The Young Masons zoom conference last Saturday attracted a total of 205 Brethren. I was delighted with the turnout and even more delighted with the vibrancy displayed and the standard of the discussions in each of the five breakout groups. This has resulted in a significant amount of feedback which Grand Secretary is now feeding into the Strategy Working Groups. My sincere thanks to all who took time out on a Saturday morning to attend. I would also like to record my sincere thanks to the facilitators and the scribes in each of the five breakout groups and to Grand Secretary and our IT manager for their excellent organisation.

Next week brings three Zoom meetings – on Tuesday, the Overseas, External Affairs and Special Purposes Committee will be meeting followed that afternoon with the Information and Communications Committee then on Wednesday by the Benevolence and Care Committee.

I had the pleasure last week to attend the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Vernal Equinox meeting at which ME Companion J Stewart Wood, Grand Master of the Great Priory of Scotland gave an excellent presentation on the various Orders related to Royal Arch Masonry. It was a well-attended meeting expertly chaired by the 1^st Grand Principal, ME Companion Joseph John Morrow, CBE, QC, LLD.

 

• The Group saw its membership rise to 4843 Brethren from not only the Scottish Constitution but from many of our Sister Constitutions throughout the world.

• This week saw the total examples of charitable giving recorded within the group rise to 704, submitted by 265 of its members.

• These updated contributions can now be attributed to 313 Lodges, from within all 32 Provincial Grand Lodges, 23 of its District Grand Lodges, Superintendencies and Lodges under the direct supervision of Grand Lodge.

• The total identifiable monetary value of the contributions now recorded has risen to £1,032,131.

There have been 106,912 individual comments likes, and other reactions to the group since its inception

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

 

 

 

First, my sincere apologies for the delay in getting last week’s Update out to you but as you are probably aware by now, BT had a major outage in the area which caused all sorts of problems. Hopefully, this edition will be circulated without any problem.

Can I remind all Lodge Office-bearers that now is a good time to ensure that the Lodge Electrical Certificate and PAT testing are all up to date. I had a local electrician in yesterday at Lodge Seaforth – he was highly efficient, has almost given us a clean bill of health but uncovered two issues with earthing – that is being attended to and we now have the peace of mind that the building is safe and that all appliances are up to standard. On a more practical note, if you are not up to date your insurance cover could be in jeopardy.

This Saturday brings about the long-awaited Young Masons zoom conference. I am delighted to be hosting it and look forward to much healthy debate on the five main issues that have materialised from the survey. My sincere thanks to all those who have signed up to attend.

The final lecture in the fourth History & Heritage Group Series was given on Wednesday night by Brother Mike Craig, District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of East Africa. That brought to a conclusion five excellent lectures from Lebanon, Bahamas, Central South Africa, Sri Lanka and East Africa.

The good news is that a fifth series will begin on Wednesday 5^th May. As we are now experiencing audiences in excess of 100, I’m sure the next series will prove to be even more popular. In the new series we will have presentations from our Districts of the Middle East, India, Newfoundland & Labrador, the Far East and from our Superintendency in Malawi. Please get the dates in your diaries now and fuller detail will be made available soon.

 

 

The Group saw its membership rise to 4782 Brethren from not only the Scottish Constitution but from many of our Sister Constitutions throughout the world.

This week saw the total examples of charitable giving recorded within the group rise to 696, submitted by 263 of its members.

These updated contributions can now be attributed as to being made on behalf of 310 Lodges, from within all 32 Provincial Grand Lodges, 22 of its District Grand Lodges, Superintendencies and Lodges under the direct supervision of Grand Lodge.

The total identifiable monetary value of the contributions now recorded has risen to £1,027,625.

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

 

 

 

The Grand Lodge Strategy Working Party met on Tuesday and I am delighted to report that the short-term strategy to get us through and out of Covid-19 was completed and submitted to the Administration Committee yesterday morning. They expressed their satisfaction with the work carried out so far and the documentation will now go forward to Grand Committee for final approval before being issued to all Lodges at home and abroad. It has to be stressed however that the documentation is bound to change as Government policy changes – this therefore will no doubt be the first of several versions. Progress is being made on the long-term strategy to take Scottish Freemasonry forward through the 21^st century. There has been a great response from Districts, Provinces, Lodges and individuals to the appeal for thoughts and comments which is tremendous, and I thank you all.

