PROVINCIAL NEWSLETTER

Winter 2011

An occasional newsletter for the information of the Brethren in the Province of Northumberland
Provincial Grand Lodge of Northumberland, Neville Hall, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1SY

The Provincial Grand Master’s Christmas and New Year Message

Christmas and New Year is traditionally a time for family and friends to get together, to catch up and to look forward in a convivial and relaxed way. Not everyone is so lucky.  As the Military Wives so ably demonstrated in the television programmes about the preparations leading up to their very moving performance at the British Legion Festival of Remembrance many, like them, will be separated from loved ones through call of duty or force of circumstance.   Christmas provides us all with an opportunity to give thanks for and celebrate our faith, our family and our friends and I hope that all Brethren in so doing will be ever mindful of the needs of others.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year.

News from Provincial Grand Lodge     Office hours: Monday to Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm

Annual Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge
The meeting held on 29th November 2011 was once again held in the Brandling Suite at the Newcastle Racecourse. 443 brethren of the Province signed the attendance sheet but in excess of 500 must have been in attendance, as extra seating in addition to the 500 seats initially set out was required. A tremendous attendance that not only created a wonderful atmosphere but also demonstrated that the decision taken some four years previously to hold the meeting at the Newcastle Racecourse venue was entirely vindicated.
48 brethren received their appointments to Provincial Grand Rank and 41 received a promotion.
19 brethren were re-appointed to active posts. 20 brethren submitted an apology.
The Provincial Grand Master re-appointed V.W. Bro J.J. Craigs as his Deputy and in re-appointing, his Assistants took the opportunity to thank them for all their work and support in the past five years. He stated his intention, in the very near future, to appoint their successors, namely:-
W. Bros David Lillie, David Melvin, Donald Auld and Christopher Boak.
The Secretary and Treasurer submitted their respective reports. As stated at the meeting in 2010 it was confirmed that the annual subscription would rise to £13 in 2012. The Treasurer also advised on the likelihood of a further increase to £14 effective from 1st January 2013. The Province currently had 5,069 members, a reduction of 220, operating in 169 Lodges, although notification had been received that a further 3 Lodges would close in the near future.
The Provincial Grand Master welcomed guests 23 guests from the neighbouring Provinces of Durham, Cumberland & Westmorland, Yorkshire West Riding, Yorkshire North & East and East Lancashire and acknowledged the Heads of other Orders. He also welcomed the Chairman of the Trustees of the R.M.B.I. W. Bro. James Newman, SGD.
The full text of the Provincial Grand Master’s address can be found on the Provincial Website.
Briefly, the Provincial Grand Master congratulated all those who had been appointed to or promoted in Provincial Grand Lodge. He made particular reference to the new office of Provincial Grand Mentor and his appointment of W. Bro. John Tomlin, PAGDC whose role would be to help Lodges to identify potential strengths and weaknesses in providing the necessary support and guidance to brethren in the pursuance of their individual Masonic careers. He thanked those officers who retired from active Rank particularly his Wardens for the manner in which they discharged their duties.
The meeting was updated on the position of the sale of Neville Hall. All the users, save one, had been accommodated elsewhere and the sale of the property had been negotiated, subject to contract. Provincial Office would in due course be relocated and when alternative premises had been identified everyone would be advised accordingly.
The Provincial Grand Master referred to the next Festival in 2020 for the R.M.B.I. and his intention to co-ordinate his retirement to allow his successor at least five years to establish and attain his Festival target. In the meantime He stressed the importance of regular giving to ensure his successor inherited a significant fund. To this end the Provincial Charity Steward and Almoner would be contacting individual Lodges.
The Provincial Grand Master concluded by thanking everyone for their continued support and all those involved in the hosting and organising of the Annual meeting and the administration of the Province.

Address by W. Bro James Newman the Chairman of the Trustees of the R.M.B.I.
Following an introduction by the Provincial Grand Master, W. Bro James Newman, SGD, Chairman of the Trustees gave a brief outline of the work of the RMBI. The RMBI employed 1,200 staff countrywide with a turnover of £40m. Assets, i.e. the Care Homes, totalled £120m. The age profile continued to increase and the current average entry age to our homes was 87 years. Generally inmates were increasingly frail and 60% had some form of dementia. A greater degree of care was required necessitating a larger percentage of more highly qualified staff, this coupled with constant changes in regulations and less financial support from Local Authorities meant costs of care were
continually increasing with a consequent increase in demands on members individual resources. This was against a background of our own falling numbers, which had halved in the last 20 years. The total number of masons operating under the banner of the United Grand Lodge of England was 210,00 of whom 120,000 were over 60 years of age. There was currently an ongoing £30m investment programme, £5m of which was necessitated by new fire regulations.
Investment in Northumberland amounted to £4m per annum. There were 55 beds at Scarbrough Court. Currently 36 were residential and 19 were nursing beds. Occupancy was not as high as the Institution would like. It was planned in 2012 to convert part of the home specifically to provide care for those suffering dementia.
In conclusion, W. Bro. Newman took the opportunity, to convey the thanks of the staff at Scarbrough Court for the help and assistance they received from the Association of Friends, the Care and Advice Team through the Provincial Almoner and the local Trustee David Southern particularly his ready advice on property issues.

Christmas comes early for the Chairman of the RMBI
W. Bro James Newman, SGD, the Chairman of the Trustees of the RMBI must have thought Christmas had come early when he attended the Annual Meeting as the guest of the Provincial Grand Master. Only two years after the Province exceeded, by £600,000 their Festival Target for the RMTGB in 2009, W. Bro James was presented with a cheque for £250,000 in what the Provincial Grand Master, Peter Magnay described as a ‘down-payment’ towards the next Festival for the RMBI in 2020, the target for which had yet to be announced.
The Annual Dinner which followed saw a record attendance of Northumberland masons and guests witness W. Bro James collect the star prize, a very large bottle of Scotland’s finest export, in the raffle which raised the magnificent sum of £585.00.for the NMCA and ultimately the RMBI.

The Freemasons Grand Charity

www.grandcharity.org

Medical Breakthrough
On 14th November it was announced that trials into a new drug, Alemtuzumab, had been successful – a significant development for those suffering from multiple sclerosis,(MS). The Freemasons’ Grand Charity gave £100,000 towards the research in 2010. The research has been ongoing at Cambridge University since 1991 and this revolutionary new drug has shown to be much more effective than the existing drug in treating early stage relapsing-remitting MS. It is hoped the UK and US regulatory bodies will approve the drug in the next two years.

Urgent!
W. Bro. Gerry Crichton our Accountant for the N.M.C.A. has been underwhelmed by the total lack of response to his request for an Assistant. As previously stated the position will appeal to someone with an accountancy background. Full details are available on the website or from the Provincial Office.  

Diary Note:
The Annual Meeting of Provincial Chapter will be held on Thursday, 12th April 2012 at Newcastle Racecourse commencing at 3.00pm

Sporting Round-up

A record of the Bowling and Golfing achievements of our brethren this year is on the website. New members are always welcome. Those of you who would like join and partake in the 2012 events should contact:
Bowling Society: Secretary Ron Hall at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Golfing Society:  Secretary Michael Anderson, Tel. 0191 2362641

Congratulations:

To: Golfer’s Lodge No.3512 who celebrated their centenary on 31st October 2011
To: those brethren who have recently received certificates celebrating their 50 / 60 years in freemasonry details of which can be found on the website: www.northumberlandmasons.org