Royal & Select Masters 150th Anniversary Celebration Appeal
At the RSM 150th Anniversary Celebration meeting on Tuesday 3 October 2023 the Grand Master launched an Appeal to raise £150,000 for good causes in celebration of the occasion. The Appeal will run until 31 December 2024 and the aim is to raise £150,000. We can all play our part in raising this money.
Districts haven’t been set a specific target but there are 225 Councils in England and Wales so this works out to be £666.66 per Council or £7,333 for the East Midlands District as a basic target.
I request all Councils to look at their finances to see if they can make a donation no matter how large or small, because, as that supermarket chain has as its slogan, ‘Every little helps!’
Each Companion can make a contribution and individual donations can be Gift Aided (if the donor pays income or capital gains tax) as a Relief Chest has been opened with the Masonic Charitable Foundation for this Appeal and future use. It would be marvellous if each Companion felt able to make a minimum donation in the region of £30.00 plus Gift Aid, this would meet our basic target.
Donations can be made directly using the green button on this page, through your Recorder or Treasurer with the downloadable forms or by phoning the MCF on 020 3146 3333 to make a donation over the phone, quoting Relief Chest RSM5015.
You can also send a cheque to: Relief Chest Scheme, Masonic Chartable Foundation, 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ. Please make the cheque made payable to ‘Relief Chest Scheme’ and ask for it to be credited to RSM5015.
An easy way for individuals and Councils to start donating to the Appeal would be to undertake a collection at each meeting using Gift Aid envelopes or the appeal QR Code (available to download) and deposit it in our own Relief Chest, which can then be transferred to be in an individual's name with Gift Aid.
This September we, as a District, will be able to nominate Charities that we feel may be able to benefit from a donation. Charities selected within this District will be put forward to an adjudication panel in October 2024. Districts may opt to put forward more than one nominated Charity - there will be a specific form to be completed for each nomination and details will be circulated in due course.
It is hoped that at least one Charity per District will benefit.
If you should have any questions or queries please talk in the first instance to your Council Recorder or Treasurer and they will be able to assist you with your query.
May I thank you in advance for supporting this initiative.
Yours sincerely and fraternally,
Martin Wilson
District Grand Master East Midlands District
Please return completed forms to your Council Recorder or Treasurer.
