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Absolutely
delighted with donation Widnes Fellowship
Centre received a welcomed donation from Victoria Lodge No 4629 Social Fund. David Lewis, (lodge DC), went along to present
a cheque for £250 to Widnes Fellowship Chairperson Sheila Walsh on the night of their Christmas bingo.
Sheila was absolutely delighted with the donation, in thanking the
members of Victoria Lodge she said: “As the centre is a registered charity, we are completely run on a voluntary basis
and we rely on donations from local people and organisations, along with our own fund raising events, so that we can continue
to function. We are currently saving for new tables and this donation will help towards that and some of the running costs”.
The centre opened in Hough Green in April 1955 as
a social club for children with cerebral palsy and other physical disabilities who lived in Widnes and Runcorn. They now meet
in the old Co-Op shop on Leigh Avenue, which they took ownership of 30 years ago, on Monday and Thursday evenings and provide
a social environment for all special needs from 13 years onwards.
Members
of the centre enjoy a range of various activities including pool, darts, bingo and involvement in fund raising events. Day
trips are organised to various places of interest, as are theatre outings and a party is held each month for members with
a birthday that month.
 Pictured on the left, David presenting the cheque
to Sheila with members of Widnes Fellowship, waiting for the bingo to start, looking on.
IPM
completes donations.
The Immediate Past Master of Victoria Lodge No 4629, Ian Black, recently completed
his distribution of charitable donations from money raised during his year as Master of the Lodge to two local charities.
His first visit was to St Rocco’s Hospice in Warrington to present Nurse Ann on behalf of Claire Haughton, the Administration
Manager with a cheque for £500. Ann was very grateful for the donation and said that it would go towards the needs of
the patients. The donation to the Hospice was made in memory of Steve Nash, WM of Victoria Lodge in 2009, who sadly passed
away in the hospice in June 2011. Claire said in her letter, “The decision to support our Hospice is a lovely gesture
and one that means so much to us. Your gift will help us to continue providing care for all our patients and their families.
The important thing you need to know is that everyone here at St Rocco’s; staff, volunteers, patients and families;
really do appreciate your support”.
 Ian
Black presents the cheque to Nursed Ann.
Ian’s second visit was to a local
youth organisation called Valiant, who meet and train at Widnes Leisure Centre Monday afternoons and Friday evenings. There
he presented Andy Shard, a qualified coach for Gymnastic Movement for People with Disabilities with a cheque for £500
from the lodge and a cheque for £250 from Halewood Operations Employees Charity Fund. Andy thanked Ian for the generosity
shown by his Lodge and Halewood Operations said that the money would go towards the general running of the club and entry
fees for the many competitions they enter. A few of the competitions lined up for the club are the National Boca Championship
at the end of November, gymnastics in January and bocce at the National Games Special Olympics to be held in the Faroe Islands
next August.
Pictured
on the left is Ian Black presenting the cheques to Andy Shard, watched by some of the club members.
Ian’s
impeccable ceremony
Malcolm Parr received a very warm welcome from the members of Victoria Lodge
No 4629, who were particularly pleased that he attended their installation meeting as the personal represented of the Right
Worshipful Provincial Grand Master. Also present to witness the installation of Brian Harris into the chair of King Solomon,
by installing master Ian Black, was Widnes Group Chairman David Redhead and other Grand and Provincial Grand Officers.
Brian joined Victoria Lodge in 2003 having been through the chair in Royal George Lodge No 4119 which met in Liverpool.
Since joining Victoria Lodge, Brian has always been an active member and soon got the title, ‘Super Sub’. True
to form, when it became necessary for someone to jump in and fill a vacant position, Brian never let us down.
The meeting was very well attended by members of Victoria Lodge and visiting Brethren, including three Masters for other lodges.
Ian, who performed the ceremony in his own impeccable style ably assisted by other members of the lodge, made the ceremony
a delight to watch. The working tools of the three degrees were presented to the WM with precision and clarity by Mathew Baldwin,
(3rd degree), Robert Bazley, (2nd degree) and Owen Davies (1st degree).
At the end of the ceremony, Ian had a
very pleasant duty to perform in presenting a number of cheques to Malcolm with donations to various charities and organisations.
