Louth’s new Masonic Hall has come a step closer with the laying of a commemorative foundation stone by Lincolnshire’s Provincial Grand Master Dave Wheeler

The next stage in the building’s history will be the addition of roof trusses, which is expected during September 2019 – writing the next chapter of a story which began in 2010.

Fund Secretary Ian Castledine said: ‘We first looked into moving premises in 2010 when it looked as though we might lose our car parking facilities in Queen Street due to re-development in the town.

‘We looked at several buildings around the town, but could find nothing suitable. Then, due to the ongoing costs of keeping the building in a good state of repair and seeing what the Skegness brethren had achieved we decided to look again.’

Early in 2017 a questionnaire was sent to members of both of Louth’s Craft lodges asking the question: ‘should we stay or should we go?’ The majority was in favour of going, if new premises could be built.

‘We found the current building site in Bolingbroke Road on the Fairfield Industrial Estate, and the owner allowed us to buy it when we had sold existing site and received planning permission,’ added Ian. ‘Our old premises went on the market in 2017 and permission was granted last September.’

Contracts on the old building were exchanged at the end of November, and members moved out. Everything except the lodges’ warrants are in storage and meetings have been taking place principally at Alford and Skegness Centre, but also Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

‘After some unforeseen delays, contracts were exchanged on the new site on 20th February this year, with building due to start on 8th April. In the event, a start wasn’t made until the second week in May, but the building is really taking shape now.’

To help in fundraising a Founders Brick Wall will be created in the building’s bar, with members being invited to buy a space and add their names. Details of how to get involved are available from Ian Castledine at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Lincolnshire Freemason and Provincial Registrar Keith Appleton has walked 42 miles through the night to raise £2,000 for children’s charity Lifelites

In a trek of 16 hours and 33 minutes Keith, a member of Astral Lodge in Grimsby, recorded almost 87,000 steps, burned off 4,300 calories, and climbed almost 4,000 feet.

He was following the White Rose Walk, a long-distance walk set up in 1968 by the Yorkshire Wayfarers. Its start point is the Yorkshire village of Kilburn, which he left at 10.20pm bound for Roseberry Topping, a National Trust property in the neighbouring county of Cleveland. 

The walk is completed by touching the ‘trig’ point at the summit of Roseberry Topping. By the time he got there Keith had has raised £1,960 for the charity, but had pulled a calf muscle with four miles yet to go. ‘That slowed me considerably,’ he said. ‘But I knew people had committed money, and that thought was my incentive to carry on and make sure I finished the walk.’

Nevertheless, it was ‘job done’, since the objective is to complete the distance in less than 24 hours, which Keith did with time to spare. But the sight that greeted him was really unexpected. ‘At the top of Roseberry Topping there was a group of Royal Marines with a rowing machine raising money for Help the Heroes. I declined to take part,’ he said.

Even though the walk was officially over, Keith still had a couple of miles to go to meet his lift, which whisked him off for a couple of pints of Guinness and a hot bath. ‘But I’m still accepting donations,’ he said. 'I am happy to take a cheque posted to me at 24 Gloria Way, Grimsby DN37 9SW.'

Keith intends to hand over the money to Lifelites raised when he visits Grand Lodge for the next Quarterly Communications meeting in September 2019. The charity donates specialist assistive technology packages for children and young people suffering life-limiting illnesses, allowing them to be creative, control something for themselves and communicate, for as long as it is possible. Every baby and children’s hospice throughout the UK benefits, which means the charity has reached more than 10,000 children.

Freemasons from Crowle in Lincolnshire have supported the work of The Forge Project with a donation of £600

The fundraising effort has been led by Paul Vollans, currently the master of one of Crowle's four lodges, who is a regular volunteer at the centre on Scunthorpe’s Cottage Beck Road.

Open five days a week to support the homeless, the centre provides breakfasts and hot lunches, activities and access to a range of other services.

Demand for its services has doubled over the last three years, said Paul, and his work as a volunteer had encouraged him to get his own Vermuyden Lodge No. 9482 to adopt it as their charity for the year.

Currently providing support for an average 62 people every weekday, the centre is working hard to enhance its premises, a former Methodist church. Plans are afoot for a new kitchen, new flooring throughout, and new windows to make sure the centre continues to be fit for purpose.

Paul said his volunteering work included sorting out clothing donations, work in the kitchen, and just being around to help and provide support. He said: 'Clothing needs to be sorted because people give us inappropriate things. For instance, rough sleepers have no need for a bikini – but they’re still given to us.

