Provincial Grand Lodge was held on 11 May at York Racecourse, and marked the Launch of Festival29.

A first in this Province, investitures of Officers were witnessed by family and friends during a "called off" session of proceedings.

The RW Provincial Grand Master addressed the assembly.

 “It is obvious that different audiences demand a different message and let’s face it you can’t get a less traditional audience than we have today for our Provincial meeting. This is a meeting when we can come together to celebrate and recognise the achievement and contribution of so many, over 120 in fact, and to highlight one or two things for the future.

When I took over this role in 2022, I said that change would be the order of the day and change there has been and further change there will be.

I am sure you will all be familiar with the analogy between organisations, especially those which have a long history like Freemasonry, and super tankers where, when you want to change direction, you have to signal your intention well in advance. So, things are changing, quicker than they were but still not at warp speed, a phrase that Star Trecker’s will be familiar with. But, as a Province, we will continue to champion change to ensure that we enjoy our Freemasonry, and that our families are an integral part of that enjoyment.

United Grand Lodge is pursuing a change of direction and pace at a rate not seen before and this Province is certainly up with the curve and in instances ahead of it. What I won’t do today, given our audience, is to spell out all those changes, some of which are merely internal administrative matters, but I will pick out some which I hope are of relevance to all here today.

The most obvious is to make it truly clear that we are a Masonic family. Masons, whether men or women, and there will be some of our visitors who are members of the Order of Women’s Freemasonry or Freemasonry for Women, inevitably go off to their meetings alone, the important thing we must remember, is that behind us all are those that support our membership, a fact which is very evident today.

One of the emphases which has emerged over the years is that Freemasonry must be fun. If it isn’t why would any of us want to do it.

Part of having fun is being able to share your enjoyment with others. I think I can reasonably assume that, whilst you may not yet be rolling in the aisles, it is fun to be a part of today, even if only to marvel at the bling and for some to speculate on what the big sword is for, but I will come to that later!

You have heard from Les Hutchinson CEO of the Masonic Charitable Foundation and Howard Wilson Chairman of the MCF Fund Raising Committee, about its role and how its considerable resources support both Masonic and non-Masonic activities.

This is relevant so please let me just stick with my theme of families and Freemasonry for a moment.

It is a fact that not everyone is dealt a good hand in life, or even if you started out with one that something doesn’t come along to spoil it. Illness, loss of a partner, loss of income and other adversities can affect us all. These events are unpredictable and devastating and when they happen is when family becomes important. I want you to leave here today in the knowledge that your family extends beyond what you may currently think of as “family” to include your Masonic family. So please go home with new friends and a bigger family than when you arrived.

A momentous change of emphasis for any Province is the launch of a festival, and today we launch ours– so in that time worn phrase, I now declare Festival 2029 duly open. This will run until May 2029, during which time we will raise as much as we can for the Masonic Charitable Foundation to enable it to support our members and their families, as they have done in the past and will continue to do in the future.

Something that I was very aware of when I joined Freemasonry, fifty years ago this December as it happens, was that a festival wasn’t just about members coming together to raise funds but families as well. When a Brother pledges his contributions, hopefully on a continuous giving basis, he is entitled to become a steward of the festival and sport a jewel. Historically in other Provinces, family members were invited to contribute and secure a brooch of the same design, and we are exploring doing this at the moment. If as a family member you feel able to pitch in and contribute, as we say in part of our ritual your donations “will be thankfully received and faithfully applied.” We hope it won’t be necessary of course, but it might just be that it is you or your family that come to rely on MCF at some point.

You will I am sure find it of interest that since our last Festival, which raised £1.8 million, the Province has benefited to the tune of some £3million, which shows just how much we need to fully support MCF. In 2022 – 2023 alone we have received 114 grants to support our Masonic community amounting to £305,000 whilst twenty-five local charities have received £106,000. We rely on MCF to “see us right,” along with charities within the Province which we support, so now it’s time to “do right by MCF.” It’s called payback time!

Other things that we have been doing to involve families include the celebration of a Brother’s 50 year, or perhaps 60 or 70-year, membership. Lodges have increasingly turned these events into a family one where, in something akin to the old television programme of “This is Your Life,” the “victim” is quizzed on his life and times and often, under interrogation, reveals facts and stories which amuse, enthral and at times astound! This is a growing occurrence and much like today we open our doors and have fun with our families.

You might also have accompanied someone today who has “nipped out for a quick blood test.” Not something that you might have thought was a regular occurrence at a Masonic meeting but, courtesy of our own Provincial Charity, for the last few years, we have made available a PSA test facility. Today some 120 plus Brethren have attended for screening and, whilst we hope that all are found to be in good shape and “in the green”, if there are any that could benefit from further investigation then our efforts will have been worthwhile.

