Episode 2: What "service" looks like for Freemasons in Leicestershire and Rutland.

In this episode of Square Talk, we dive into the heart of Masonic charity in Leicestershire and Rutland. Far from being just about writing cheques, charity within Freemasonry often begins as a spark — a simple idea, a heartfelt conversation, or a small gesture that can grow into something life-changing.

Host Jason Clothier is joined by Mark Pierpoint and Steve Skidmore, who share their experiences of nurturing those sparks into meaningful projects. Together, they reveal the stories behind Masonic charity: the inspiration, the challenges, and the lives touched along the way.

Whether you’re curious about Freemasonry, passionate about community work, or simply love hearing stories of people making a difference, this episode will give you a deeper understanding of how charity becomes more than just giving — it becomes living.

Links from this episode:

• Home page - The Masonic Charitable Foundation
• Home | Freemasons
• LRFC Application For A Charity Grant, Masonic Lodge Matched Grant or Request to Pledge Funds for a Future Need.
• LOROS Hospice: Free care and support for terminally ill patients
• Home - Dove cottage
• Menphys | Charity for disabled children
• Breaking the Silence on SADS | Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT)
• Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL) | Changing lives for the better
•  Footwear Design BA (Hons)- with optional placement year
• Castle of Leicester No.7767
• Information about cancer | Cancer Support UK | Teenage Cancer Trust
• Heroes Walk - Leicester Hospitals Charity

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Square Talk where we sit down with the people who make Freemasonry in Leicestershire and Rutland what it is today. Now, if you've ever thought of charity as just handing over a check, you might be surprised. In Freemasonry, charity often starts as a spark, a small act, a conversation, or even an idea of a cup of tea with some friends. That can grow into something that changes lives. Today I'm joined by Mark Peterpoint and Steve Skidmore, whose roles are to keep that spark alive and help it grow. We're going to explore not just what and how of Masonic charity, but also the stories behind it, the moments that make it worth doing and the people whose lives are touched by it. Steve, Mark, welcome to Square Talk. Hello. Thank you. What would a typical Saturday morning look like for you both? Steve, may I start with you?

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Make sure that everything's alright in the house. And that's about it, really. Tigers, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Absolutely. Mark? I'm in quite a few Saturday lodges. So it might involve a bit of travel. Sometimes special interests like cars or motorbikes, that's my passion at weekends. I'm also season ticket holder at the Foxes.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

So we have football and rugby. Oh yes. Perfect for Leicestershire, absolutely. What's the first thing that made you smile today, Mark?

SPEAKER_02 1:36

I'm very positive about what you can do. I'm energized to be working in the charity in Leicester on behalf of the province and all of those other lodges that are disparate through the through the province, so through our area, through Leicestershire and Rutland. So coming into the office today gave me great energy knowing that I've got projects that I'm working on, thank yous to send out, and other ideas in the pipeline, which when we see them through, will will make a difference.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Steve? Well, that that makes my answer sound totally insignificant. Because smiling today, I woke up and checked my lodge's pigeon racing syndicate that we run, and uh our pigeons are flying well. And that made me smile. Pigeons. Pigeons, yeah. Pigeons a bit of social thing with the lodges and making sure that uh we have a bit of fun in the lodge. But bizarrely that we've been going in this pigeon syndicate and any any monies that this pigeon syndicate wins goes partly to charity. Ah, you see how I did that?

SPEAKER_01 2:49

You'd almost thought that we'd thought about the problem.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Well, yes, I didn't really, but there we go. But yes, that made me smile that our pigeons are doing well.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

If your friends in either in Freemasonry or outside of Freemasonry, outside the craft, were to describe you in three words. What three words would those be? Um I'll start with Mark.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Oh I don't know if they'd be able to be broadcast, Jason. Um I would hope that they would seem as uh genuine, as honest and hardworking, and they know that since um this role of mine has become full-time, but um I'm asking them for the for their time and support on a lot more regular basis. Patience. Patience.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Wow, that's a big question, isn't it? Three, three. Um I would approachable, I think, is is is one thing, and uh that would certainly involve being friendly and I think open as well, open to new ideas, open to what's going on, open to change, and um just just hoping that people think that they can really come and talk to me about masonry or whatever, or or if they've got things going on in their personal eyes, and that I'm gonna be able to listen and to maybe even help them. Um there's probably more words as well that other people think about me, but as Mark says, probably not broadcastable.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

