Brethren, as always, it is a delight to see you all here supporting the Province. I welcome our guests and thank them for taking the time to be with us and for their generous hospitality throughout the year.
To those receiving first appointments or promotions, this Annual Meeting is your day of recognition and celebration. It is my distinct privilege to invest you with new ranks and acknowledge your contributions to the Craft. Wear your new Honours with pride, you have earned them.
I thank last year’s Acting Officers for their support and company during our visits around the Province. Particular recognition goes to W Bros Steve Croston and Mickey Labana, who have concluded their tenures as Provincial Grand Membership Officer and Charity Steward respectively, moving to new roles within the Province for which I most appreciative.
This has been another significant year for Berkshire Freemasonry as we pursue our Membership Challenge to attract new brethren and retain existing ones. We remain absolutely focused on member welfare.
However, change can only be driven by individual brethren working within their Lodges. Without keeping an eye on the ball and with a driven desire to succeed, no Lodge will survive. It is critical that we remain focused on and welcome initiates into Freemasonry and ensure that every member truly ‘belongs’ to their Lodge, to the Province and most importantly to Freemasonry as a whole.
Belonging is not about paying one’s annual subscription, but it is about being engaged, involved and valued. We all have a part to play to ensure that this happens.
As you will have seen from the displays around the Centre, we are now starting to roll out the Building Together Programme in earnest. Building Together harmonises both the Members Pathway and the Archway. Last weekend, I was delighted to host the Regional Building Together Conference and to welcome so many of our colleagues from other provinces to the home of Berkshire Freemasonry. I thank all those who supported this successful event.
Building Together is brimming with good advice. It can be accessed via Solomon and also via the Berkshire Explorer App. Use the Ask Hiram AI facility for tailored answers. Please don’t waste your time trying to reinvent the wheel, rather focus on what has been proven to work so as to ensure that your brethren are engaged and your lodge is as successful as it can be. This is not somebody else’s job; it is each of ours !
In addition, I urge every member of the Province to ensure that through the Berkshire Explorer, they are signed up to the UGLE Portal App which gives every member access to those things that are specifically relevant to them. Assistance stations are available today.
W Bro Mickey Labana now leads on Provincial Strategic Innovation and Harmonisation. We must leverage technology to work smarter, not harder, staying ahead of the innovation curve to support member development and growth.
Key to Masonic enjoyment is ‘fostering curiosity and developing understanding’. I thank W Bros Owen Doe (Provincial Grand Mentor) and Steve Ricks (Provincial Grand Learning & Development Officer) for their innovative bottom-up approaches, engaging with new members and acting on their feedback. Just fabulous!
With this in mind and driven by feedback from our members, I am grateful to W Bro Matt Walker for agreeing to develop and lead a programme which, aligning with Building Together, will invest in developing and providing opportunities for our members so that they can experience maximum enjoyment from their Freemasonry. Brethren as you will see, once I have my hooks into you, there is no escape!
I am grateful to the Chairman of the Light Blues Club W Bro Paul Youngman & his team for all that they are doing to involve and engage our newer members. Thanks to their efforts, the Club is a great success and making a valuable contribution.
As we continue to harmonise and promote the ‘One Organisation, One Journey’ approach, I remain committed to the important role that our Companion Orders have to play in enhancing masonic enjoyment and engagement. I particularly value my monthly meetings with the Heads of Orders and together we work to shape and to enhance the quality of all Freemasonry throughout Berkshire.
Through your efforts and those of my Craft and Royal Arch Executives, we have had another successful year and I thank you earnestly for all that you have done and continue to do to make Berkshire ‘The Special Province’ in so many ways.
Whilst there is always more to do, I am humbled by what is being achieved in individual lodges but it is not equally spread so, once again, I make the point that apathy and inaction, if left unaddressed, will stifle and snuff out progress, engagement and enjoyment.
We must continue to focus on the art of the possible with an unflinching commitment to success. Ensure that you unleash the storm against stagnation and dispel the fog of complacent mediocrity. Take advantage of all the support and help available both within the Province and elsewhere. At the end of the day it is your lodge and your future.
In this Province, we are fortunate to have strong and skilled leadership teams across all the Orders. My Craft and Royal Arch Leadership Teams are no exception and I thank them for their unstinting support, dedication and for the enthusiasm, commitment and contribution that they continue to make to this Province on your behalf.
This year’s online Annual Report is packed with good news stories which showcase the Province and of which we all should be justly proud. It is compelling reading and a credit to you. Quite frankly, it reassures me that the light is worth the candle! As always, I remain indebted and grateful to W Bros Pat Whelan and Tracey Byrne for their hard work in pulling all the material together so professionally.
In closing, I thank and extend my gratitude to my Provincial Grand Secretary and to my new Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies W Bros Richard Olliver and Bob Spooner, together with their teams, for ensuring the success of today’s Annual Meeting.
It is and remains my distinct privilege to lead this Special Province and with your support, I will continue to serve it as best as I am able to ensure that future generations enjoy it as much as we do. Brethren, may the Great Architect of the Universe remain with you and those you love in the year which lies ahead. May brotherly love and affection ever distinguish us as men and as masons.
