Opening Remarks by the Festival President,
RW Bro. John K Clayton, Provincial Grand Master
I know that the Province is in good heart, and I do detect a buzz of anticipation from around the Province, they need strain at the leash no longer for today marks the start of our 2017 Festival for the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
The Festival system has been in place for many years. Each Province has a Festival every 10 or 11 years raising funds for one of the Central Masonic Charities taken in rotation. On this occasion, our Festival is in support of the RMBI and will come to fruition in 2017, and it may well be because of the rotation that the RMBI will not again benefit from Yorkshire, West Riding for some 40 years.
I have chosen to run this Festival for five years to avoid what I call “Charity fatigue”. I do, however, want us all to have a concentrated effort during these next five years. We as a Province are of a very generous nature and I do look to you for your continued support.
We are of course in difficult financial times which is why I have not set a specific target, unlike other Festivals. Our last Festival, in favour of the Grand Charity, realised £5.2 Million. This Brethren was achieved in better times. However, I am determined to raise as much as we can for the benefit of the RMBI. I know that you, with the support of your families and friends will help me in that quest.
The RMBI needs a steady flow of income to enable them to care for our own Brethren and their dependants, when the need arises. Remember Brethren that we are an ageing population and many of us will, I am sure, require the services of the RMBI in our later years when establishments like Connaught Court will be very attractive to us.
This may be our last chance for a sometime to assist the RMBI in providing for ourselves and our dependents in later life. We do already help the RMBI in funding the Charity, but this Brethren is a special time and an opportunity to give generously to that Charity. I say again that I do not wish to set a target. I leave it Brethren to your generosity, recognising the challenging times we are currently in.
The President then invited VW Bro. Brig. Willie Shackell CBE, the President of the RMBI, and the Festival Chairman, W Bro. John Boyington CBE to address the meeting
Address by the President Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution, VW Bro. Brig. William E Shackell, CBE
RW Provincial Grand Master and Brethren thank you all for your very warm Yorkshire welcome although I did wonder when I was looking at the list of previous celebrities that had trodden the boards of the Royal Hall and was asked if the PGM and I were doing a “Little and Large” double act.
Brethren your PGM has outlined his ambitions for the Festival and I have no doubt that they will be achieved firstly because he isn’t the sort of chap you say NO to and secondly as a Province you have been extremely generous to the RMBI in the past, and you continue to be so supportive of our Home – Connaught Court in York, for which we are most grateful.
On behalf of the RMBI may I start by congratulating all those whom the PGM has invested this afternoon, clearly it is recognition of work done but perhaps more importantly it is an indication of what is expected of you in the future and over the next 5 years I expect many will be involved in the 2017 Festival.
As we all know 2017 is a great year for Freemasonry as we celebrate not only 300 years since the founding of the first Grand Lodge in London but also the 175th anniversary of the establishment of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund, the forerunner of the RMBI, we are therefore particularly pleased that it is your Festival as we know it will be a tremendous success.
Our work has changed considerably in this time to reflect changes in Society, the Law, Needs, Masonry and the Masonic Charities. From 1842 to 2004 annuitants were receiving regular grants from the RMBI to supplement their income. This task was taken over by the Grand Charity but we continue to organise and fund Holidays for the Annuitants through our Association of Friends who run the annual Roll of Honour, to which you can all contribute and the RMBI Ball in London. It is our Homes for which we are best known. Our first was in Croydon and opened in 1850, it was known as the Asylum for Worthy, Aged and Decayed Freemasons, how times have changed but Brethren just look behind me and you will see many Worthy, Aged ……!! This Home remained until 1955 when we moved to a larger home, Harwood Court in Brighton but it was not until 1966 that we started to expand to the 17 Care Homes we now have, with over 1000 residents whose average age is approaching 90 years. 600 of our residents are paying the full fees, the remaining 400 are Local Authority funded and we top up their fees. This is where you money goes, for example last year we supported 32 of your Brethren costing £170k and as you will not be in Festival with us for another 40 years it represents very good value for money.
To assist masons in financial need we set aside £5m in our annual budget, approximately £2.5m comes from Festival income, £1.5m from Legacies and the other £1m from other Masonic donations. Donations from masons go directly to helping those masons and their dependants in need.
Our other expenses such as the pay for our 1300 staff and the building works come from our Investment dividends, Bank interest, Reserves and Residents fees. We are currently 4 years into a 5 year major works programme of upgrading and fire prevention work costing just over £30m, which should see us well set for the future.
We do have other assets but these are all self funding, namely Harry Priestly House in Doncaster for Adults with Learning Difficulties, 120 Sheltered Flats at Harwood Court in Brighton and a Housing Association Complex in St Austell.