I think that's the uh I would agree with um both of you. Um Mark, you do have the patience of a saint, and Steve, you are approachable. I would agree with those. Um to more direct us toward into Freemasonry, what first drew you into Freemasonry? Uh was it the tradition, friendships, mystery, charity, or something else?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Well, for me it was a family thing, um, a late father. Um, although not a massive ritualist, um he had a was a big heart enthusiast. Uh and um I share some of the traits, not as I'm certainly not as brave uh or as extrovert as uh as my dad, but I I saw the way that he um him and his peers and his friends who later became my friends when I joined his lodge um all worked together. And that teamship camaraderie, and they they made a lot of fun and some money in the process, and yeah, that that's that's what I saw, and ultimately that's uh that's the path that I took when I uh first had the opportunity when I came out of my first craft chair some twenty odd years ago.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Oh wow, Steve? Yeah, um this is gonna sound so cheesy and as though it's been prepared, but it was about doing good actually. Uh and I remember my first interview was about what what good do the masons do, and that has always interested me, and and people who know me know that the charity side of masonry, that giving side and the service side is something that um is very, very dear to my heart. So um when Peter, the head of uh Freemasons in Lesshen and Rutland, he asked me to take on the chair of the um the charity, um it was like you know, wow, it was well all all the good things that come finally, you know, that I could there go and really really help people and be able to influence a little bit beyond the lodge. Um that you know you can do certain things in the lodge and you can do certain things in the province, and when you can get into the full charity stuff, that you can really start helping people outside and serving that community. So um I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but that's that's really what it was.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

I think that's something very similar to myself. I had no in had no prior knowledge of Freemasonry, but what brought brought me in was the the charitable side, the what the what we can give and what we do give, and and as I said, in um it's not just about money, it's about time, care and compassion. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

No, no, you you're absolutely right, and that's that's I I had no background of Freemasonry. Um one of my good friends from university, his dad was a member of a lodge down here, and they were looking for Freemasons, and um I got the call, would I be interested? I thought I'd come along and have a chat to you, and um, you know, liked like what I heard, and um the rest the rest is history, as they say, or misery, as some people might say.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

I wouldn't put it quite like that. Uh Mark, um if I was to follow you around in your role for a week, what would I see? What what is it that I would see Mark be doing in his role?

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Well, I'm office-based two days a week, but some weeks that's three or four or on a busy week even uh Monday to Friday. But um we um we have an administrate administrative lady in the office who works alongside and she does the uh uh the hard work, the the literal uh the admin of paying the bills, of of the grants that we've we've awarded, making sure they go to the right bank account nice and quickly. Um you would also see us going out and and attending those events that and and charities that we've been able to support, and um so we can supply feedback to our membership of where their money's been spent, monitor it monitor um how well it has been spent and the and the beneficial effects that it's had. So just recently we went to a hospice, uh it's a day hospice in a rural area, myself and Steve, um John uh Pebberdy and our uh uh various uh wives and partners. And uh it was amazing to see how a small amount of money that we've been able to give can make a large amount of impact. Uh and this is at the right at the edge of uh rural Leicestershire at Dove Cottage. That's and that's just one example of what we've we've been able to achieve in this province recently.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

You're making an impact far and wide.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

That's our ambition. Our ambition is to do as much as we can within our province um and uh affect the best value that we can out of the uh of the charitable charitable funds that we uh we can uh uh extract from a membership. We can uh we can collect and and uh have events with our membership. And I think that's really uh where my fun and energy comes to enthuse uh our charity stewards and membership to uh to just go out there, have fun, build your teams, and enjoy the camaraderie and of our wonderful fraternity and just um make some money which we can spend well in the community.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

