The Annual Fellowship Conference

Association of Masonic Fellowships’ 30th Annual Conference

Hosted by
Accrington Masonic Fellowship
At Mill House Masonic Hall
Corn Mill Yard, Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors
Wednesday  16th May 2012

Even though the Queen was visiting the area as part of her Diamond Jubilee Tour,  I don’t think anyone had any difficulty making their way to this old, -  but with a fairly recent extension, - building. The latter part of our journey saw people, some with children, all armed with flags and quite excited, obviously on their way to witness this special occasion. Unfortunately, we couldn’t join them as we had a more pressing engagement!

17 Fellowships were represented at the Conference by 37 delegates, plus the members of Accrington Fellowship. Apologies were received from Furness & Sth Lakeland, Garstang, {who were going on a coach outing} and Shrewsbury, Colne & Nelson, Carnforth {sickness} and Leyland {sickness}. 
On arrival and collecting our name tag, we were able to enjoy a glass of sherry or soft drink before circulating with other delegates, renewing acquaintances, making new ones and exchanging views.

We were then invited to take our seats in the dining room, where we were welcomed by the Chairman of Accrington Masonic Fellowship, W.Bro Gordon Hunter, who said he hoped there would not be a repetition of the last Conference they held in 1985 when, sadly, the then Chairman had collapsed from a stroke.  He gave a particular welcome to Mrs Dorothy Price, widow of the late RW Bro Jack Price, PGM. Gordon said that the new extension to the building had, not long ago, been officially opened by Jack. In fact , this was probably the last duty he had performed. The Masonic Building, was once an old mill on the edge of the canal, had at one time, been a soap factory!
After Grace, given by W.Bro Ian W Ogden, lunch was served, which everyone agreed was excellent.
The Loyal Toast was given by W.Bro Brian Maden, a member of the host Fellowship.

The Toast to the Association of Masonic Fellowships was ably given by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, W.Bro Martin P Roche, who began by welcoming everyone to Mill House, and then said he was mindful of a comment that the Duke of Edinburgh had said about making a speech. “The mind can only absolve what the bottom can endure”! He said the Fellowships were a very important part of Masonic life and we should all try to encourage other retired masons to join our groups. Most Fellowships were suffering due to lack of new members.  Fellowships required new blood in the same way that Lodges need new members and the Brethren were now being encouraged, - more than ever before, -- to try to obtain new members into their Lodges.  It was down to all of us to pick up the gauntlet and talk about Freemasonry, tell people what it does for you, both in and out of the Masonic Halls. He said he was greatly proud to be President of the Accrington Masonic Fellowship and unanimously proud of the Fellowships in general and was delighted to propose the toast to this important  part of the Masonic family.

The Association Report was given by the Secretary, Mrs Jean Forrester, who said it was lovely to be with everyone again, - enjoying the day and the food we’ve just had.
Most of you present have received an envelope which contains an address amendment list and a statement of the monies collected to cover, mainly postage and occasionally I take a donation towards ink or paper. Although I only asked for a £5 donation, you will see that some Fellowships have paid more!  I am not sure if this is to cover them for the next 8/10 years or not!  The other problem I have is that I have a £5 donation which I am uncertain who it is from! I think this was one of those paid at the last conference and those of you who were there will remember there was a ‘bit of a crush’ of those wishing to leave £5!  It looks as though I did not make a note of someone, and as you can see from the statement, I have four Fellowships who did not send me £5, even though I contacted them several times. Incidentally, Wigan have today given me a cheque telling me the previous one they sent was never cashed, so that looks like my fault! Regarding the extra £5, it is possible that this was from one of the other three, in which case I apologise most sincerely for the confusion. It would be helpful if they let me know.
Other than that, we have £130 banked safely in the Salford Fellowship account and £39.28 in hand, so this should keep me going for a good couple of years, -- although with the postage going up like it has been doing, I do wonder!  Again I will say that it would help if all Fellowships could offer an email address, which would save on postage.

