Ilkeston Masons

Provincial Grand Lodge Of Derbyshire AGM – Back In Business!

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 10:33:00 +0000

Saturday 7th of August 2021 marked an important and most welcome milestone in Derbyshire Freemasonry with the Annual General Meeting being held at the Grange in Derby.

The lockdown had brought Freemasonry in Derbyshire to a halt but slowly and surely the Province is waking up with regular meetings recommencing. The first Annual General Meeting since 2019 was well attended – members were clearly delighted to be able to meet each other again and witness an excellent ceremony, as always under the confident and watchful eye of Ravi Kumar-Sahnan ( Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies).

The new team will have a busy year – with some 180 candidates waiting to come on board there will be lots to do.
To enhance the day, there were a good number of distinguished guests from other Provinces as well as heads of orders in Derbyshire, and an friendly and very enjoyable festive board rounded the day off beautifully.

Continue to read the full article on the Provincial Grand Lodge Of Derbyshire website here.

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Flying High For Charity

admin — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 11:46:19 +0000

Saturday 14th August saw Bro Adam Parsons flying high for charity. Bro Parsons, an Entered Apprentice of Dale Abbey in Erewash Lodge no 5603 donned his flight suit ready to jump from a plane at Hibaldstow Airfield near Scunthorpe raising money for charity.

With the tandem jump very nearly being called off due to high winds over the airfield, it was looking like being rearranged for early September. Luckily the situation was assessed and the jump could go ahead as planned.

The two charities being supported by Bro Parsons were “Forces in the Community” and the MCF (Masonic Charitable Foundation), a total of £660 plus gift aid being raised so far! Donations are still coming in.

Forces in the Community is a charity devoted to helping ex-military veterans, reservists and their families within Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire from their base in Beeston.

Their primary aim is helping ex-service personnel settle back into civilian life after their career within Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. With support which includes:

Finding employment
Welfare and benefits
Housing
Mental health and counselling

Forces in the Community holds a special place in Bro Parsons heart. He first approached them around 7 years ago after struggling to adjust to civilian life. It later became apparent that some events Bro Parsons was involved in while serving needed to be addressed. Forces in the Community gave Bro Parsons the skills and confidence to tackle these memories, to revisit and process them in a way that being on operations doesn’t allow.

The centre in Beeston became a safe place for Bro Parsons. A place where he could nip in for a cuppa and pinch a biscuit or two! The help didn’t stop there. Sadly Bro Parsons father passed away in 2014 and the charity stepped up to the plate again by offering support and guidance in planning the funeral. A Standard Bearer was arranged to give his father who was also a Veteran the send off he deserved. Three years ago an opportunity for a career change appeared and CV writing help and interview techniques was offered.

This is the second extreme sports fundraiser Bro Parsons has taken part in for Forces in the Community. This is his way of giving back to a charity that he owes so much to.

Total raised at this point for Forces In The Community stands at £345 plus gift aid.

Bro Parsons also wanted to split his fundraising by also accepting donations for the Masonic Charitable Foundation, and a total of £315 plus gift aid has been raised so far and will go towards the Derbyshire 2025 Charity Festival.

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Teddies for Loving Care find a new home

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 11:36:49 +0000

Treetops Hospice in Risley Derbyshire, provides nursing care and emotional support for adults with life-limiting conditions, those who’ve been bereaved, and their families.

Treetops understands how difficult this last eighteen months has been on the younger generation, especially if they’ve experienced a significant bereavement.

The Children’s and Young Peoples’ Counselling Service has seen an increased level of trauma in young clients who have experienced a bereavement. Being in isolation, not having family and friends around, or being unable to do our usual cultural norms for saying goodbye at funerals, has increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression and sometimes panic attacks. All of this can affect sleep, concentration and self-esteem as well as a child’s ability to process their grief.

To help with all of this, the Children’s Counselling team are developing therapeutic ‘Calming Kits’ for clients. The kits help them to develop a set of tools and increase confidence in their ability to reduce their anxieties themselves.

