| A Festival
is a fund raising activity spread over a period of time –
usually about 5 years. The Grand Master, HRH the Duke of Kent chooses
a Province every year to support a Masonic charity as part of a
rolling programme. Middlesex usually gets selected to run a Festival
every 10 years or so. It is our turn now and we have been asked
to support the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution until February
2009. |
| So what does the RMBI do? |
| It provides
care services for elderly and infirm Freemasons and their dependents.
They do this through 17 Residential Care Homes in England and Wales
and by providing pastoral care to those living in their own communities.
Incidentally, they look after around 17 or 18 Middlesex residents
each year with countless others receiving support while living in
their own homes in Middlesex. The RMBI is a hands-on charity with substantial weekly overheads. Therefore, to assist cash flow, it is better to donate smaller regular payments rather than wait until a big sum is raised before making a donation. All Masonic Charities are currently suffering a 20% drop in support from Freemasons. The RMBI is the hardest hit of all. They need our help now. |
| Our prime objective is to get every Lodge involved in supporting the RMBI |
| This is a ‘no pressure’ Festival. There is no financial target. No arm twisting. All we ask is for the Brethren to give what they can afford. Naturally, we would like all Lodges to qualify, of course, and many already have but there are still some that have donated very little. In fairness, there may be good reasons for this. But, whatever the reasons, we would like all Lodges to support our RMBI Festival. |
| How you can get involved |
| DONATIONS The best way for Brethren to get involved is to take out a Gift Aid Donation – either a Regular Payment Promise or as a Single Donation. If you are a UK taxpayer, these attract over 28% tax reclaim from the Inland Revenue increasing the value of your donation. Every penny raised this way goes to the RMBI. |
| FESTIVAL
HONORIFICS The Festival honorific system is the accepted method by which the RMBI and the other Masonic Charities say ‘thank you’ for your donations. The easiest way for an individual to qualify for an honorific, such as Steward, is to make a 5 year Gift Aid Regular Payment Promise. It works out at less than £1 a week! At the other end of the scale, to be a Grand Patron costs less than £4 a week over 5 years. Details are on the display posters in this Centre. For a Lodge to become a Steward contributions must reach £5,000. It may seem a lot, and it is, but when you add up members’ donations, alms collections, raffles and other fund raising events it soon mounts up. Lodge honorifics can be displayed on your Summons. |
| THE
FESTIVAL JEWEL This is the Festival Jewel. It has the personal coat of arms of HRH Prince Michael of Kent, the Provincial Grand Master. It is unique and was approved by HM the Queen. The Jewel, which is set to be a collector’s item, is available to all who achieve an honorific and costs just £10. It is important that we buy and wear our Festival Jewel because the profit on sales helps defray the cost of running the Festival. Secondly, it is probably one of the best adverts we have for promoting the RMBI. |
| GIFT
AID ENVELOPES Hopefully you are giving your members and their guests the opportunity to use Gift Aid Envelopes for your Alms Collections. This way UK taxpayers can increase the value of their alms donations by over 28%. It’s not every day the Inland Revenue parts with money so let’s not lose out on it. The RMBI needs every penny. |
| THE
PROVINCIAL TIE Festival expenses are covered by the sale of Jewels and other merchandise including the Provincial Tie. The Province has generously allowed all profits from the sale of the new Provincial tie to go towards the cost of running our Festival. Please remember, it is the Provincial Tie, not the Festival Tie. Our other merchandise is selling well and Lodges are now using these as Initiates gifts as well as raffle prizes - instead of the ubiquitous bottle of plonk! It all helps. |
| IN
CONCLUSION Brethren, the RMBI really needs our help and they need it now. We all know that Freemasonry is all about helping a friend or brother in time of need. Well, this is our opportunity to practice what we preach. Help us help the RMBI, please. |