We'll come back to the charity stewards in a moment. Steve, your role as the head of char of the charity committee.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

That's um it it it sort of um integrates into the the other main role that I have within Leicestershire and Rutland being part of the um the executive team uh which I am, and part of my role in that is community engagement. And so obviously charity and community engagement go hand in gloves. Absolutely, that we're out there, we're doing good and engaging with the community and hopefully showing the community rather than hiding behind the the walls of uh our various um uh provincial lodges and uh uh buildings showing what we do as Freemasons that we're doing good, and not hiding that anymore, but going out and saying this is what we do, and the money comes from the members. Uh you know, it's it's when um people say to you, Well, it's your charity, I go, Well, it's you know, I question that. I question that why is it my charity? And why is interesting because you take Y off your and you get our and our charity, and that's what it is. Leicestershire Rutland Freemasons charity is our charity across the whole of the province. So all of our 2,400 members, uh, you know, if they give money to the LRFC, it's their charity, and it's up to them as well where that money can go, um, how we we we spend that money, uh, and obviously it's up to them about how much they can give as well that helps us to be able to operate those things. So that's that's very important in terms of my um roles as both part of the executive and as head of the charity um for Leicestershire and Rutland. And it it does work, it goes well together. So, you know, a typical week, like Mark says, there is not a typical week. You know, one one day we can be organising um events that are going to be happening three, four, five months down the road. Uh, we can be having grants committee meetings where we're we're sifting through people's applications and charities' applications. Are we able to give them some money? And there's a lot of deep dive goes into that. We don't just go, yeah, you can have the money.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

So just just on that note, yeah, you you're saying that you get applications that come in.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Do they have to have an association or a link with masonry?

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Absolutely not, no, no. And it goes through the uh our website, anybody can come through our website um and they can apply for that grant, and then we go through a sifting grant with the grants committee and saying, you know, does this fit our criteria? Are we are we uh wanting to support this particular sort of charity at the moment? Is that where our money's gonna go? Um, are we gonna get value for that money? Yeah, is the charity going to get value as well? Because you know, some some big charities like the Alzheimer's UK, for instance, could come along, we could give them a thousand pounds, it's a drop in the ocean for them. But if we go to a local outzimers group, a thousand pounds is massive for them.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

And so it's it's it's trying to find out where our money can do the most the most for the charity and also the most for us in terms of showing what we do in uh outside in the community. So there are big projects that we'd like to support that the MCF, that's the uh Masonic Charitable Foundation down in London, they get grants and they tend to be more £50,000, £60,000 grants. And certainly there's just been one granted to um local charity Memphis where they're supporting a project for um uh kids who have been adopted or in care, have got special educational needs, and the parents need supporting. Now that came out from the MCF, massive, great big grant, and bizarrely, one of the guys in my lodge actually, you know, he is certainly he's totally the person who needs that help. Yeah, and so it's great that that the the local stuff can get big amounts of money through the MCF, as well as the little stuff that we can give, um, which is more focused to local charities in terms of the smaller charities, but we can be seen to be doing that as well, and it and you know it it does have a great effect the stuff from London coming in and the stuff that we can give out as our charities, and of course, let's not forget the individual lodges giving because lodges are great at individual giving, they don't necessarily give the money straight to LRFC, they will give money for projects in their lodges. Now, if they've got a great project, they can come to us, and I'm sure Mark will talk about this one, about how we can then match that funding, which is a great thing to be able to do.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

