On Thursday 28th April 2016 I attended the Installation of the new Worshipful Master of Bearwood Lodge 8664 at the Sindlesham Masonic Centre, near Reading in Berkshire.
Bearwood Lodge was founded in 1976 so this was their 40th anniversary Installation meeting. In the meeting the existing Worshipful Master David Lawrenson installed his successor, W.Bro Rupert Waldren.
As W.Bro has been through the Chair before it was a shorter ceremony than the Installation of the brand new Master. However, because Bearwood Lodge performs Universal Ritual (as opposed to Emulation, that the majority of Berkshire Lodges practice) there were some definite differences to the proceeding.
Berkshire Masonic Building Fund
During the ceremony Bearwood Lodge also presented a cheque of £500 to the representative of the Province of Berkshire towards the Berkshire Masonic Building Fund. The Provincial Grand Master has recently been promoting this fund because the Lodges of Berkshire have exceeded the £500,000 target for to be raised for the Berkshire Masonic Charities, with almost a year left.
The Berkshire Masonic Building Fund isn’t a charity and therefore doesn’t attract tax relief. The money raised will be used for keeping the upkeep of various Masonic Centres around Berkshire, some of which are getting old and require regular maintenance.