‘Chatting to the service users you get to hear their back stories, and realise not only how hard their lives can be, but how well off the rest of us, with homes to go to, really are.’

The masonic involvement organised by Paul involved raffles and a Christmas carol concert. ‘People like to support from a distance. Organising events gives them a conduit to offer support to a service which is having to find ways to adapt its work to meet an ever-growing demand, and one which isn’t going to decline any time soon.'

Paul’s next task was to use his contacts to find a builder to repair a wall at The Forge which had been demolished by when someone drove into it. ‘It shouldn’t be too hard to find a volunteer to do that,’ he said.

‘After all, they already have the bricks. It’s using the right contacts to get small things like this done which helps the hard-working staff here to achieve more with the money they have available.’

A donation of £75,000 from Lincolnshire Freemasons has given a welcome early boost to a relief fund set up in readiness for the rebuilding of homes in and around Wainfleet after the floods

And in a surprise presentation to Steve Hallberg, Provincial Grand Master of Lincolnshire’s Mark Master Masons, the Mark Masons of Cumberland and Westmorland added a further £2,000 to the pot, taking the donation to £77,000.

The fund has been set up by the Lincolnshire Community Foundation, which is bringing together fundraising efforts behind the long-term recovery plan which will swing into action once the floodwaters have receded.

Already there have been about 500 people from a number of agencies working around the clock to provide an emergency response to the incident, which has forced the evacuation of almost 300 homes.

But it’s the recovery phase that will take time, and that’s where the Freemasons’ donation will be directed. Provincial Grand Master Dave Wheeler said: ‘To see anyone driven from their home by flooding is heartbreaking, especially when it’s in your own community.

‘The emergency response to the incident has been extremely effective through the days after the torrential rainfall followed by the breach of the banks of the River Steeping, but that is only part of the story. The recovery phase will be long, and will take considerable effort.

‘I’m pleased that we have been able to move so quickly in making this donation of £75,000. It underlines that Lincolnshire Freemasons are determined to help put the heart back into this part of Lincolnshire, and we have every confidence that the Lincolnshire Community Foundation will make sure the money is used effectively in making that happen.’

The donation is made up of three Masonic grants of £25,000 each, from The Province of Lincolnshire, the Mark Benevolent Fund, and the Masonic Charitable Foundation. The latter two are national charities subscribed to by Freemasons all over the country, including those in Lincolnshire.

James Murphy, Joint CEO of the Lincolnshire Community Foundation, said: ‘There are lots of people for whom properties in Wainfleet are their "forever home". We shall be doing what we can to return things to normal for this community. It’s when something like this happens that you find out how good a community is, and Wainfleet’s is particularly strong.

‘The Lincolnshire Community Foundation is working in partnership with the Recovery Coordinating Group to raise funds and support Wainfleet and the surrounding area. Money donated will help to relieve hardship, complete repairs, make good loss or damage, help to prevent the flooding happening again, and to improve the response in the event that it ever does. 100% of donations will be spent in and around Wainfleet.’

To donate online, please go to the Total Giving page at this link.

More than 700 lonely people in North East Lincolnshire are being helped to a better quality of life thanks to the volunteers of charity Friendship at Home, who have been supported with the first instalment of a £15,000 donation from the region’s Freemasons

The charity, based in the Annie Chapple Centre in Aspen Court in Cleethorpes, was set up to reduce loneliness and isolation and improve the quality of life for older people. It offers one-to-one befriending of older people in their own homes, as well as running social mornings and afternoons, exercise activities, telephone befriending and a range of dementia support services including a dementia choir.

Operational Manager Lyse Stephenson said the charity, which supports people over 60, was finding an increase in demand for its services from those with dementia. She said: ‘Dementia cuts people off, and we need to help them to be integrated – but the demand for our services is overwhelming.'

She said the charity was inundated with calls to support group work, adding: ‘It does work so well, but with predictions that one in three of us will suffer problems with dementia, we need more volunteers to meet the huge demand we face.’

Currently there are 175 volunteers, but more are needed, said Lyse. ‘More volunteers would enable us to offer help and support to greater numbers of people – and we have helped thousands in the 13 years the charity has been running.’

The Lincolnshire Freemasons donation has come from the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which will give £5,000 a year for three successive years.

Pete Tong is the Freemasons’ Provincial Charity Steward in Lincolnshire. He said: ‘The work of the MCF is an important element of the Freemasons’ support for causes in the community – both masonic and non-masonic. The MCF gave £8.5m to more than 400 charities last year; all of it money given by Freemasons themselves. And we topped that up with more than £100,000 to a further 150 non-masonic good causes in the historic county of Lincolnshire.’