As many of you will remember, when the Fellowships were first formed, they started in East Lancs, and the person keeping the records went around the East Lancs Fellowships for the Conferences. The Conferences did not go outside the E.L. area until all the E.L Fellowships had ‘had a turn’! However, some Fellowships outside the E.L. area were formed before some in E.L.!  Some 18 months ago, I did try to put things right by putting the Conferences in order of the year the Fellowships were formed, but I hit a problem! This year I tried to contact Colne & Nelson, as the Fellowship formed in 1979, having hosted in 1986. This was when I discovered that the Secretary had resigned and did not know who had taken over!  I then went to my second plan, contacting the Fellowship who, though formed in 1979, did not host until 2001 as they were ‘outside E.L! . This was Preston, and they have kindly agreed to host the Conference in 2013. I would however, like to know your feelings regarding the way future conferences should be allocated; -  by date of their last conference or by date of formation of the Fellowship?
Lastly, please keep me updated of any changes to your secretary, as my details are only as good as the information you give me.  

An Open Forum then took place which mainly dealt with the question raised by Jean; how should future conferences be dealt with. The consensus of opinion was that future conferences should be allocated by date the Fellowship was formed, therefore the 2013 Conference would be hosted by Preston, who had readily agreed, and the 2014 Conference by Clitheroe & District.  Tom Owen from Audenshaw said he had lists of speakers, which he would willingly pass on to Fellowships if they contacted him. thomas.owen@ntlworld.com or on 0161 483 5754.

Christmas cards: One of the members raised the question of sending Christmas Cards, particularly with the increase in postal charges. He felt than an ‘electronic’ card would suffice. Also some Fellowships did not have meetings in December so cards received in that month were really a waste of time. There were many different opinions regarding this, but it was felt that if Fellowships did want to send Christmas cards to other Fellowships, - either by post or emails, - then they should continue to do so, but please could they send them out early in November and not wait until December.

The response to the Toast was given by E.Comp Michael Landreau, Assistant to the Prov. Grand Principals. He advised that Colne and Nelson were having a few problems at the moment and there was a suggestion that they join with Burnley, but nothing had been decided. He thanked W.Bro Roche for his toast to Fellowships and for the excellent knowledge of his ambassadorial role. 

The vote of thanks to the Hosts was warmly given by W.Bro Frank Moss from Preston Masonic Fellowship. He said we had all had a most enjoyable day from the warm welcome we had received on our arrival, to the splendid lunch, speeches and discussion. He thanked the committee and members of Accrington Masonic Fellowship and the staff at Mill House for all their work in making the day such a success. He then confirmed that the 2013 Conference would be hosted by Preston Fellowship, and the secretary, Ray Beech, would be notifying everyone in the usual manner once details were known. He did warn that parking at Preston was difficult but was certain Ray would give detailed arrangements of where parking was available  when sending out the invitations.  However, he looked forward to welcoming everyone at Preston in 2013.

Lastly, a fond farewell was given by the Secretary, Barbara Gee, who was described as ‘a jewel in the crown’ of the Accrington Fellowship by Chairman, Gordon Hunter. Barbara had been secretary for many years, still dealing with her duties even though she wasn’t getting any younger! Barbara said it had been a thoroughly enjoyable day and she hoped that everyone present had thought so too. She thanked everyone for coming, asked us to take care of one another and wished everyone a safe journey home.

The conference closed at 3.35pm

Association of Masonic Fellowships’ 29th Annual Conference

The Association of Masonic Fellowships held its 29th Annual Conference at Burnley Masonic Hall on Wednesday 4th May 2011.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman of Burnley Masonic Fellowship, WBro Donald Simpson, who welcomed the 81 attendees, representing 21 fellowships in total.

Following a sumptuous Nelson House lunch, the Loyal Toast was given by Mrs Sheila Pate of Burnley Masonic Fellowship and the Toast to the Association of Masonic Fellowships was given by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master for the Burnley & Pendle and Rossendale Districts, WBro Martin Roche.

The response to the Toast was given by WBro Jim Sutcliffe, who had been associated with the Burnley Masonic Fellowship for many years while serving as APGM in the area.

The 30th Annual Conference will be hosted by Accrington Masonic Fellowship at Mill House Masonic Hall, Clayton-le-Moors on Wednesday 16th May 2012.