Province of Herefordshire

Author: Marc

  • Ex Services Personnel Breakfast

    Ex Services Personnel Breakfast

    Eastnor Lodge have partnered with Ledbury Rugby Club and ‘Talk Community’ to provide a regular Breakfast Club for ex-services personnel (forces or blue light).  

    This will be launched at Ledbury Rugby Club on Wednesday 7th May between 09:00 and 10:30, with the intention that it becomes a regular fortnightly event.

    Talk Community provides online services to find helpful information and advice, discover hundreds of local groups and activities, and find out what events are happening across the county. https://www.talkcommunity.co.uk

    Aimee Williams from Talk Community commented:

    “I’ve been supporting Ledbury Rugby Club and Eastnor Lodge, who have worked in partnership to develop a new offer for ex-services veterans in the area and I’m very pleased to say that we are soft launching a new Services Breakfast on 7th May.

    The breakfast will be held every other week, and is open to all ex-services personnel, including blue light services. In time, as attendance increases and we understand a bit more about the attendees needs, we’ll be looking to incorporate information sessions, talks and visits from people and services of interest too.

    For now, and as we get going, we’d love for you to join us at the first session so we can connect with other people and services supporting veterans and ex-service personnel and share any thoughts and ideas you might have about how we can develop the offer.

    Please also do invite along any ex-services people you’re working with and/or supporting; they’ll be really welcome (and fed! Important!).“

    Paul Finlay the Charity Steward of Eastnor Lodge commented:

    “We are excited to bring together this partnership for the benefit of ex-services personnel around Ledbury and look forward to seeing what opportunities develop over time.  This further cements our commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant signed by Herefordshire Province in July 2022.”

  • Herefordshire Freemasons Answering the Call from St Michael’s Hospice.

    Herefordshire Freemasons Answering the Call from St Michael’s Hospice.

    2024 Event Support

    During 2024, the Caeruleum Club provided an amazing level of support for events run by St Michael’s Hospice.  This included stewarding car parks and manning checkpoints for various events to ensure that the Hospices fundraising ran smoothly, enabling the Hospice staff and volunteers to focus on the fundraising activities. In total they provided well over two hundred hours of community support at the various events.

    Supporting the Digital Fundraising Campaign

    In parallel, at the Herefordshire Masonic Charitable Association (HMCA) meeting in May 2024, W Bro David Knowles instigated the ‘Call to Arms’ for a Province-wide initiative to raise money for the Hospice’s forty-hour digital fundraising campaign on 28th October.  The Hospice had managed to get match funding and were looking to raise £400,000 to help fund the training and development of their nurses. To accomplish this, they wanted to receive as many pledges as possible before the start of the forty-hour digital campaign on 28th October.

    Call to ‘Alms’

    Following the May HMCA Meeting, W Bro Tim Bridgland-Taylor, the Provincial Charity Steward,  circulated a request to all the Lodge Charity Stewards asking for help in the form of pledges that were to be run through the usual proposition and voting process in Lodge meetings.

    Lodges in the Province did not disappoint. They answered the call, and together with donations from Chapters, the Mark Province and support from the HMCA and MCF a total of £30,250 was raised, which would in turn be match funded by St Michael’s corporate sponsors towards their overall target of £400,000.

    Follow Up Visit.

    On 12th February 2025, the Provincial Grand Master RW Bro Michael Holland, together with W Bro Tim Bridgland-Taylor, visited St Michaels Hospice to see the difference the £30,250 donation was making.  They met with Matt Fellows, Chief Executive and Company Secretary, Rachel Jones, Income Generation, Marketing and Comms Director and Tony Larkin, Fund Raiser. They were able to discuss the impact the service provided by the Caeruleum Club and the donation had made.  After tea they were provided with a tour of the Hereford facility except for the wards and en-route the Provincial Grand Master pointed out the plaque in memory of RW Bro David Bowen.

    The picture below shows ‘L to R’ Rachel Jones, Tim Bridgland-Taylor, Nurse Kelly, Matt Fellows and Michael Holland.

    Matt Fellows, Chief Executive and Company Secretary for St Michael’s Hospice summed up his thoughts on the support received from Herefordshire Freemasons: 

    “The support we receive from Herefordshire’s Freemasons is much more valuable than the total of these funds. Their investment of time and effort at our events and activities in our community enable them to run smoothly and provide for the best possible experience for our wider community of supporters. Further, working so closely with another organisation which is an anchor within our community extends their reach and our own in demonstrating just how critical charities, benevolent organisations, and community actors are to each other and their wider communities.” 

    “Thank you to all of Herefordshire’s Freemasons however it is they support us; we can only continue to care for you and our community because of your efforts.”

    The Head of Freemasonry in Herefordshire, Michael Holland commented: 

    “We were delighted with the response from our members across Herefordshire, both in terms of their generous donations and the time they provided to assist at events.  It does show that the core value of ‘Service’ runs deep across our membership, and we are delighted to be able to assist St Michaels Hospice in supporting our community.”