That said, I anticipate more feed back after the “Young Masons” meeting a week on Saturday. Can I take this opportunity to encourage all Brethren at home and abroad who are under 40 years of age to fill in the form and attend the meeting on Saturday 20^th March. You may be wondering why we need your email address – we will be using the break-out facility within zoom and to do that we need your email address. The forms are available from your Lodge Secretary – so please come along – I will be delighted to see you.

The next lecture in the History & Heritage Group Series will be by Brother Mike Craig, District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of East Africa. Our District Grand Lodge of East Africa covers three separate countries – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Please come along and learn about the fascinating District.

 

 

• An additional 30 new members joined the group which now has a membership of 4763 Brethren from not only the Scottish Constitutions but from many of our Sister Constitutions throughout the world.

• This week saw the total examples of charitable giving recorded within the group rise to 687, submitted by 263 of its members.

• These updated contributions can now be attributed as to being made on behalf of 307 Lodges, from within the 32 Provincial Grand Lodges, 22 of its District Grand Lodges, Superintendencies and Lodges under the direct supervision of Grand Lodge.

• The total identifiable monetary value of the contributions now recorded has risen to £1,013,860.

• This represents an average of £22,530 per week to date.
• There have been 104,059 individual comments, likes, and other reactions to the group since its inception.

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

 

 

 

 

As I write this week’s update, another donation of foodstuffs which, as reported below, is now being distributed throughout Scotland, takes the total identifiable monetary value of contributions to well over £1,000,000. This, along with over another £500,000 donated to Prostate Scotland over the past few years demonstrates an outstanding contribution into our local communities at home and abroad. My thanks to each and every one of you who have contributed in any way whatsoever to the many initiatives that have taken place, especially during the pandemic.

The Grand Lodge Strategy Working Party will meet on Tuesday to take forward their work. The aim is twofold: to provide a short-term strategy to get us through and out of Covid-19 and a long-term strategy to take Scottish Freemasonry forward through the 21^st century. Grand Secretary will circulate the short-term information to all Lodges at home and abroad when we get a clearer indication of when we will be allowed to reopen and what conditions and/or restrictions will be imposed.

The next lecture in the History & Heritage Group Series will be by Brother Jacques Huyghebaert, on Wednesday 10^th March at 7.00 pm. Brother Huyghebaert is a rare example of a Brother who has been Master of Lodges in five different constitutions – England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. On Wednesday night he will be telling us about Scottish Freemasonry in Sri Lanka.

 

 

• Membership of the group has risen over the last week to 4733 Brethren from Lodges working under, or recognised by, the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

• The number of posts recorded within the group has risen to 675, submitted by 261 group members.

• These updated contributions can now be attributed as to having been made on behalf of 307 Lodges.

• Contributions have been recorded from Lodges within all 32 Provincial Grand Lodges, 22 of our District Grand Lodges, Superintendencies and Lodges under the direct supervision of Grand Lodge, with the District Grand Lodge of East Africa being added this week.

• Another donation of foodstuffs valued at over £150,000 was secured by Bro. Kevin Taggart, IPM, of Lodge Buchan St. John, No. 636, and also a moderator of the Scottish Constitution Freemasonry Supports Group. This is once again being shared with Lodges and Provinces, the length and breadth of the country, with which Lodge Buchan St. John has an association. These will in turn be distributed to many worthwhile organisations over the coming weeks as part of the Lodge Buchan St. John, No. 636 Inter Province Community Care Initiative.

  A huge milestone was reached during the week with the total identifiable monetary value of contributions exceeding £1,000,000. The total now stands at a magnificent £1,011,060.