So, Mark, that's uh a great segue into how we were going to talk about the the charity stewards. There are members in each individual lodge who are responsible for charity and they have you know, you are their direct link, um, and you have that conversation with them on a regular basis and have that have that communication over time and find out what they want. But uh tell tell me about a little bit more about that.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Okay, so we're a relatively small province, we have 80 craft lodges, each charity steward for each craft lodge has a responsibility to engage with their membership uh and ensure that everyone's doing their best to support not only the their own lodge but uh uh the the pro the provincial charity, uh which is our charity, um and of course the master. So every year sometimes masters have a particular project, it's one that a charity that has touched them, and we can help the prov the uh the master and the charity steward by uh giving them some guidance on the best charities to choose locally, as Steve said. We can do deep dives into local charities, we would prefer to support a local charity because uh the money has both maximum impact and we can help with um match funding on on certain occasions. We have uh a limited resource. If you were to imagine uh if we were to say we had a budget, we we don't really, but if we had we if we had 80 lodges and each member was um given a reasonable sum these days, that's set around the £36 level uh a year level, um, that would give us a budget annually to be able to spend in Leicestershire and Rutland on small small deserving causes of £100,000.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

That's three pounds a month less than a cup of coffee just.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

And if if if I can just pop in on that one as well to support what Mark is saying, that the LRFC can only give to local charities. We don't give to national charities. So all the money that comes into the Leicestershire Rutland Freemasons charity goes to local charities. We do not give to big national charities. They have to be within Leicestershire and Rutland.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Absolutely, Steve. So uh that pot that we administer, and that's my my real job and responsibility of the charity office, is is a in-between festivals and major fundraising, is to make sure that we are just energizing the charity stewards to make sure that uh every Mason is doing what he can. And that's if it's always down to your own level of um uh resource, we're not asking for money that you haven't got, we're just asking you to just uh a point of your own conscience, just make a uh your donation. We as we say it's not a a huge sum of money, but this is the pot where we match fund. So if an individual lodge makes £250 or £500 and they come through the website, make a uh an application, the same as any one member of the general public can can do. So recently we've had outside of masonry cricket clubs, scouting movements, and they've been successful in their grant applications. Uh some have been supported by lodges. The cricket club uh was supported by Leicestershire's cricket lodge, Gabriel Newton, and the uh the Scouting claim uh we were we were able to give them two and a half thousand pounds, a massive sum of money. Um and we are looking to really support as many of these um small local deserving causes with that pot. But the pot needs to be topped up. Exactly. And we and and that's really where I hope as a new charity steward I really want to um engage the current uh 80 um charity stewards around the province and just um just give them whatever tools they can, support, just so they can connect with all those members that possibly aren't given at the current level, um, or are just on a an expired agreement and just get their um get the charity in the best shape it can be so that we can support as many of these and they're brilliant causes.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

And and and of course, as as I said at the beginning, it doesn't just have to be the individual giving, it can be lodge giving, and you can do it through social functions like the Pigeon Syndicate, like a a uh whatever evening, like uh uh the Ladies Festival, you know, that it can be around fun as well. Skittle evenings, I know that um we we had one of those and raised some money for those the the the funds of of charity. So it doesn't have to be just you know I'm giving my three pounds a month through my bank account and that's it. Yeah, and the other thing that we we are very much concentrating on in terms of uh three pounds a month. It's equivalent, three pounds a month, three pounds a month. That's all it is, mate. Mindset a lot higher. But you're leading by example. We can hope, yeah, we can hope. Um but but it you know that it's not just about that, it's uh also about um what we do in the community, and there are a lot of great Masons out there who are serving the community in other things that they volunteer for, you know, local scouting things, whether they work in the community as volunteers, in hospices, whatever it is. Um we we have things with um Wiggiston Lodge, they they go out and do their um food bank stuff, and you know, they're helping out there, so it's about serving the community, and I think the word charity has been taken over by this word service by um the the the the Grand Lodge down in London, and it and it really it's good because service it it sort of says a little bit more than charity. Charity does seem to say money, service is a little bit more, and that's really what masonry is about. We are serving our fellow human beings. Okay, if they can give money, we can provide money, then that's great. If you've not got the money to give, and you give what you can, but you can also give time, and time is probably more valuable than money as well, and that's so that's something else that we are hoping to set more of, that we're going to be able to get voluntary services, um uh sort of set up that we can enable and guide uh the Masonic fraternity into those those bits of volunteering that they may not know have been out there that that sort of interests them, you know. Maybe trustees of charities, maybe going to a food bank, as many many people do. Maybe it could be going to helping with scouts, maybe it could be doing whatever. Um, and and that's that's the next sort of level. And I think we're working with voluntary action less. Leicestershire now, who we just made a great contact with.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Yes, yeah, voluntary action uh uh Leicestershire.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Leicester, yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

