Gifts April 2003

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Last updated
20 April 2008

At the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Grand Charity held at Derby on 23^rd April 2003 the following grants were approved :-

	£500 towards the provision of a sensory garden at St. Peter’s Church, Belper, to be added to a similar donation made by Belper Masonic Regalia in memory of W. Bro. Jack Stone.
	£250 to the Derby Toc H Children’s Camp, to assist with the costs of the annual camp for underprivileged children.
	£250 to Help the Aged towards sponsorship for food and wine for Christmas hampers for needy older people.
	£325 to meet half the cost of a reclining chair purchased by Carnarvon Lodge for the late Bro. Barry Young, to be donated to St. Giles’ Hospice in his memory.
	£640 to assist the widow of a former member in completing necessary building works to her home.
	The subscription of one member was met by the Albert Wilson Fund.

The Masonic Music Foundation made the following grants :-

	£1,000 to Holymoorside Brass Band to enable them to buy a xylophone for use by young players.
	£250 to Bakewell Silver Band to assist them in making the trip to the finals of the National Brass Band competition in Dundee for which they have qualified for the first time.
	£284 to the Weston Dancers to enable them to purchase a sectional maypole for transportation to various locations.

Other News

The Provincial Grand Treasurer, W. Bro. Eric Mitchell, reported that the accumulated funds towards the MTGB Festival now stood at between £1.6M and £1.7M.

He had also received the balance of the Carol Service proceeds, totalling over £3,750 and it was agreed that the grant previously approved to the Midlands Air Ambulance should now be released.

The Provincial Almoner, W. Bro. Brian Carter, reported that the two Assistant Almoners had now been appointed; there is one for the North of the Province, W. Bro. Brian Jones of Hope Valley Lodge, and W. Bro. Joe Sim for the South.

The Provincial Charity Steward, W. Bro. John Renshaw, reported that he had now sold 1,976 Festival ties out of an original total of just over 2,000 and 1,876 lapel pins from a similar stock. A meeting of Lodge Charity Stewards is to be held in Derby on 9^th July to discuss ongoing fundraising and its uses.

The Charity Secretary, W. Bro. Graham Sisson, reported on the latest position with approved major grant applications. Confirmation had been received from Ashgate Hospice that the Provincial Grand Charity would fund the new out-patient suite, with appropriate evidence of the contribution of around £30,000 being displayed prominently on the finished building.

An account for £15,300 had now been received from Leonard Cheshire Services in Sheffield for the car to be donated jointly by the Provincial Grand Charity and the May Hearnshaw Charity, and payment was approved.

A number of letters of thanks had been received from beneficiaries including Derby Cathedral, who had recently received the final instalment of the four annual grants of £10,000.

A letter had been received from the early teenage daughter of a deceased former member of High Peak Lodge. She is in receipt of continuing assistance from the MTGB, and the Lodge and the Provincial Grand Charity have recently combined to purchase a viola for her use in the adult section of the High Peak Orchestra.

Her letter reads as follows :-

“Dear friends,

Thank you very much for my Christmas card and all the money that was in it (from High Peak Lodge). I spent it after Christmas at Aflecks Palace in Manchester. I bought a pair of very flared purple cord trousers and some black flared trousers. I also got two very fashionable tops.

I am very lucky at the moment because I also got Christmas money from the Trust in London with which I bought a pair of purple Doc Martin boots and a really nice coat. I stall have a bit of money left which I am saving in case I want something later.

By far the best that has happened in ages is getting my new viola. You should see it, it is very beautiful and sounds a million times better than the instrument that I was borrowing. When I first started to play the viola I didn’t really like it very much because I wasn’t really getting a good enough sound but as I got better at it the sound improved and last November I passed my Grade 5 viola with merit and also by that time I was playing more interesting music. It was then that I decided that I was going to take the viola more seriously and play it in the orchestra. The more I play viola the more I like it and now I have such a lovely instrument I like it even more

I still love my violin (refurbished by High Peak Lodge) and continue to have lessons and learn new pieces but I think I will probably make the viola my main instrument. Mrs Curteis my music teacher is also very impressed with the new viola. She helped me choose it and she is really pleased with the work I am doing at the moment so I will probably enter competitions with both violin and viola this year.

Thank you all for being so nice to my mum and me and thank you for letting me have so many nice things. It would be nice if I could play for you all at the Lodge sometime.”

Graham Sisson
Secretary


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