Christmas celebrations arrived early for 70 adult carers at Beaconsfield Masonic Centre on 26th November 2017 as the Beaconsfield Centre Committee for Freemasonry in the Community organised the carers annual Christmas Lunch.
The Mayor of Leighton-Linslade, Cllr. Syed Rahman, recently attended a Christmas Luncheon at Stanbridge Rugby Club. Hosted by St Barnabas Lodge, No. 948, and Taplow Lodge, No. 3111, both of which meet at the Masonic Centre in Linslade, the guests of honour were mainly residents of the local sheltered housing project.
On Sunday 12th November 2017, following the Remembrance Day services, W. Bro. Colin Cruse of Grand Union Lodge, 9641 welcomed 135 war veterans and ex-servicemen to the 10th Annual Remembrance Sunday Lunch held at the Bell Hotel Winslow, by kind permission of Philip and Julie Menday.
The Manor of Swanburn Lodge, 8647, which meets at the Bletchley Masonic Centre, would like to thank all those who attended their Christmas Fayre and Tombola on Sunday 12th November and helped to raise almost £1,000 for Willen Hospice and other local charities in the Milton Keynes area.
The Heart of Bucks' Foundation, in conjunction with Buckinghamshire Freemasons, has been pleased to grant £40,000 to various Youth Social Projects in the County. Almost £5,000 of this went to Buckinghamshire Mind for use in helping to fund their Peer Support in Schools initiative.
The province of Dorset, as part of the tercentenary celebrations, organised for 200 children with their carers and group leaders to spend a week at Weymouth's Jurassic Coast Youth Adventure Park, the children were chosen and sponsored by 14 different provinces including Buckinghamshire.
Over the last few years Beaconsfield Freemasons have been holding a series of events for local carers, both young and old.
John Hubble, of Aylesbury, along with his wife, Doreen, was recently very pleased to present a cheque for £2,500 to Daniel Howard OBE, Chief Operating Officer of Medical Detection Dogs (MDD).
Denham Lodge, 5950, raised a fantastic £340 on the Grand National weekend of 8th April and members of Observatory Lodge, 6094, raised a further £190 during the summer recess.
The PSA testing initiative was started by Gordon Robertson, Provincial Grand Master, in 2015 and has proved to be a life saver; with a number of Masons and non-Masons tested having had life-saving operations in the last 12 months. A number of the Buckinghamsire Masonic Centres have run the tests and more than 1,200 men have been tested.
On 22nd July, 26 children between the ages of six and fifteen, along with their parents or carers were treated to a day out at the Holmer Green Model Railway.
St Martin's Lodge, 2812, from Bletchley, recently held their annual fun day for the Milton Keynes Young Carers, giving them a much needed day off from their busy life and duties. Held at the Herons Lodge Centre in Great Holm over 150 people attended and had an afternoon of live music, barbecue, drinks, animal petting zoo, bingo and bouncy castles.