The cheques were for; £250 Action on Hearing Loss, £250 Widnes Fellowship, £250 West Lancashire Freemasons
Charity, £250 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution, £500 Widnes Masonic Hall, £500 Valiant Gymnastics Club
Special Olympics and £500 to Macmillan Nurses at St Rocco’s Hospice. Malcolm thanked the lodge for their generosity
and said that he would ensure that all the cheques would get to the various charities and organisations.
A superb
Festive Board followed the ceremony at which Malcolm said, “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the installation
ceremony, it was excellent”. He went on to explain the results of a survey of what is required to maintain Masonry and
added that a new position of Lodge Mentor Coordinator is to be introduced. Malcolm’s final point was regarding WLFC
and how it relies on donations from lodges to enable it to function, he said, “Always remember WLFC in your charity
giving as it is the second largest contributor to non-Masonic charities after the Grand Charity, which itself is the largest
contributor after the National Lottery”.
 Pictured
left to right; Brian Harris and Malcolm Parr.
Pictured
left to right are; David Redhead, Brian Harris, Malcolm Parr and Ian Black.
Sportsman’s
Evening supports local charities Close to 80 Masons
and non-Masons had a tremendous night at a Sportsman’s Evening organised by Victoria Lodge No 4629 Social Committee
for all lodges and raised £1,120 for its two chosen charities; Macmillan Nurses at St Rocco’s Hospice and Valiant
Gymnastics Club Special Olympics. The guest speaker for the evening was Alan Kennedy, ex Liverpool legend with supporting
act, top Liverpool comedian Denny Waters. Before the
evening got underway the audience were introduced to Andy Shard, Chairman and Coach of Valiant and three of the club athletes;
Kemlyn the European 100 meter and high jump champion, Laura, a gymnast with two bronze and silver to her credit and Michael,
who with his partner are British men’s double bocce champions. Andy, who is a qualified coach for Gymnastic Movement
for People with Disabilities, gave a brief insight into the range of sports the athletes train for and their achievements.
Golf, football, cricket, gymnastics, bocce, quick cricket, and athletics are among the sports the club athletes have won medals
in at various Special Olympics. Andy told the audience, “Valiant is the biggest disability club in the North West and
has been going for 22 years and receives no government funding, we have running costs of about £20,000 per year and
we are all very grateful that you have selected us as one of you nominates charities for tonight”. Following a delicious three course meal the guest Alan Kennedy, gave a
masterly talk about football and his career at Liverpool. The passion of the game was that intense that you could almost feel
the ball bouncing from one end of the hall to the other. Alan signed for Liverpool in 1978 from Newcastle United; four years
after Liverpool put an end to his FA cup final dreams by beating the Geordies three nil at Wembley. His first game for Liverpool was a one in a lifetime experience, Alan said, “Coming
out of the tunnel for the first time and seeing the Kop is something I will never forget”. During his career at Anfield,
Alan had 359 appearances, scored 20 goals, won two international caps along with League Championship and European Cup medals.
There were many dramatic moments in Alan’s time at Liverpool; one of the most memorable was in 1984 when he scored the
winning goal in a penalty shoot-out for the European Cup in Rome and the look on his face as he celebrated the ball going
into the back of the net. Alan also had an interesting exploit with Tommy Smith over a No 3 shirt. By the time Alan had finished
everybody felt like they had just played for 90 minutes. After
the dust had settled and everyone had recharged their glasses, superb scouse comedian Denny Waters took over and soon had
the audience in stitches with his quick fire jokes. His performance kept everyone enthralled and he soon had the audience
in a state of exhaustion again, this time with laughter. The
evening raised £870 from Bingo and the raffle plus a £250 donation from Ford’s Social Club which is being
sent to Valiant. The WM of Victoria Lodge, Ian Black would like to offer his personal thanks to all his supporters throughout
his year for their generosity and also to Chester City FC, Jason O’Brian at Widnes Golf Club, Carlsberg and O’Neil’s
Rugby Widnes who donated many of the raffle prizes. Ian he feels that the reason for the success of the evening is because
the two charities are very worthy causes. St. Rocco’s
Hospice has been established in Warrington for 25 years and with the help of Macmillan Nurses provides invaluable specialist
care for patients with cancer and other life threatening illnesses. The primary goal for Macmillan Cancer Support is to reach
and improve the lives of everyone living with cancer and they’ve set themselves an impressive ambition to achieve this
aim.
 Pictured
left to right; Laura, Andy Shard, Michael, Ian Black and Kemlyn.
Pictured
left to right; Alan Kennedy, Ian Black and Denny Waters.
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