We also now have 9 Care Advice Visitors, really important people and greatly valued in the Provinces and also by the other Masonic Charities so much so that both the Grand Charity and the Samaritan Fund are assisting with their funding.
Finally I must mention our Association of Friends’ Committees at each of our Homes, what a tremendous asset, we estimate that in total some 20,000 Masons and their families are involved in improving the life of our Residents. Many of you, I know, are members, thank you for all your support and it is a great comfort to know that long after the Festival is over you will still be around helping the RMBI.
Brethren enough from me, be assured that your money goes to help Masons and their dependants in need to live in comfort and dignity in our Homes. Thank you for all your support and I do hope that you have fun in raising money for the Festival and if you have an event that you would like us to attend, please ask, we will pay our way! Sincere thanks to you all and the best of luck.
Address By The Chairman Of The 2017 Festival Committee, W Bro. John Boyington, CBE
As Chairman of the 2017 Festival Organising Committee I think my first task must be to thank the members of that Committee for their enormous hard work over the past 12 months to enable us to launch this Festival smoothly. I am also most grateful to you, RW Provincial Grand Master and to the Rulers for the support and guidance that you have given during this preparatory phase. Finally I want to extend my thanks to colleagues from the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for their unfailing help in getting our preparations underway.
Although these are the first few minutes of our 5 year Festival the past year has been one during which we have had to prepare the ground and make key decisions for the successful running of the Festival.
Among these have been the decisions about levels of Patronage for individual members, Lodges and Royal Arch Chapters.
As you have already mentioned RW Provincial Grand Master our goal for this Festival is to encourage the generosity of Freemasons within the Province and to try to ensure that every brother has the opportunity to become actively involved with the Festival.
To that end the level of donation set for a brother to become a Steward is £100, equivalent to just £20 per year for each year of the Festival or just under 40p per week. For those who are able to go further, and we hope that many will, the qualification for the title of Patron will be £500. Whilst this may seem a daunting figure it is in fact less than the cost of a pint each week during the period of the Festival.
Individual levels of Patronage are best achieved through regular giving which reduces administrative burden on brethren, on Lodge Charity Stewards and on the system as a whole. This method of giving also enables the Festival, where the brother giving is a UK tax payer, to benefit from the payment of Gift Aid by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Brethren I am sure that you will agree that this is too good an opportunity to miss!
Brethren will recall that at the conclusion of our Festival for the Grand Charity in 2007 our Provincial Grand Master directed that the Steward Jewel could be worn in perpetuity. Mindful of this we have modelled the 2017 Festival Jewel in such a way as to enable it to sit aesthetically alongside that Jewel. Moreover we have kept the fee for the 2017 Festival Jewel at the level set during the 2007 Festival, £25, again a sign of the commitment to ensure that every brother has the opportunity to be involved.
Those who make the qualifying donation of £100 will immediately become eligible to buy and wear a Festival Steward’s Jewel and I hope that we will soon start to see these being worn proudly by brethren across the Province. As with most other aspects of our Festival the centre-pin around which arrangements will turn will be the Lodge Charity Steward and it will be through them that applications for Jewels will be processed.
Turning now to patronage for Lodges and for Royal Arch Chapters these have been set at levels that will be challenging but, we believe, achievable for most Lodges and Chapters. There will be three levels; those of Vice Patron, Patron and Grand Patron with these being set at £1,250, £2,500 and £5,000 for Lodges and £600, £1,200 and £2,400 for Royal Arch Chapters.
Further information on all of these levels of Patronage and on qualifying payments is being made available to all Lodge Charity Stewards.
We will also have the opportunity for brethren to donate to the Festival by having fun! We hope that Lodges, Chapters and Masonic Centres will all look to organise events, the support of which will both bring enjoyment to those involved and much needed support for the Festival.
Finally we have produced a range of merchandise designed to represent this Festival. Much of this will be available immediately after this meeting both here at the Royal Hall and at the Majestic Hotel, all of it is of high quality and is reasonably priced. Later this year, and just in time for Christmas, we will also produce a Ladies Jewel, the ideal gift! I do hope that you will visit the merchandising and information stalls after this meeting to begin to get involved in support of our Festival.
Brethren this is OUR Festival and OUR opportunity to show the generosity of Freemasons across this Province in support of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and their goal of ensuring that no-one who is frail and vulnerable has to move from their home.
I know that you will bring the imagination and generosity of this Province to bear and that you will cheerfully embrace this opportunity.
The Festival is Launched
It now only remains for me, as President to formally launch the RMBI 2017 Festival. I will dedicate myself and the Province to the Festival so as to ensure that my successor can present an amount to the RMBI in 2017 that is worthy of this great Province.
Posted in Charity News, Provincial News, RMBI Festival 2017 on May 17th, 2012