Lyse added: ‘The Freemasons’ donation is so important to us alongside the other funding streams and supporters. It will be used to help us to cover running costs so that we are able to concentrate on the people who matter most – our service users.’

Could you be a Friendship at Home volunteer? To find out what’s involved and how you might be able to help, contact volunteer co-ordinator Dawn Charlton by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 01472 602500.

A 16-year-old who secured his Rolls-Royce apprenticeship ahead of almost 6,000 others, through the positive approach to life he learned as a Royal Air Force (RAF) cadet, is an example of what’s being achieved thanks to work led by a Lincolnshire Freemason

He’s Bob Chalklin, currently Master of Daedalus Lodge No. 3843 in the market town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, which used to be the RAF lodge, and is also the Wing Commander responsible for the RAF dimension of a government initiative to expand the number of cadet units in schools to 500 nationwide.

With the RAF part of the target already exceeded and the project supporting a rolling population of more than 11,000 cadets at any one time, significant benefits are already being realised.

It’s immensely rewarding for Bob and his colleagues in the other Services, who have doubled the number of schools involved over the last eight years; largely funded by ‘reinvesting’ money taken from fines levied on the banks after the LIBOR scandal. Bob said: ‘Doubling the number of schools with cadet units in eight years is quote something significant. The units are open to boys and girls from the Year 8 – but, as the government requested, we have targeted schools outside the traditional area for cadet forces, the independents and grammar schools. 

‘The units we have set up are mainly in areas of social deprivation; where high numbers of pupils are on free school meals, for example. These are the schools of pupils whose parents might be earning minimum wage, if they’re employed at all, and so don’t have the wherewithal to pay for their sons and daughters to be involved as once might have been the case, and it’s working. Absenteeism is dropping, discipline is improved, and the cadets engage more effectively with their academic work,' says Bob, who is also a member of Hope Chapter 588.

Bob’s role in setting up new cadet units has been to visit schools and explain the problems that must be faced and the benefits that will be achieved, and interviewing staff to become volunteers. He said: ‘It is a burden for a school, so the Head has to convince me the school really wants to have a unit, which is going to mean extra work for staff, because they’ll be the volunteers who run it with help from RAF permanent staff. It’s like setting up a new department.’

Bob also works on the RAF Air Cadet Leadership Course, which runs for four weeks every summer. It involves 66 (16 and 17-year old) cadets on each of four weeks, building on what they’ve learned in the cadet units and equipping them with the skills to secure Level 3 Certificates in teamwork from the Institute of Leadership Management – a qualification you’d normally expect an adult to apply for, not a 16-year-old.

‘But we are building skills for life,” said Bob. “Through the cadet units these young people learn oral communication, a willingness to talk to someone they have not met, teamwork, problem solving, social awareness, and a spirit of adventure. These are the things people look for in potential employees, and once learned, are skills for life. To see the development of the youngsters in a week on our leadership course is just fantastic and humbling. You might say we’re making good young men and women better.’

Bob’s life in the RAF

Bob was an officer in the RAF Regiment for 33 years, before which he’d been a cadet in school squadron, a civilian instructor and officer volunteer before joining the RAF in 1973. Having retired from RAF Cranwell in 2006 he was asked to apply for a post firstly looking after events for the whole Air Cadet Organisation and then running the RAF part of the Combined Cadet Force. ‘I did that until October 2016 before retiring for a second time, and then in January 2017 was asked to look after the RAF Cadet Expansion Programme, which I’ve been doing part time ever since,’ he said.

Joining Freemasonry

Bob’s entry into Freemasonry began with a misunderstanding. He made a remark about the craft when talking about the film The Man Who Would Be King, leading a work colleague to think he was on the square. He said: 'When I told him that I wasn’t, he asked me if I was interested and  made the necessary introductions to a friend in Daedalus Lodge.'

Suited but not booted

Although the RAF provides uniforms for its cadets, it doesn’t provide footwear. Bob is currently working on completing uniforms by appealing for masonic donations to cover the cost of appropriate boots, and hopes to talk to Provinces nationwide to explain the position and get their lodges, and neighbouring businesses, to help meet the need. ‘A pair of boot seems a small price to pay as a contribution to the lifetime of benefit that can be achieved,’ he said. In addition, small donations to support the cadets from financially challenged families to attend meaningful training activities and camps can be life changing for them.