Um and we we've made good contacts there, and they're helping us find those most deserving uh charities and uh add into our basically research and the their network of uh of good causes and charities, some of which we we can help because there is a level of charity um it needs to be recognised that we can't just um uh give anywhere, it needs to be an accredited charity. But um yeah, we're working and we're expanding our contacts and Steve earlier mentioned about Memphis. Uh we're working on getting closer um to some of the bigger local charities so that we can support them in the future with smaller grants that we're able to do. Uh obviously 50 odd thousand is if if we were to say a notional budget, would be too big for us locally, but that's a realistic sum for MCF. And um we appreciate that it's a m it's a it's a large sum of money, but uh that's in the bigger charity scheme scheme scheme uh funds uh a very essential project, and we can see the differences there, and we can work with uh with Memphis on a smaller level as well regionally. So yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Yeah, I I think I think you've kind of hit that aspect of service and what it means that the idea of that we can give time, care and compassion, it doesn't always have to be in monetary terms, and the idea of working with Memphis and bolstering them up with with assets and but also with time and and and time our time that we can go and give to volunteer. That leads me to a question of do you know, can you um tell the listeners about one person or a project that has stayed in your heart or has stayed with you that you would tell somebody who isn't a Mason or is new to Masonry or hasn't kind of experienced the craft yet or what we do to inspire them?

SPEAKER_02 24:18

Well, um I've been a Freemason since uh 1993, and over that period I've uh there's one family that I know we've we've really saved. Um it's not local, but it's the it's exactly the same. It's MCF have come in and they um I interviewed and put this young man at the time into uh into Mason Reed in my in my year and my first year in 2003. And um sadly uh their family has been challenged with all sorts of conditions. It's probably the worst luck I've ever uh ever come across. The the the wife has had cancer um uh twice and she's currently in treatment, and the husband has had um a brain tumour and um that's regrown and he's now in a care home, and the children are all under 15 uh and have uh their own um issues. But um what I'm proud to say that masonry has really stood up and is paying the mortgage, they will have no financial concerns and whatever health um opportunities uh sadly. I don't think that money will uh will afford them a better opportunity. But um I recently visited my friend and it's very sad but he is in the best place, uh he's outside of the home um and his wife's getting the best treatment. But if that wasn't there, um they would be lost, uh they wouldn't have their house, they would be in social housing, and their kids would be in a real mess because their family unit would be in even more challenged than it is. Um and for that for me, that is the single um uh go-to. Uh if I'm ever uh well I'm never, but ultimately yeah, uh that's that's the one I go to is as a young family still only in their forties with three young children, and they would be bereft if he wasn't a Freemason and MCF wasn't standing in. And I know uh that's been essential for and it's going on for years, and that will last to the end of life, and the kids will be looked after, and the mother's health is seriously compromised. We don't know where she's going. The father, David, he's not expected to last much longer. His brain uh is uh is deteriorating, and it sadly is um it's a really awful situation. But we've as a as a charity and as an organisation really looked after that family, and I'm very proud of that.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Thank you for sharing that story. I appreciate it. Um it's quite a hard-hitting story when you when we think there are young people involved who they don't have the same opportunities maybe that others do, and that they're now looking at a life that shortened in terms of their um lived experience with their parents, and what the MCF and masonry in general is doing is giving them an opportunity to live and they live the best lives at this moment in time by taking away the pressure, the one pressure that I I believe a lot of people will recognize that financial pressure. But it's also the it's also the service that is being done and the care that's being shown to them and allowing them to live the best that they can do. Thanks for sharing that, Mark.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