Something else that I do need to trumpet for all to hear is the recent creation of a new Lodge, the Cornerstone Lodge, which has been created with those in mind who have recently become Freemasons. The Province is grateful to Tony Stevenson for taking up the cudgels over the last eighteen months to help bring the new Lodge to fruition and to Steve Walker whose brainchild it was to create a focus for new and young Freemasons in the Province. This new Lodge shares in our commitment to involve families, a theme which is also at the heart of our Biker’s Lodge, the Widows Sons [ask someone for an explanation of where the name comes from if you don’t know]. I have never been to a normal Lodge meeting before where there were over 450 people present, until last summer. At the summer meeting of the Widow’s Sons some two hundred plus family and friends came. They socialised while we went about our Masonic business and then we all came back together for an amazing meal and a “party” including a Blues Brothers Tribute act – now that is fun!!

Outside the Lodge room we have a theatre club and a walking group, both involving our families and with the latter offering an opportunity for “family of the four-legged variety” to become involved. We haven’t gone as far as inviting canine companions to meetings, well not so far!

In addition, of course, you will, be aware of local lodge events where families are involved and long may these prosper and indeed grow. We expect these to increase significantly as Lodges and Chapters find ways to support Festival 2029.

One last item on the family front is a mention of Connaught Court. For those who don’t know, this is our Masonic Residential Home in York, which it is true to say passes every test of excellence for those who need care. Each year to assist with its operation it holds a summer fayre, which this year it falls to me to open, on Saturday 8th June. It is a fun day out and is the place to be seen, so I hope that you will join the usually large gathering and enjoy a day out, in what we can only hope will be summer weather, and witness the Provincial Grand Secretary flipping burgers and the Provincial Grand Registrar plying the beer!!

Just a few words now specifically for the Brethren if I may.

The address at the Provincial meeting has traditionally been one of, this is what we have done, coupled with this is what we are going to do. As to what we have done, courtesy of Chris Ansell our Provincial Communications Officer, we are very well served with details of what has and is happening across the Province via the newly introduced News Sheet, plus of course the Yorkshire Mason, as the extended publication. Our Provincial website provides information virtually as it happens and is a vital source of information. I am bound to say it would be even more effective if more of you took time to register and access it!

Coupled with these forms of communication, however, is that we have the capacity to contact all those who have an email address and of course you will know that we do! It is therefore enough to say, you know what is happening but, there are inevitably a couple of things to highlight.

Membership is thankfully increasing as Lodges look to finally emerge from the impact of Covid-19, with new members becoming an ever-increasing occurrence. There is evidence that these members are giving rise to further new members, a domino effect. This is the way it has been traditionally, so keep it up. Our growth in members is also assisted by our own media campaign, in conjunction with that from Grand Lodge. I can attest to the fact that we have one of the most effective membership teams of any Province and we owe them all our thanks for working tirelessly behind the scenes, by making sure that those who wish to join our ranks are able to access the right information, receive encouragement to find the best-fit Lodge and then see that they are handed over to the care of their Brethren to enjoy their membership, and then of course for their families to become part of their new found interest.

Behind the scenes there are some changes to the way the Province supports Lodges and Chapters. Three areas, innovatively named North, Central and South, are being established from today to ensure that there is help closer at hand when needed in a Province which spans 3300 square miles!! Watch for more information on this over the next few weeks. In particular watch for the introduction of our Provincial Support Officers. Each Lodge and Chapter will be assigned someone who will assist them to adapt to what we know is the rapidly changing landscape of Freemasonry. Under the day-to-day supervision of Mark Iveson and Hiten Thaker we hope that you will benefit from help by your Support Officer. Note it is “support” and, whilst you will have a name in the frame to assist you, they will do so when you request help, so please see them as a friend.

We are also heavily involved in our local communities; in some instances, we are seen as almost an additional emergency service. Lodges, Chapters, and individual members give of their time and resources to local community good causes. You have seen this morning how we celebrate this involvement by awarding the Kirwan Award annually to the Lodge that has been independently judged to have made the most significant contribution to its community from those that have thrown their hat into the ring. Rest assured there are many hats considered, and all are worthy, but you will appreciate that where there is one trophy only one emerges triumphant, but this does not mean all are not worthy of acknowledgement, and all are. Importantly not carrying off the trophy does not diminish effort as Lodges pick up and carry on supporting as they always have and will do, because that is what Freemasons do!
What has become apparent since we introduced the Kirwan award is that by recognising Lodge and Chapter collective effort it leaves those individuals who “went it alone” out of the running. For the first time, therefore, we made a personal award, once again crafted by David Kirwan, to recognise an individual who has been an example of “service above self.”

