r
-
rpr
r! :=-i:?-=:=-:r4::rF
:9i+!!,+irffi4fkF;1*4F]:@r:+r+j r;tii)!:!;b\!ttl!i
||h-.rrF-...:::=r:i:=:-.:--s4!e.;:!:i@,4ir4,!i*) *r
I+r::
:-::r-::1:!:.:++e@+i*e*ij.F,ieiii:i#("!.e3,it!r]Mi:iiiiriii:+!:;
Fantastlc Result says the PG\W
qs@i'
#
m
*'
,
by Peter Ricketts
The aim was to raise
one million pounds. A tough target in these economic times. But Worcestershire Freemasons took up the challenge and now, five years later, we were about to learn the result. A fanfare of trumpets, a hushed pause - and then the secret was out. E1 ,621
,926
The astonishing amount was greeted with loud and prolonged applause by the 720 guests attending the Festival Dinner held to mark
the end of the Province's 2011 Appeal in ald of the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys. The setting was suitably
splendid - the sumptuous grandeur of the lnternational Convention Centre's banqueting hall. And the message was conveyed in dramatic fashion. The magic figure was flashed up on a giant screen set high on the wall. tsut this was not the final sum. A few hours later - at Zam he
Guesr cf honour ai the't'estival dinner Jonathan Spence, Deputy Grand Master, anc and his wife Helena
his wife Almudena, are greeted by the Pravincial Grand Master
thinks
- the Deputy Provincial
Grand Master, Robert Vaughan, was handed t74 tn cash by one of the revellers to take the total to
tI
,622,000
And that, said fund organiser Howard Wilson, was the FINAL FIGURE! Well, it was until a day or two later when Howard was given another t1 ,000. And then he was told from various sources that more was on the waY! So the FINAL FINAL FIGURE is It was
El ,632,000 at the announced
Province's annual general meeting by Mike Woodcock, President of the RMTGB. To say the five-year Appeal and the festive evening were a huge success would be the understatement of the Masonlc year and no-one in the Province was more delighted than the Provincial Grand Master himself. For all his enduring passion for Freemasofl ry, Richard Goddard is not a man to go overboard when expressing
his views, more a measured judgment. But talking to him on the Monday after,the superlatives came fast and flowing. "To raise that much is fantastic, staggering " he said. "l cannot believe it. The result is beyond my wildest
dreams!" He then revealed another secret. He did not know the result (sorry, the final figure) of the Appeal himself until it was announced at the dinner. "l'd thought maybe we would reach somewhere between t1 .3 and t1 .4 million ... maybe t1 .5 at a pinch," he sard. "But to raise over t1 .6 million was ... well, l'm lost for words. lt is a great credit to Worcestersh i re Freemasons that even in these difficult financial times they were so generous in their support. Thank you all." Then, having learned of the final final figure at the AGM, he told the mass of Masons: "What a climax! ...An outstanding result! ...1 am very proud to have been President of so successful a festival."
Elgar on song to
go top Elgar Lodge should sing a resounding Land of Hope and Glory when next they meet. There will certainly be a touch of Pomp and Circumstance in the air and Worcestershire's finest ever modern composer would be proud of them. The 24 members raised an amazing t1 ,1 56 per head to finish top of the list when the Appeal 2011 funds were finally counted. All along, Brandwood Lodge had made the running but a final push by Elgar pushed them into second place with t983 per head, and third were Lickey Hills on t853. Total amounts per lodge placed Elmley Castle in continued on page 3