The new Provincial show stand made a high profile debut at the annual Driffield Show on the 20/21st July. The Driffield Show attracts around 30,000 visitors each year to the small market town situated between York and Scarborough.
Tony Randle the Provincial Membership officer said “we believe this show gives us an ideal opportunity to promote Freemasonry and develop our community engagement. Community engagement promotes interest and attraction, and this interest and attraction ultimately attracts new members."
The stand displayed a new backdrop, discover Freemasonry stand, new pull up banners for Integrity, Friendship, Respect, Charity, and Community engagement.
Other Masonic highlights at the show included:
- The display of a recently purchased (£21,000) Blood Bike by the province for the White Knights charity, supporting and saving the NHS up to £200,000 per year
- The presentation of a cheque for £500 to the “Driffield & the Wolds Create Community” charity, received by the trustees that included the Deputy Lady Mayoress of Driffield. The presentation was made by our PGM & DPGM designates along with the WM & IPM of the local Sykes Lodge 1040
- A "Welcome to Freemasonry" Pack and handouts for the many enquiries received
- A draw for TLC teddies promoting the TLC appeal and engaging with the children and families
- Free YN & ER balloons for children
- The display of a Harley Davison motorbike with the Widows Sons’ leathers
- The separate Yorkshire Air Ambulance stand also displaying “Proudly supported by Yorkshire Freemasons” at the forefront of their stand in acknowledgement of our support
All of the above combined to make the event an enormous success in promoting Freemasonry positively to the General Public. The volunteers who manned our stand are still quietly chuckling at what was possibly the “Quote of the Show” when one member of the public seriously asked “Are you Freemasons vampires”? to which Nick Mitchell (one of our Area Membership officers) replied, "No, we are compassionate humans", to which the visitor replied “Well why have you got a blood bike on your stand”. We still have work to do!
From the show several potential new candidates were attracted along with some unattached Masons who now wish to re-join, and we even had a visiting Mason from Durban in South Africa forging links with our province. So, the moral of the story is Community engagement = Attraction = New Members!
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Tony Randle
Provincial Membership Officer
Email tony@yorkshirenerfreemasons.org.uk