Having acknowledged the recipients of the awards, can I also ask you to acknowledge the skill and time that David Kirwan has spent creating our Community Engagement Trophies. All are spectacular, but if you haven’t seen it close up make sure you look at the Model Lodge Room which is astounding.

In concluding, yes, it’s almost over! I do need to say thank you to a number of people. I will refrain from the adopting the response so frequently heard on the radio when a contestant goes through every family member, work colleague, distant relative, plus the dog if they have one, and anyone else who knows me.

My thanks go to our guests from neighbouring Provinces, and the Heads of Other Masonic Orders who have joined us today. To Les Hutchinson and Howard Wilson from the Masonic Charitable Foundation for providing us with an insight into its impact, not just for Freemasons but in the wider sphere.

To all those in the Province who have worked to make today possible whether ceremonially, administratively, or logistically. Their individual and collective involvement throughout the year is vital to our success. So many thanks to Bill Glanville and the Secretariat Team, to Karl Ward the Provincial Director of Ceremonies for the ceremonial and related activities you have been involved in or have just witnessed, and many more who I won’t name, but who have contributed, you know who you are and so do we!

Congratulations of course to all those who have received honours today and to those who because they can’t be here, have received them none the less but at a distance.

We come, however, to the point where I must ask our visitors to leave us for a brief time while we bring our proceedings to a close in a short traditional private ceremony. I did say that I would come back to the big sword! If you stay, I am afraid I would have to ask the Provincial Grand Sword Bearer, for which you can read wielder of the sword, to step up and make sure that only those who can be present are present. He is particularly good at his job!!

Thank you for coming today and I hope that you have enjoyed the day so far, and that those of you who have booked to stay for a meal enjoy that as well. This is our first attempt at family involvement, and we would appreciate feedback, whether good or bad. We hope it is something you might feel able to experience again but feedback will be vital in guiding future developments.

Many thanks to you all for enduring my comments. I hope that at least some have given you something to consider and, as I say, subject to any feedback we may receive about whether you enjoy the day, I hope this becomes a regular feature of our annual meeting.”

The Kirwan Awards 2024

“At last year’s Provincial Grand Lodge meeting I had much pleasure in presenting Lennox Lodge with the annual award for Outstanding Service to the Community. At that meeting it was recognised that the format of the award made it difficult for the judging panel to fairly compare applications from individuals as opposed to those received from a Lodge or Chapter. I therefore requested that from this year there should be two separate awards – to be known as the Kirwan Awards. Named after David Kirwan from Yarm Lodge who has brilliantly crafted these wonderful carvings.

The Provincial Support Group for Community Engagement has the specific remit of supporting our local communities.

Under the guidance of Les Kirby we have embraced the Pro-Grand Master’s plan of: “Cementing our reputation as a force for good in our Communities and Society at large as a thriving organisation that people aspire to join”.

We have created a Community Engagement Toolkit to assist Lodges in developing their community activities which has been adopted by UGLE as good practice. I hope that all our Lodges and Chapters will put it to good use.

Freemasonry is about fun and enjoyment, about camaraderie and making lasting friendships, it is without doubt a caring organisation and we can demonstrate this by actively looking to support our local communities and being actively involved in them. Involvement in many instances is as important as providing funding.

I would like to personally congratulate today’s winners and runners up and remember there are no losers in this award process as every application demonstrated the true colours of Freemasonry. I also thank the adjudicators for all their hard work and endeavour in arriving at the results – an extremely difficult task given the quality of the submissions.

And the winners of the awards are:

Ayton Lodge

– for their work and support for local groups working with children. Projects included the refurbishment of the Guides storage facilities, funding for Xmas hampers for needy children and financial support to employ a professional coach to develop the skills of promising juniors at their local cricket club. The Lodge have many members who volunteer their time at various local organisations including an 88-year-old Brother who dedicates a lot of his spare time to the running of the local community centre. Lodge members also provided hands on labour in repairing the car park for the local Women’s Institute

Ashley Tyson

- from Scarborough Lodge – Ashley has opened up facilities at his farm, free of charge, for use by local charities and organisations. In particular he endeavours to support disadvantaged children and their families. The creation of a new community farm / allotment area allows people with varying degrees of disability to access their own little growing space and gain satisfaction at what they have achieved. Additionally, he is a great supporter of ex -veterans with mental health issues who regularly get together on the farm to support each other through growing produce to sell in local shops.”

Investiture Photographs are available for sale in support of Festival 29.