UGLE's Grand Master, HRH The Duke of Kent, attended a luncheon at the Provincial Grand Lodge of Lincolnshire and presided over a £100,000 donation to the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF)

The event took place in Spalding, where the Duke had a variety of other engagements during the day. It was hosted by Lincolnshire’s Provincial Grand Master David Wheeler and had been arranged at the Masonic Hall at the request of the Lord Lieutenant of the county.

Also in attendance was the President of the Masonic Charitable Foundation, Richard Hone, who was pleased to accept the donation of £100,000 for the MCF, which marked the start of Lincolnshire’s 2025 Festival.

That’s my boy

When Lincolnshire Freemason Gary Hurst was raised to the Third Degree, the ceremony was performed by his father Glyn, who travelled from North Wales

Gary always wanted to follow his father into Freemasonry and was initiated into Olive Union Lodge No. 1304 in Horncastle in November 2017, watched by his father. 

But when his raising was being planned, Olive Union’s Master David Clarke had the idea that Glyn might like to perform the ceremony.

Gary said: ‘Whilst fathers initiating, passing and raising their sons is commonplace, the opportunity to do it not only in a different Lodge to your own, but also in a different Province was an exciting prospect for Dad, and after a few telephone conversations – including checking both lodges were using the same ritual and even language – the scene was set for him to take control.’

Glyn travelled from North Wales on the day of the ceremony, arriving in plenty of time to meet David face-to-face and run through the ceremony schedule with Olive Union’s Director of Ceremonies to ensure everything came together perfectly. 

Gary added: ‘With the lodge opened in the Second Degree, David handed the gavel over to Dad, who put the questions to me and then carried out the raising, assisted by Olive Union members. 

‘We’d been planning for Dad coming back to see my raising ever since I was initiated, but having him in the chair made it extra special. I know I speak for both of us in sending thanks to everyone who made it possible.’

Gary’s a serving member of the Royal Air Force and has settled in Lincolnshire. His father Glyn is a member of Pennant Lodge No. 7348 in North Wales, where he is Past Provincial Grand Charity Steward.

Only 17 Freemasons have been Provincial Grand Master of Lincolnshire since its formation in 1792 – and four of them are in this picture

Still regularly attending meetings are the men who have been in charge – with one break of two years – since 1981.

They are Gordon Walkerley Smith (1999-2008), David Wheeler (the current incumbent, installed in July 2018). Geoffrey Mawer Cooper (1981-1997) and Graham Ives (2008-2018)

The break in the chain was caused by the unexpected death, two years after taking the office in 1997, of Dr John Allin.

The longest time in office was 41 years, between 1895 and 1936, when the Provincial Grand Master was Lord Worsley, Fourth Earl of Yarborough – though as David Wheeler pointed out: ’In those days it was a largely ceremonial office with others representing the Provincial Grand Master on many occasions.’

Lincolnshire Freemasons have given £5,000 to help improve the quality of life for those most in need in one of the country’s most deprived wards
 
This is the East Marsh in Grimsby, which has the unenviable status of being in the bottom 1% on a national deprivation league table. The money, which has come through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, has been given to Harbour Place who are based in Hope Street, Grimsby, and support rough sleepers, the homeless and other socially excluded people.
 
In September last year, the charity moved to the Hope Street premises, which allowed it to launch a permanent night shelter in support of its Street Outreach Project, which has been running since April 2011, and has now been expanded.
 
Project Director Robin Barr said: 'A key part of the project’s activities include supporting and advocating on behalf of clients through signposting, referral and access to a wide range of statutory and voluntary sector agencies. Since opening the Hope Centre in September 2018, Harbour Place has registered over 175 clients for the new service.'
 
'Since the move to Hope Street more than 50 people have been helped to find permanent accommodation, more than 30 of whom have been through the night shelter.'

Robin said that success was an indication of the significance of the £5,000 donation: 'Our records indicate that if we can work consistently with someone over a short period, we can usually assist them to find accommodation.'
 
The donation was made by Lincolnshire’s Provincial Grand Master, David Wheeler, and Pete Tong, the Provincial Charity Steward.

Pete said: 'The message we brought away from the staff and volunteers at Harbour Place was that for more people than we might have imagined, the prospect of living on the street was too close for comfort. For many, the financial cushion which keeps the roof over their head is very thin indeed. 
 
'They told us of one man they were helping who had been a respected professional in the community, but after problems resulting from a marriage break-up he had been reduced to living on the street.
 
'The successes achieved by the team of staff and volunteers are hard won, and we trust our donation will help their efforts to be even more effective.'