  • Donation to Herefordshire Veterans Support Centre

    Donation to Herefordshire Veterans Support Centre

    Herefordshire Freemasons recently made a donation to Herefordshire Veterans Support Centre (HVSC) which was match funded by the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

    Herefordshire has a large community of former military service personnel. Estimates show that as much as 25% of the county’s population has connections with the military. Being exposed to events and challenges that can make them more vulnerable to loneliness, social isolation is a common issue affecting the Armed Forces community.

    The HVSC was set up to provide a one stop shop of support and a friendly listening ear for anyone in the Armed Forces community in Herefordshire that may be experiencing issues or requiring support in other areas of life or work.

    Samantha Lewis the Chair of the Trustees wrote.

    “As you may be aware, it has been an exciting 12 months for the HVSC. Our new premises was officially opened by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in October. Since then, we have seen an increase in individuals accessing the support that we offer, increasing from approximately 44 a month to over 200. This means that funding like that provided by the Masonic Charitable Foundation and the Herefordshire Freemasons is now more important than ever, ensuring that we can provide whatever support is needed to our Armed Forces Community.“ “As well as working closely with community partners and signposting to other support networks across the county, we are also offering more groups and activities, such as a new weekly brunch for spouses of serving personnel, funded trips to veterans and range of other initiatives.” “Many thanks once again for your continued support.”

  • Celebrating the life and times of a Well Known Freemason.

    Celebrating the life and times of a Well Known Freemason.

    W Bro Geoff Wilding writes: 

    Two Lodges recently celebrated Burns night.

    The 25th January, a great night for Scots around the world to celebrate the life and work of their national poet, and Freemason, Robbie Burns, and I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to attend Vaga Lodge last evening, which this year happened to fall on the night of the ‘Bard’.

    The Initiation of Bro David McIntyre under the skilful guidance of W Bro Kip Waistell, the acting WM, was an excellent ceremony, however, on this occasion it was the after proceedings that stole the show.

    Led by W Bro Johnnie Walker, wearing his Glengarry side cap, closely followed by W Bro Kip, of Clan Moncrieff, in a kilt and playing the bagpipes, the “Great chieftain o’ the pudding race” was paraded around the dining room before the newly-made Initiate gave the traditional address to the haggis. Quite an introduction to his Masonic career. 

    Hereford based Coningsby Lodge had their Burns Night Celebration on 4th February The event was well supported with forty-three Masons present, plus twenty-four Ladies and seven Gentlemen, including the Provincial Junior Grand Warden, Deputy Provincial Grand Master Designate, Worshipful Brother Stuart Jones and his wife, Wendy.

    Led by the piper, Simon Addison in full Highland dress, the haggis was paraded by Brother Quinn escorting Brother Jackson, who then gave a dramatic address to the haggis, which was highly acclaimed by the assembled diners.

    Following Terry’s excellent dinner of haggis, tatties and neeps, venison bourguignon and cranachan, the Worshipful Master Jason Payne firstly gave a factual but humorous toast to the Immortal Bard. This included a rendition of “Adieu! a heart-warm, fond adieu!”, written by Burns in 1786 as a farewell to the Brethren of St James’s Lodge, Tarbolton, as he planned to leave Scotland. He then thanked those present for their attendance and proposed a toast to them, to which his wife Debbie responded. Finally, he invited all to rise and sing “Auld Lang Syne” having first given a translation into modern English, which brought to an end a most enjoyable evening, during which £308 was raised for the Master’s Charities, Little Princesses and George’s Fund.

  • Echo Aprons Donation

    Echo Aprons Donation

    Royal Edward Lodge based in Leominster, with matched finding from the Hereford Masonic Charity Association, recently donated £1,000 to ECHO, a charity that helps adults with learning difficulties.  

    ECHO is an independent, Herefordshire-based charity with 230 members and over 150 volunteers. Their main office is in Leominster, but their projects run in many different community-based venues.

    Most of their activities are suitable for people with moderate or severe learning difficulties, but they will try to support anyone who wishes to take part in their activities, including those with mental health difficulties or physical or sensory impairments.

    The donation was used to purchase forty-eight aprons of different colours for different types of activities.  Each had “Generously donated by Herefordshire Freemasons” embroidered on them.

    Nic Bullock, Deputy Chief Officer of ECHO, thanked Tim Bridgland Taylor, the Provincial Grand Charity Steward for Herefordshire Freemasons, saying.

    “I want to thank you personally and your organisation for your continued generosity in supporting the work of ECHO. On receipt, I’ll share our plans on how your matched funding will be of significant benefit to our disabled participants.”

    – Nic Bullock, Deputy Chief Officer of ECHO

    Further details about Echo can be found on their website here: www.echoherefordshire.co.uk