2017 Festival Province of North Wales
Help make a child smile
From the Provincial Grand Master
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n behalf of this Province I was pleased to accept the invitation of the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys to arrange a Festival in support of their work. At the outset I must thank the Trust for the tremendous support given to this Province so far and for its excellent presentation at the Provincial Meeting. I am grateful to the Trust for its willingness to produce a booklet, which will be presented to every Brother of this Province, relating its history and explaining its valuable work. In reading the booklet we will all come to realise the great responsibility we have to support this most important of Charities. I say most important because it cares for the children of Masons in so many ways. We cannot allow ourselves to miss this wonderful opportunity. The Festival was officially launched at the Annual General Meeting of the Province in October and you are all aware of the figure I disclosed as our target. I am sure that the Brethren of this Province will again show how prepared they are to support those less fortunate than themselves and those families who can not give their children the advantages they should have. There are many ways in which money can be raised and the Festival Committee will no doubt listen to and advise anyone who has ways or ideas for raising funds. Let us all enjoy this task together. Do not forget to sign the Gift Aid forms and remember, a small weekly sum will amount to a good contribution by 2017.
RW Bro Ieuan Redvers Jones, Provincial Grand Master for the Province of North Wales I may not be your Provincial Grand Master in 2017 but I will certainly, God willing, join in the Festivities and be very pleased to see my successor proudly announcing that the target has been reached, or with luck, exceeded. Ieuan Redvers Jones Provincial Grand Master
Front cover: Louis, a beneficiary since 2006 (see page 9).
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Introducing the RMTGB
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he origins of the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys (the Trust) go back as far as 1788 when Chevalier Ruspini established a school for the daughters of deceased and distressed Freemasons. A scheme for clothing and educating the sons of indigent Freemasons was introduced 10 years later in 1798. In 1982 the separate Girls and Boys charities were merged into the Trust to create a single entity. Today our mission statement is:
To relieve poverty and advance the education of children of a Masonic family and, when funds permit, support other children in need. Petitions – the Main Work of the Trust We help children and young people of all ages to overcome the barriers of poverty and to complete their education. To qualify for support from the main funds a family must have suffered distress (for example from the death, disability or desertion of a parent) that has resulted in financial hardship. There must always be a Masonic connection; usually the qualifying Freemason is the father or grandfather, but in some cases it could be someone else who is a Freemason who can demonstrate that they are bringing up the child or children as their own. We aim to help beneficiaries to receive the education and training they need to
achieve their potential and so succeed in life. Examples include providing assistance with the cost of academic study or with pursuing apprenticeships for practical trades. Children and young people are supported in a wide range of educational environments, including state and private schools, colleges and universities. Financial support can be given in the form of maintenance allowances, school or course fees, computer equipment, music and sports lessons, or grants for educational travel, equipment and materials, and to meet many other educational needs. Support can also be given to top up training wages when these are inadequate, and there is a limited amount of accommodation available for those studying or training for employment in London. Help with school fees may be available, but this is only likely to happen in cases where a child is already at a fee-paying school when the family distress occurs. Fees are not considered if parents have sent their child to a fee-paying school without the financial means to support them. We cannot consider fees for a child to attend a fee-paying school on the basis of academic ability or when the parents are dissatisfied with the state school their child is to attend. For beneficiaries with special educational or physical needs, grants can be given to assist with specialist tuition and equipment. This could be, for example, the purchase of a wheelchair or certain modifications to the family home to improve quality of life. Families with particularly low incomes may also receive Christmas and summer holiday grants to help make the holidays a happy and fulfilling time for all the family.
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Relieving Poverty ‌
Marcus and Isabella
When Tragedy Strikes! Marcus is six years old and his sister Isabella is 11. Their father died in 2001 at the tragically young age of 37. We started helping the family shortly afterwards. Both children receive a termly maintenance allowance and help with the cost of swimming lessons. Isabella is also learning to play the clarinet and the cost of her lessons are paid for by the Trust. We understand that we could be called on for more support over many years. Often a single grant can go on to become a commitment for the child for a period that spans many years. We have never failed in our responsibilities to the qualifying child of a Mason and we need your support if we are to continue our important work. Blake has Downs Syndrome. His father died in 2000 when Blake was only three years old. In 2004 we became involved and started to assist with termly maintenance allowances part of which were used to fund horse riding
lessons. Blake is now 12 and recently started at a new school. We provided a school clothing grant towards the cost of his new uniform and now also assist with specialist tuition. Blake lives with his mother and has a loving, stable and caring environment. His grandfather has been a Freemason for over 20 years; it is because of his membership of the Craft that we have been able to support Blake. Each year we spend in the region of £8.5 million helping young people like Blake. Right now we face a stark choice: to raise more money or to cut back our support for the distressed children of Masonic families. For today’s Freemasons to fail the distressed child of a Masonic family would be unthinkable. We will continue to support these children as long as there is need. Nothing can ever make up for the loss of their fathers but we will do all we can to help these children fulfil their potential.
Will you help us in our mission and support the Trust? 4
‌ Advancing Education This is Blake, a beneficiary of the Trust since 2004.