And the thing is that that's gonna be one of hundreds, if not thousands, of cases. You know, it's an extreme case. Um but you know, there are so many other people out there who are suffering that we can do that. But you know, to draw it back a little bit from just an individual, let's go to a charity that can help out. Um, you know, we've got a guy, um it's a present, uh, going to be our present Christmas challenge charity for the Lord Mayor of Leicester, the Joe Humphreys Memorial Trust, who she uh um Teresa, the Lord Mayor, wanted it uh to be her one of her two charities this year, and we're massively happy to support that. That is um uh a young lad who's out running and uh SAHD, uh heart condition, drop down dead. And um his his father um has set up the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust, not just to put in uh defibrillators into various people but to put in uh to action training for sports clubs about how you deal with a sudden collapse, um, also about um uh about rewarding kids, about pushing kids as well. So it's gone a little bit away just from that sort of that health thing to let's give kids opportunities as well. So they reward people who are good at arts, um music, uh things like that. They give them sort of uh grants and things, and it's fantastic to go to the Lord Lieutenant's awards evening where some of these kids were receiving the awards, and the you know what inspiring teenagers, you know, people who keep saying oh teenagers are all rubbish. No, go go and see, go and see some some kids like that. Um, and this is this is the connectivity of not just masonry but but of human life that I got chatting to Steve and I said, you know, we're we're gonna be supporting your charity, and I said, I know you. And it transpired that he and I had worked together 20 years ago trying to put a hockey pitch on St. Margaret's uh when he was um working for Leicester Council, and we went back all those years, and you know, that's that's one thing about Leicester. There are so many connections and um a lovely story, and to be able to help with him that we gave the Lord Mayor £5,000 just as the start of what helped hopefully we're going to be able to double that at least with our Christmas giving, and that is going to support um not just one family but it's going to support a community with DFibs, with training clubs, with things that are supporting kids like that. And it makes that £5,000 makes a heck of a lot of difference.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

This is wider than just people think is oh it's Freemasonry. No, this is much wider. These are people who've never been touched by masonry. Totally. And um I know that places like the Leicester City hockey now have a defibrillator that since they've had their um new pitch installed there. Um and I've seen other other sporting venues in Leicester and Leicestershire using these, and the fact that um the charity here um is supporting an organization that is actively putting those in, actively looking for people to volunteer to to go in and we train, and that means we're training the next generation. That the kids are understanding exactly what it means. And as you say, teenagers, then they're not all as bad as people make out. No, they're not. Don't get me started. I I it's okay, I won't then. Um so I think that's a bit of a um a stop press moment to look at what the char uh where Freemasonry is going, its goals for the province over the next uh year or so.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

The Christmas charity will be this, that that's uh Well we we have we have two two uh charities that we are going. We're going back to our Christmas collection. Um, and so we usually try and support the Lord Mayor's charity. Uh last year was was great. I think we gave them about £12,500 for I think it was a prostate, something like that. Yeah, prostate. Um and work with with with with the last Lord Mayor very closely. This year we're working with them, and it's going to be split that amount of money that we collect across the lodges in Christmas between uh Joe Humphreys Memorial Trust, which is the Lord Mayor's charity, and Loros, because Loros is struggling, uh, as most people will know, um Loros is struggling massively and is having to cut services, and by cutting services you are cutting help to people that need it. And so Loros again is um is coming up on our uh our radar and we're going to be um dividing the money between Joe Humphreys Trust and Loros. So all of that will be coming out um be in the in the new season so that people will know where that money is going. But of course, every every three, four months we we have a meeting where other charities are supported.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

Absolutely, yes. So the uh if uh any charity or uh has uh applied or lodged through our uh website link, we will pick up on these uh on a quarterly meetings um where we decide um the merit of the application and um and we look forward to these. These are a a great opportunity for us to engage. And then after each meeting, we're followed up by a trustees meeting that ratify the grants that the uh committee has uh uh uh has suggested. And then as soon as we can after the trustees' meeting, that money is delivered. And that's it exactly where we want to be, uh getting the money straight into the uh the places where it's needed as quick as we can.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

