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PROVINCIAL CHARITY NEWS

A meeting of the Provincial Grand Charity was held at Derby on 1st June 2005. The Chairman, W. Bro. Brian Quartermain, was pleased to welcome the Grand President, R.W. Bro. Graham Rudd and the Deputy Grand President, W. Bro. John Collison to their first meeting in their new offices, and Assistant Provincial Grand Master Bill Barnard to his first meeting of the Standing Committee.

The Treasurer, W. Bro. Geoff Crawford, advised members that the overall funds held by the Provincial Charity had once again risen above £1M. After deducting earmarked funds of £31,000 a further £9,000 was available for grants to charitable organisations during this year.

He reported that the accounts were now fully computerised and that Trust Funds held by the Province on behalf of the Grand Charity were being examined with a view to removing Funds no longer required as a result of death or other causes.

The Chairman together with the Provincial Almoner, W. Bro. Brian Carter, reported that, at the earlier meeting of the Petitions Sub-Committee, one brother had been assisted by the Albert Wilson Fund and that an emergency grant made to a Lodge widow had now been repaid.

The Chairman explained that emergency grants were presently administered outside the committee system, in order to act as quickly as possible, and suggested that, as a result, there was now no need for the Petitions Sub-Committee. He suggested that it be discontinued, along with the Appeals Sub-Committee which had few duties between Festivals or other major fund-raising events. The Committee approved the removal of both Sub-Committees. In the event of urgent need brethren should contact either the Secretary, W. Bro. Graham Sisson or the Provincial Almoner.

The following grants were approved:-
 
bullet £159 to SPARKS (a charity which promotes research into conditions which prevent children being born healthy) to be added to a grant of £141 made by the 1990/91 Masters’ Circle.
bullet £1,200 to Ashgate Croft Special School to fund the purchase of two specialist shower beds for use at the planned new swimming pool.
bullet £250 to Derby Toc H Children’s Camp to assist with the costs of the 2005 Summer camp for deprived inner city children.
bullet£1,949 to Derbyshire Association for the Blind to enable them to purchase a coin counting machine for use following street collections.

The Provincial Charity Steward, W. Bro. John Renshaw, reported on the position with regards to payments by Lodges against the targets set last year and was disappointed to announce that only 20% of the total had so far been reached. It was agreed that a letter should be sent to Lodges which had not yet made a contribution, requesting them to consider doing so.

The Provincial Almoner, W. Bro. Brian Carter, reported that workshops for Lodge Almoners had been held over each of the nine areas of the Province and each Almoner was to be provided with a booklet advising action on applications for assistance from the national Masonic charities.

The President announced that the beneficiary of the proceeds of the 2005 Carol service is to be Derbyshire Crimebeat which will receive 50% of the proceeds with the balance accruing to the Provincial Charity.

The Chairman of the Carol Service Working Party thanked the Chairman for his interest and attendance at recent meetings and presented the Treasurer with a cheque for £500 donated by the Dore Male Voice Choir.

The Committee was updated on the TLC scheme whereby teddy bears are distributed to traumatised children at A&E units. 3,960 teddy bears had been distributed by the end of May 2005 and he anticipated that around 6,000 would be needed during this first year of operation of the scheme.

The Chairman, W. Bro. Brian Quartermain, introduced discussions on the future operations of the Provincial Grand Charity and it was agreed that the recommendations set out below should be placed before the Advisory Committee to be held at Chesterfield on September 7th.

Recommendations:

bulletA guideline of 20% should be used when determining the proportion of available funds to be distributed to non-Masonic charities, subject to individual circumstances.
bulletLodge should be given specific targets for fund-raising rather than broad targets.

Graham M. Sisson
Secretary

 

 

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