PGM's Focus (December 2007)
2007 was an outstanding year for the Province of Buckinghamshire. Our 2010 RMTGB Festival appeal continued at a pace and we ended the year close on £1.4 Million, a wonderful first two years and great credit to those brethren and Lodges that are supporting the appeal with such enthusiasm and endeavour.
We also had further success in our efforts to improve retention and, while we must take care not to let things slip backwards, our success in the past two years will allow us to focus more directly on recruitment in 2008.
There is no doubt that the highlights of the year have been generated by our Freemasonry in the Community programme which surpassed our greatest expectations thanks to the devotion and hard work of so many brethren. You can read about the increasing number of projects that we are operating elsewhere on this site. Suffice it to say that, in the past year, we have had great support from local Mayors and other dignitaries and our many forward looking activities have caught the attention of the media who have given us splendid coverage.
The exciting aspect of this programme is that, while we are retaining our Masonic standards and traditions, there is a clear appetite within members to look beyond ‘our ritual books’, to break down the barriers that led to us being perceived as a ‘secret society’ and, at last, we are beginning to be seen and known within our communities at large as a ‘force for good’.
However, last year’s success is now behind us and we must look forward to the tasks in hand for 2008.
To this end, let me remind you that our 2005 Strategy incorporated a vision for the future. That vision is ‘to be increasingly and openly recognised within the community of Buckinghamshire as the society of choice for individuals that are seeking companionship and fellowship with like minded people, personal development for themselves and social involvement that satisfies the needs of their families’.
We have traveled far since that document was commissioned and, in order to further enhance our ‘modernisation programme’, our major goal for 2008 will be to improve communications at all levels.
We are currently assessing the viability of requesting Lodges to identify an information officer with the objective of feeding information upwards, downwards and between members, Lodges and the Province. In addition, we are in the process of forming a Media Group spread across all Centers to enable information officers, Lodges and the Province to gain more coverage by local press as well as providing extensive information for our Web Site and Concord Magazine. Our Web site has already been upgraded, with more to come, and we are now seeking ways of giving Concord a major ‘facelift’ and will be embarking on direct delivery to every Buckinghamshire Mason with effect from the next edition. The modernisation of our old VGO scheme to become a Visiting Officer Scheme has been very successful and has created great opportunities. Visiting Officers are fast becoming ‘communicators, mentors and friends’ and they too are key to the whole communication process.
Besides this major objective we have five further key tasks for 2008 and are seeking the assistance of every member in order to achieve them. They are:
- To further the success of our 2010 RMTGB Festival appeal.
- To continue our focus on the Freemasonry in the Community Programme and to enhance its activities by encouraging Lodges to become involved.
- To convince, educate and motivate our members to ‘Market the Craft’ within their communities. The Province is already providing aids to stimulate member confidence to be more ‘open and transparent’ in speaking about the Craft.
- To increase our number of Initiates by 10%, improve retention by a further 5% and enhance the number of re-joiners.
- To identify ways of ‘cascading’ creative ideas both upward and downward between Lodge members, the Provincial Executive and, where appropriate, to move those ideas up to the ‘Rulers Forum’, an outstanding vehicle recently introduced by Grand Lodge to encourage the membership at large to participate in the future direction of the Craft.
Finally we must not forget that aspect of our Vision which relates to ‘social involvement that satisfies the needs of our families’.
There has been a dramatic upturn in the number of social events within both Lodges and the Province thanks to our event organisers but, in addition, we are delighted that others are following the example set by the Beaconsfield Centre Ladies Club. The Bletchley Centre Ladies Club had its inaugural meeting in mid December when over fifty nine people were present, including guests, many of whom were Lodge widows. A raffle raised £220 and the event was hailed as a great success with good food, good wine and good company. The Marlow Centre Ladies Club has also now been established and a Cheese and Wine evening has been organised as its inaugural event on 15th January 2008. Please encourage your Ladies to consider joining these social events to take the opportunity of developing new friendships and to enjoy the varied activities and visits on offer. Brethren. Do remember that it was the Ladies that asked for such clubs to be formed in our 2006 survey, do encourage your lady to join and note that information is available at participating Centres.
In concluding this update may I on behalf of both Doreen and myself wish you a very happy, peaceful and healthy 2008. Do enjoy the many happy Masonic and social events that are taking place before our next update in March and I beg you to go the extra mile in order to help us achieve our 2008 objectives.
Ray Reed