And and it's also not just about um doom and gloom charities, all right, or doom and gloom projects. We also support community projects that are going to help um help across, hopefully, you know, the nation maybe. Uh I'll give you a quick for instance, we're looking at the moment with a um charity uh well it's the uh DMU. DMU University came to us and said they have a shoemaking charity, uh shoemaking course, and it is the only one that is left in the UK. Okay, at DMU. Now, if you think about the connections that Leicester Masons have with the boot and shoot industry, the history that we go back to with Ben Yun, who um was our grand treasurer, who gave Leicestershire uh Bradgate Park and Western Park head of British United shoes, you think of the Olivers, you think of the Hunts, uh, you think of the Corus, all of that historical stuff that was there at the beginning of the 1900s, and you know, many of these guys were Masons serving the community, and we're looking to say, well, could we possibly do a scholarship to bring in a student from a low-income background into that somebody might be interested in developing this new skill that they want to continue with and uh continue the tradition of shoemaking within England, within UK, and specifically, you know, maybe Northamptonshire with Lokes and Barkers and all that lot, um, and so that we can support possibly doing a Leicestershire and Rutland Freemasons scholarship for that individual kid. We're also looking to see whether we can support um children who wish to try and play the organ uh again. You think about um I mean the the reduction in school of um music lessons, there isn't there isn't it's not there anymore. And so therefore, things like us luckily we have a music legacy that is there for serving such purposes, and we're looking at well, are there children that would like to try and play uh an instrument like that? Because that you know, you're not gonna just just get that. And we have been approached by somebody who who came across and did exactly that. So it's not just all the doom and gloom stuff, which is massively important, but there are projects that are inspiring as well for the community that we're out there supporting that would not exist without our support.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

I think the idea of something as far out as an organ scholarship. I I that's brilliant. I I happen to know that organs online on TikTok and other social media and Instagram, they're huge at the moment. The people the people are playing organs, they go around the world, they go around uh Europe and into Europe and playing some of the finest organs in the world, musicians, they it cross-genre. So we're really sort of stepping into that next stage of where does service start for us.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

And absolutely, and and if you think about that, that might feed back hopefully into our Masonic world where you know that music is so important in our our our ceremonies and uh our festive boards, you know, the singing and that sort of so so those are the sorts of things that we can encourage within the community that hopefully will feed back as well into us at some point. Um, but at the same time that we are we are uh keeping alive some historical traditions. And you know, people talk about oh, we don't want change in masonry and traditions are important. Yes, they are, change will happen, but there are some traditions that you know we have to try and help keep alive. That will die off if there's not the support for that. We don't just go, oh, we want those happening. You've got to do something about it. Yeah, and as an alumni of DMU, I fully support anything of and of course we have the uh Castle uh Castle um uh lodge um that are the university lodge associated with DMU. So we have again connections there. So anything that connects Freemasonry with the the the wider world as well is very important.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

Mark, where do you see the role of service, the role of charity in Freemasonry heading over the next decade, over the next few years? I know you've just started your role in the province, in the in Leicestershire and Rutlands, but where do you see that role of service or um your where would you like to take it? What would be where would you want to take this role in Freemasonry?

SPEAKER_02 38:22

Oh that's my question. But yes. Um I've been in this job of putting it. No, it's um as my um background is entrepreneurial, I look to uh using the skills uh that we've got within the province and connecting those all together and building teams of enthusiastic Masons that just really want to uh have some fun and really uh make a difference, use their time, engage their families as well. It's not something you want to do just on your own. Um we've recently um just had the first race day, which was um an idea I brought to the province, and I'm happy to receive other ideas from anywhere in uh in or outside of the province that that we can do.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

I'd like to add it wasn't Masons running against each other. Uh Leicestershire and Rutland were sponsors of a horse race at the Leicester race course.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

Yes, I don't be, yes. Sorry, Gasan, thanks for explaining that. But yes, uh I've got the opportunity to badge uh an existing uh family fund day at Leicester Races, which is very successful and has thousands of uh members of the general public there every August. They had a free fund fair, and Leicestershire and Rutland supported it by through the charity office and selling tables through uh uh charity stewards. We sold out a marquee and there was virtually 200 people, and we've made over £20,000. On this occasion, 100% of that went to Teenage Cancer Trusts.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

And and uh important to say that none of that we we gave no money to the race course, or that it was all about service and supporting that. It was individual Freemasons who put their money in to sponsor a race, and uh one one of the guys was was uh sweet enough to call it the Freemasons Phillies Race, I think it was.

