What is the purpose of the 2014 Festival?

The four national Masonic charities, The Freemasons’ Grand Charity, the Masonic Samaritan Fund, the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution and the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys, derive much of their income from the festival system. Every year the four charities are supported, separately, by a Masonic province, which are allocated in rotation.

Click here for the 'Yellow Book' on Masonic Charity Information
 

Festivals last for several years, typically five or six years, and are a happy period for freemasons. They culminate in a Festival Dinner at which the total amount raised by all the masons, lodges, chapters and other orders is announced. It is hoped to be able to celebrate and be proud that the total will reach, if not exceed, the target. The last festival in the Province of East Kent was in 2004, in support of the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys, when the magnificent sum of £5.3 million was donated.

The next festival in the province will be in June 2014 and was launched on 26 September 2008 at a Launch Dinner at the Winter Gardens, Margate. The President of the Festival is the Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro. Michael R. Bailey. The Province of East Kent is proud to have been given the privilege and pleasure of supporting The Freemasons’ Grand Charity, the 29th festival in support of this charity that is central to freemasonry. It was announced that the target for the 2014 Festival is £3,000,000.00

The Freemasons’ Grand Charity is a grant-making charity that continues the commitment that masons have made to charity for over 300 years. It supports masons and their dependants who are experiencing hardship. It also makes grants to non-masonic national charities, particularly in support of hospices and disaster relief agencies. Each year it makes grants approaching a total of £5 million.

All the money raised by the Freemasons’ Grand Charity is donated by individual masons and their families and has been used to support many deserving cases in East Kent. The success of the Grand Charity is dependent on the success of the Province’s fund raising activities and the festival will enable the brethren of the Province to demonstrate their appreciation for the support the Grand Charity has given. For more details of The Freemasons’ Grand Charity click here.

During the festival period it is expected that the masons of East Kent will focus their charitable activities, with their customary enthusiasm and generosity, on raising funds in support of this very worthy cause.
 

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