TalentAid recipient Harriet is one of our TalentAid recipients. Harriet has been in dominant form this year after being crowned English giant slalom champion. She competed in the March 2009 National Championships which were held in Bormio, Italy and claimed a gold medal in giant slalom and silver in the super-g race but unfortunately a broken binding exiting the start gate halted her bid to take a treble in her specialist and favourite event, the slalom. Putting behind that disappointment, Harriet still managed to come second overall. We have been supporting Harriet since 2006. When support was first granted Harriet was already an accomplished junior. From the age of 11 she had been part of the national circuit reaching junior level in alpine skiing in January 2004 where she travelled to Austria to compete in the British Alpine Racing and Skiing Clubs (BARSC) Championships where she won three age group gold medals. Harriet now hopes to compete in the 2014 winter Olympics. We continue to provide what support we can to allow Harriet to achieve her ambition and to go for gold. During 2008, 62 young people received assistance through TalentAid. Five sportsmen and women including an athlete, swimmers and a cyclist are on various schemes for entry to TeamGB each hoping to achieve success at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Harriet
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What Your Support Can Do!
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The Trust in Action Today
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uring 2008 we supported 796 girls and 766 boys at schools, colleges and universities. Many others benefited from grants from our subsidiary funds. In all over 1,730 were helped at a cost of almost £8.5M.
Our Presence in North Wales Last year grants in excess of £28K have been awarded to 19 girls and boys from the Province. In addition, one young person has received grants amounting to almost £1K from the TalentAid scheme. Over the last 5 years we have provided grants amounting to almost £175K to beneficiaries within the Province. Further grants of over £21K were provided through our TalentAid scheme.
Choral Bursaries We also provide bursaries for choristers at many Cathedrals. In 2008, 26 choristers benefited at a cost of £207K.
in North Wales Lifelites was established by the Trust as its millennium project. Now a separately registered charity (No. 1115655) we are proud to continue to provide substantial support for this worthwhile enterprise which brings a little light into the lives of children who are unlikely to survive into adulthood. Lifelites provides education and entertainment equipment at Ty Gobaith, the children’s hospice in Conwy. The hospice was opened in the summer of 2004 and now provides regular periods of respite care to more than 70 terminally ill children and their families. For more information on the work of Lifelites please see www.lifelites.org.
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Making it Happen – Raising the Money
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he easiest way to make a real difference is to take out a monthly Standing Order and sign a Gift Aid declaration. Your money will then be credited to the Festival Account. We actively encourage all eligible donors to use Gift Aid because this enables the benefit of the donation to be maximised. For your payment to qualify for Gift Aid you must pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the tax that the Trust reclaims on your donations in the appropriate tax year (currently 20p for each £1 you give although additional transitional relief will be payable until 2011). Please ensure that you let us know if your tax situation changes or if you change address.
Gift Aid Envelopes Gift Aid envelopes are also available. The envelopes enable the Trust to reclaim tax on donations made through alms collections, festive boards and Ladies’ nights.
JustgivingTM We have teamed up with Justgiving™ to provide an easy way for Provinces, Lodges and individuals to donate especially when using credit or debit cards and to assist event organisers to market their event and encourage sponsorship. Please contact us for details of how to use the Justgiving™ site www.justgiving.com. You can also donate by credit card through Charity Choice following the link on our homepage www.rmtgb.org.
Legacy Giving By remembering us in your Will you can make a real difference to the level of support provided. Legacies are immensely important to our work. Making a Will is a simple but very important step. It is the only way of ensuring that you decide who will benefit from your estate after your death.
Planning an Open Day? Did you know that we have a professional presentation stand, which can be used to illustrate some of the important works carried out by us?
Guest Speakers The 2017 Festival Jewel Please contact your Charity Steward for details of the Festival Jewel and Honorifics.
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We will, on request, arrange for a speaker to attend Lodge meetings to talk about the work of the Charity. Please contact the Fund-Raising Manager, Bro Ray Collings at the Trust on 020 7405 2644 or rcollings@rmtgb.org.
Thank You for Your Support Ellie and Louis are 13 and six. After their Masonic father left the household the children came to our attention and since 2006 they have been receiving termly maintenance allowances, assistance towards music lessons, clothing grants and a travel grant. We will continue to support Ellie and Louis as long as there is a need. Tomas, 15, who suffers from a rare degenerative neurological disorder, has been receiving our support since 2002. The son of a Freemason, Tomas is pictured after winning the Champion Child of Courage for Bravery and Sporting achievements. We recently awarded a grant of ÂŁ8,000 towards a specialist wet room with wheelchair access. Tomas is also an aspiring Paralympian in the sport of Boccia.
“A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child� On behalf of the thousands of children and young adults who are supported by the Trust, the Council record grateful thanks to the Province of North Wales. Your generosity will enable us to continue to provide much needed and life-changing support to those children of our Masonic family who are most in need. Our website www.rmtgb.org contains full details of our work. We rely on your assistance in helping identify cases of need and distress and if you are in any doubt about the support available and the eligibility criteria, please contact us directly.
Tomas
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Their Future in Your Hands
Grand President HRH The Duke of Kent, KG, GCMG, GCVO, ADC, Grand Master President Mike Woodcock, DLitt, ClntMC, JP Chief Executive Les Hutchinson, BA(Hons), MBA, MCMI Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys 60 Great Queen Street London WC2B 5AZ Telephone: 020 7405 2644 Facsimile: 020 7831 4094 Web-site: www.rmtgb.org Registered Charity No. 285836
Mission: To relieve poverty and advance the education of children of a Masonic family and, when funds permit, support other children in need.
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