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

 

 

This is the 57^th edition of the weekly update. Over the past 57 weeks I have tried to keep everyone up to speed with what is happening and issue advice on a whole range of issues currently affecting Lodges. Last week I highlighted the latest Discretionary Budget. A member of our Craft, who wishes anonymity as a whistle blower, has launched a personal attack on me by informing The Times that my giving advice to claim public money is “atrocious”. While this is yet another personal attack, whoever is behind this and the previous Times articles should be aware that I am not being damaged by these actions. However, a great deal of reputational damage is being done to Scottish Freemasonry as a whole. Did the person responsible ever give any thought to informing the Times of the other information in the Update last week – that Scottish Freemasons have, during the Pandemic, contributed over £800k to the communities in which they operate?  Since day one, I have adopted an open-door approach. While I cannot physically be in Edinburgh at the present time, I am easily contactable at the end of a phone. I am more than happy to discuss any grievances that Brethren may have regarding what I put in the Update each week or on any other topic. So, please, if you want to have a pop at me personally, then don’t hide behind the cloak of anonymity. Identify yourself and speak to me, instead of besmirching the good name of our Craft in the media.

The next lecture in the History & Heritage Group Series will be by Brother Joe Curry, Immediate Past DGM of the Bahamas, on Wednesday 3^rd March at 7.00 pm.

 

 

 

• The group witnessed its membership rise to 4689 Brethren from both Scottish Constitution Lodges and Lodges from other Constitutions recognised by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

• The total recorded examples of charitable giving within the group rose to 659, submitted by 257 of its members.

• These updated contributions can now be attributed as to being made on behalf of 305 Lodges, from within the 32 Provincial Grand Lodges, 21 District Grand Lodges, Superintendencies and Lodges under the direct supervision of Grand Lodge.

• The quantifiable monetary value of contributions has risen to £848,096 during the 43 weeks since the group was started. This represents an average weekly contribution of £19,723.

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason

 

 

 

I am indebted to Brother Stewart Quigley, PGM of Fife and Kinross for the following information which I would commend to all Lodges who have not previously applied for grants or who have been refused grants in the past.

Brother Quigley reports that he has been keeping an eye on the Scottish Govt Business Grants website and recently noticed a new Fund, administered by Local Authorities called, "Local Authority Discretionary Fund" that is aimed at those businesses that have suffered financial restrictions from Covid restrictions / closures AND have NOT benefited from previous Scottish Govt grants.

Thinking of Lodges that do not own their own premises and either rent from other Lodges or even from Local Authorities / Bowling Clubs etc. Obviously, these Lodges generally get most (or all) of their income from collections and raffles at meetings, which has not happened since March 2020. Brother Quigley contacted Fife Council and was advised that the scenario detailed above could well allow a one-off grant (£3,000) to be made.

He then asked one of the Lodges in Fife and Kinross that rents space from another Lodge, to apply and a couple of days later they were advised that their application had been successful, and they should receive payment "within the next 10 days".

All the Lodge needed to supply, was bank statements and proof that the Lodge has insurance cover. As the name of the fund suggests - it is discretionary, so any award may differ from one Local Authority to another, however Brother Quigley noted that the funding for Scottish LA's to administer this fund, has increased from £60 million to £120 million.

Please find the link below for details of the fund that includes a link for the application for the appropriate LA.  

Local Authority Discretionary Fund (findbusinesssupport.gov.scot)

https://bgfdes.targetdashboard.com/ladf/qualify

My thanks to Brother Quigley for highlighting this particular grant. I would urge those Lodges who have not applied for grants to get an application into their local authority. Success with this grant will ensure that run of the mill expenses such as utilities, insurance premiums and annual dues can be met without dipping into reserves.

The next lecture in the History & Heritage Group Series will be by Brother Jim Kerr, DGM of Central South Africa, on Wednesday 24^th February at 7.00 pm.

 

 

The group can now boast a membership of 4659 Brethren from both Scottish Constitution Lodges and Lodges from other Constitutions recognised by the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

This week saw the total examples of charitable giving recorded within the group rise to 652, submitted by 255 of its members.

These updated contributions can now be attributed as to being made on behalf of 304 Lodges, from within the 32 Provincial Grand Lodges, 21 District Grand Lodges, Superintendencies and Lodges under the direct supervision of Grand Lodge.

An increase in the quantifiable monetary value of contributions to £846,346 was recorded during the week.

There have been 95,627 individual comments, likes, and other reactions to the group since its inception.

Ramsay McGhee

Grand Master Mason