SPEAKER_02 40:26

Absolutely. It was on um ITV 4, so live TV with Leicestershire and Rutland's uh uh logos in the background. We were honoured to have uh the Lord and Lady Mayor there, as well as our uh uh provincial grandmaster and his lady. It was a really good day. And the benefit, and Steve's right to say that uh Freemasons only put their hands in their pockets, and the charity office uh administered the race. Uh and so we banked the money which um from the ticket sales, we had an auction, and um we managed to sell raffle tickets on the day. And so basically, with the support of Teenage Cancer Trusts themselves and the race course, we put an event together in the general community, which was well publicised, well received, and ultimately I think we've engaged or shown Leicestershire uh and Rutland uh Freemasons in a different right to people who weren't going to see us um because they just don't come into our buildings and not they're not in our community.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Yeah, okay. And and and that's part of the thing that it's not just about um people coming into the building on an open day here, it's about that service going out there and showing what we do. And Mark Mark did a fantastic job on that day, and it's been very successful. And you know, well that that now can lead to some more ideas that we we want to try and um support. Uh we're doing we're doing um one in um three weeks' time. Gosh, where's the where's the year going? In September that we're supporting University Hospitals Trust, their Walk for Heroes. Um for the they're building a um uh a garden outside the palliative care unit and it's gonna cost a lot of money. They want to get money supported now to put this this event on, it's gonna cost them £3,000. So we have sponsored them to £3,000 so that it means that every single penny that they make goes back to them. There is no cost for them. Um, and that again will be out there. We will have um sort of you know, Leicestershire Freemasons Charity have supported this event September the 13th at Judge Meadow College. If anybody wants to join in that walk, um please, you know, do go ahead and do it. Um, but again, that's that's something again, going out into the community and being there, not just standing behind our walls and handing out checks.

SPEAKER_01 42:50

Yeah. I think I think that's answered the question: where do we see Freemasonry, our service to Freemasonry, our service to Freemasonry will now be in the community. It won't be, as you say, behind the walls, uh hidden behind veils of secrecy. It's not that. We're out there serving and helping and showing that kindness and care and compassion which we all have individually, but we're now being able to show it collectively and actually going out. And um uh I have to say I was at the race course and it was a it was a huge success because there were more people listening and asking the questions. Oh, so this is what you do, this is the charity. Oh, what the oh and they again it became charity, and then we sort of start talking about the fact that yeah, it's service, this is what we're doing.

SPEAKER_00 43:43

And it's it's interesting talking to our membership office uh a couple of days ago. We've had a spike in um enquiries uh for membership after that, and they've seen what we do, and they would like to maybe get a piece of this, and you know, as as we say, we we try and make good men better, and hopefully that may have picked up some good men and uh they come and join us and we can can help make them better.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

I think on that really positive note, I'd like to say thank you to both Mark and Steve for joining me today. Um, that's all we have time of. Uh, but I think we've had a real insight into how charity or service isn't just part of Freemasonry, it is its beating heart, it's the centre. So thank you, Mark, thank you, Steve, for sharing your experiences and showing us the relevance. And showing us the difference what actually Freemasonry makes, both here in Leicestershire and Rutland, but also beyond. And thank you to our listeners for joining us. If you'd like to learn more about uh the Masonic charity or um funds and grants, uh and you or you'd like to get involved, you can visit the website which will be in the notes on this edition. Until next time, keep well and keep giving wherever you can. Thank you. This has been SquareTalk.