Connaught Freemasons donate to two worthy causes

Connaught Freemasons Donate £500 to Two Worthy Causes
What a brilliant, well attended, evening they had on Friday 12 April. Unfortunately, the
speaker from the Stroke Association at very short notice was unable to join them. He was to
have acknowledged the £500 donation they had recently made from their MCF Charity Chest,
as Alastair Slade’s charity for his year as Worshipful Master.

But fortunately, Steve Collins, Assistant Provincial Charity Steward, who had been
invited to tell us about his recent Arctic Ski-Trek as a fundraiser for the SJAB Support Units,
ably filled the gap with his exploits in a previous Sahara Desert expedition. The two extremes
of temperature, the different clothing required, and the contrasting and various challenges he
faced left us all open-mouthed with admiration.

When asked which he would do again, he was firmly for the Arctic. As he explained, his
main difficulty, never having skied before, was pulling the sledge and not falling over, as
when he did on numerous occasions, he was not able to get up without help, as the snow was
so deep. Next time he intends to be more proficient. To add to his fundraising target, the
Lodge donated £500, presented by the Worshipful Master.

In recognition of the length of time Tony Cooper had been Lodge Secretary following
his recent decision to stand-down, and for the multitude of things he has done for the Lodge
year on year, he was presented with a crystal whisky decanter engraved ‘With the Gratitude
of Connaught Freemasons’ along with two matching glasses, a bottle of malt whisky, and a
bouquet of flowers for his wife Diana, who unfortunately was unable to attend.
The evening concluded with an excellent buffet supplied by the young people at
SWALLOW’s Radstock café.

Article submitted by Chris James (Charity Steward)