Derbyshire Freemasons were keen to help with this initiative by donating Teddies free of charge to Treetops so they could be included in the kits. They are usually given to distressed children to help comfort them when they are admitted to A&E.

Neil recently took over the co-ordination of the Freemasons Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) scheme throughout the County from W Bro Neil Hartburn (who’s stewardship had seen over 60,000 teddies distributed free of charge to hospital A&E departments in Derbyshire – a fantastic result). Nationally the Freemasons have donated over 3 million Teddies!

Thanks to a suggestion by a fellow Freemason, Neil visited Treetops with his wife Alison and delivered a good quantity of Teddies which have been included in the Calming Kits, the first time they have been used to support a Hospice.

Jules Kirk, Therapeutic Services Manager and Head of Children’s Services said:

“We are incredibly grateful for the kind donation of the TLC Teddies from the Derbyshire Freemasons. We will be incorporating them into our unique Calming Kits, centred around using the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.

“The kits include something physical that clients can use to help them calm down at times when they are feeling anxious, stressed or starting to panic. This can help them to feel more in control of their body and mind.”

The photo shows L to R, Alison Tomlinson, Jules Kirk (Therapeutic Services Manager) and W Bro Neil Tomlinson. Jules and Neil were happy to talk about the scheme on the video below!

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Freemason Bikers From Derbyshire Give Matty A Lift

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 08:29:40 +0000

Members of the Derbyshire Motorcycle Lodge joined other bikers from the Widow’s Sons which is a biker organisation for Freemasons to make a dream come true for 16 year old Matty Hatton, a young man from Mountsorrel.

Matty is undergoing palliative care for relapsed brain tumours and is obsessed with motorbikes, something which came to the attention of Freemason bikers who with other Bikers had previously turned up at his home in their hundreds on their bikes as a surprise. The Widows Sons also organised, funded and escorted the family to London for an overnight trip.

His mum Alison said: ‘The support is so important because it allows us to make memories.’

On Saturday 3rd July, the Widows Sons were again in action to surprise Matty – this time with a helicopter trip for Matty and his family. The appeal went out to Freemason bikers, and the cost of the trip was collected from various Lodges as well as Chapters of the Widows Sons within the day!

One of the members then had the idea that they could use the local school field to give Matty an extra boost by spelling out his name with motorcycles to be seen from the air. The invitation went out across the country and members of the Widows Sons from a wide area came along – there were even enough bikes left to form a square and compasses!

Flying over, Matty managed to take a few snaps with his own camera but said.

‘I was too busy looking at everything to concentrate on taking pictures.’

His dad Steve was in pain as his wife and Matty’s mum Alison was squeezing his hand so hard in a combination of fear and excitement, while Matty’s sister Molly was just admiring the view.

The day was a complete success. Everybody who took part including those behind the scenes had a fantastic day helping to create special memories for a special family.

Original Article Source:

https://www.freemasonrytoday.com/more-news/provinces-districts-a-groups/freemason-bikers-from-derbyshire-give-matty-a-lift

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Rutland Lodge Donation to Everyone Eats

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 08:47:10 +0000

Brethren of Rutland Lodge 1179, help the Everyone Eats campaign and Foodbank with a donation of tinned food, boxes of cereal, toilet rolls, drinks and various other sundries. W.Bro Daines pictured, delivered the items to the Foodbank at Kirk Hallam Community Hall in Ilkeston.

About Everyone Eats

Tackling food poverty and social exclusion in Ilkeston one plate at a time.

Not everyone has access to a network of people they can call on if they are feeling alone. Social isolation affects many people from all walks of life, of all ages for many different reasons and is proven to have a negative effect on our mental heath.

Food poverty is sadly something which affects many local families as well as individuals. Food banks and government assistance only goes part way to fulfilling the food needs of those affected.

Everyone Eats was established to try and address these issues by getting members of the community together for events, open to all, centered around good company, music and full plates!

https://everyoneeats.org.uk/

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