M.W.Bro.
40th Anniversary Portrait
by Rory Lewis
Winner of the Portrait of Britain
2017 – 2020
His Royal Highness
Prince Michael of Kent, GCVO
About your Jewel
The Grand Master's Keystone Fund was created to celebrate HRH Prince Michael of Kent, GCVO, having given forty years of service to Mark Masonry.
The purpose of the new fund is to grant awards to individuals to offer encouragement and financial support with their educational, vocational, and sporting achievements.
You will observe that the design of the Jewel is symbolic. In the centre is a shield across which is represented the upper portion of an arch, built of large white stones; while above and below the arch are the colours blue and red, associated with the Mark Degree.
Over the arch is superimposed a Keystone in silver, completing the arch. Below are the Latin words ‘Lapis Reprobatus Caput Anguli’ — ‘the stone which was rejected has become the head of the corner’ .
In the centre at the top is a representation of a man’s right hand, bearing a Keystone in the manner of a Mark Man presenting his right hand to receive his wages.
At each side stands a figure; that on the left being a workman from the quarries, bearing a Keystone. That on the right being a man wearing the white apron of a mason and holding an axe ready to inflict punishment usual in the case of an imposter attempting to receive the wages of a Mark Master Mason without giving the token.
Wear your Jewel with Pride and take every opportunity to impart the good work of the Mark Benevolent Fund knowing that you are supporting the Grand President of the Fund, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, GCVO.
This is to certify that Your Name Here may henceforth wear the distinctive jewel and button of the Grand Master’s Keystone Fund.
On behalf of
M.W.Bro. HRH Prince Michael of Kent, GCVO, Grand President of the Mark Benevolent Fund, I thank you for your most generous donation.
V.W.Bro. Daniel Heath, P.G.J.O. Grand Secretary
About the Mark Benevolent Fund
It was not long after the official founding of the Mark Degree in June 1856 that the Reverend George Raymond Portal, MA (who became Canon Portal in 1881), devised the idea of a charity separate from that of the United Grand Lodge of England. Portal wanted a charity where immediate aid could be granted, dispensing with red tape and lengthy delays. Although he faced much opposition to the idea, in June 1868 the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons Fund of Benevolence was born, now known simply as the Mark Benevolent Fund (MBF). The aim of the charity is to help poor and distressed Mark Master Masons and their dependants. To date over £7.3 million has been disbursed in grants to individual petitioners.
Traditionally an Annual Festival is held after many years of fundraising by the nominated Province culminating in a Grand Summer Banquet when the results are revealed by the Honorary Secretary. All Mark Master Masons, their families and guests are entitled to attend the Festival Banquet. The first festival at the Mitre Hotel in Twickenham was held in 1879 and raised the sum of £79. Today this would equate to around £55,000.
Today, the Mark Benevolent Fund is proud to have HRH Prince Michael of Kent, GCVO, as its Grand President. The Fund not only assists distressed Mark Master Masons and their families, but also makes donations to other registered charities and worthy causes. These grants have totalled over £30 million since 1868. Meeting on a regular basis, the Worthy Causes Committee reviews all applications whether large or small.
Examples of grants over recent years are £500,000 to 26 Blood Bike charities for new fully equipped bikes and support cars; a renewed partnership with St John Ambulance with a grant of over £3.4 million to help renew their fleet of ambulances, mobile treatment centres and support vehicles; a major capital grant of £1.3 million to hospices throughout England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, to mark the significant contribution made to the Crown and the nation by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; £100,000 to the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital charity for counselling rooms in Woodland House, the new £1.5m neo-natal bereavement centre and £100,000 to the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust towards the purchase of a da Vince XI surgical robot.
It is important to reflect on Canon Portal’s drive, enthusiasm and dedication, remembering that to him it was wrong for there to be any delay in providing assistance to those in need. Canon Portal’s own Latin motto, 'Bis dat qui cito dat' – ‘He gives twice who gives promptly’ or ‘A gift given without hesitation is as good as two gifts’ – became the guiding principle of the MBF We still live by that adage, which is as relevant today as it was when he founded the Fund in 1868.
(Registered Charity No. 207610)
