Committee W.Bro I.M. Pounder, Provincial Grand Treasurer W. Bro. J.F. Warwick, Provincial Grand Secretary W.Bro D.J. Grimwood, Provincial Grand Almoner W.Bro B. M. Goodman, Provincial Charity Steward W.Bro S.J. Swaby, Provincial Assistant Grand Secretary - Secretary 24 Charity Stewards 14 Almoners 9 Other Grand Officers and 5 other Brethren. Apologies were received from: 11 Grand Officers, 17 Charity Stewards, 2 Almoners and 2 other Brethren. 1. Chairman s opening remarks The Chairman proceeded directly to the agenda. 2. Minutes of Previous meeting The previously circulated minutes of the meeting, held on 8 th September 2017, were duly proposed, seconded and accepted as a true record before being signed by the Chairman. 3. Matters Arising There were no matters arising. 4. To receive and discuss the Provincial Petitions Committee Chairman s Report W.Bro Parsons rose and referred to his previously circulated report for the period ending 31 st December He pointed to a slight increase in cases (11) in which the committee had assisted during the period including several urgent cases to bridge the gap until the relevant charity could act. The Chairman thanked W.Bro Parsons for his quiet and efficient work behind the scenes enabling recipients to receive their grants very quickly.

4 5. To receive and discuss the Report of Provincial Grand Treasurer (previously circulated) W.Bro. Pounder, in referring to the New fund, pointed out that the hugely successful Sri Lankan orphan (Restricted) fund is becoming depleted and had only about eighteen months left to run but the Unrestricted fund was building nicely. Letters had gone out to Lodges for nominations for grants from the NPBF to worthy local charities and applications were starting to come in. The Old Benevolent fund for dependants and brethren is doing well with Investments rising steadily. The PGM thanked W. Bro. Pounder for guiding us so well over the years and was pleased to announce that he would remain a Trustee. He wished him well for the future and anticipated a smooth transmission to W.Bro Steve Hallberg - the Provincial Grand Treasurer Elect. 6. To receive and discuss the Provincial Almoner s Report W.Bro Grimwood had nothing to add to his comprehensive report except to say that, since its publication, he had received many requests for the 'Lincs' magazine to be provided for the widows. To distribute magazines to c. 1,000 Widows would obviously pose an unjustifiable strain on resources. However he did suggest Brethren might return their magazines (once read) to their Lodge Almoner for redistribution to their widows. He also referred to the new Visiting Volunteer scheme in which volunteers in each Province (7 for Lincolnshire) would receive full training in every aspect of filling out applications. Work is already in progress in Lincolnshire and is expected to be rolled out over the next two years and fully operational in The PGM reported that the scheme had been successfully piloted elsewhere and found to work well. 7. Any Other Business & Confirmation of the Date of the Next Meeting In response to a question from the floor it was confirmed by the Chairman that the 'Victor Donaldson' fund tasked with supporting RMBI houses - is still in operation. There being no further business to discuss, the Chairman gave notice that the next meeting will be held at the Lincoln Masonic Centre on Thursday 14 th September 2017, when it was hoped to host Andrea Welch, a member of the Masonic Support Committee. 8. Closing Remarks of the Chairman and the R.W. Provincial Grand Master The Chairman warmly thanked members for attending and for contributing to the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey home. These sentiments were echoed by the PGM who also thanked the DPGM for his efficient chairing of the meeting which, with no further business to discuss was closed at 2.55 pm precisely.

5 W.Bro. Stephen J. Swaby, PGStdB ProvAGSec Signed... Dated: V.W. Bro W.J. Hockin, Chairman