The Festival system has served the Masonic Charities well for over 200 years, but until now there has been no framework for sharing ideas and learning from others, something which is increasingly important as charity fundraising becomes ever more professional.

The Festival Forum is one of several new initiatives planned by the Trust following a fundamental review of current practice and the development of a new public relations and fundraising strategy.

Since then he has chaired the PR and Fundraising Committee and until recently he also chaired the Property Working Party, which is planning the redevelopment of the Trust’s Great Queen Street properties following the move to Freemasons’ Hall.

His business interests include farming, forestry and property and he is a well-known researcher, consultant and conference presenter on management and organisation development topics.

Mike, a former MP, served as visiting Professor at Lancaster University and is the author of more than 20 books on teambuilding, change and management skills.

Recently he served as marketing director of the Nottinghamshire 2007 Festival Appeal for the Masonic Samaritan Fund and was chairman of the Festival Event Committee.

He praised his predecessor, Andrew Stebbings, who had ably steered the Trust through a period of major change, but said the Trust still face major challenges such as the erosion of the traditional family unit and values, violence and drug abuse.

The Pro Grand Master, Lord Northampton, and Lady Northampton together with the new RMTGB President, Dr Mike Woodcock, were delighted to hear that the Province had raised a magnificent sum of £3,559,366 for the Trust.
As part of their fundraising activities, the Province organised the ‘Big Event’, a series of sponsored activities in support of the Trust, which took place in July 2007.

The climax of their efforts was to throw the Provincial Grand Master, Eric Stuart-Bamford out of an airplane at 13,000 feet – albeit with a parachute! This effort raised more than £30,000 for the RMTGB.

During the Festival dinner, seven of the 16 people who joined the PGM in his parachute jump were presented with a special lapel badge marking their achievement. To commemorate his own successful return to earth, the PGM was then presented with his own ‘wings’ by Mike Woodcock.

Other members of the Province raised money by cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End, whilst others climbed Ben Nevis, ran in the London Marathon, walked the length of Hadrian’s Wall or found some other innovative and fun way to raise the big sum.

Everyclick.com works just like any other search engine, but allows the users to choose the charity they would like to benefit from their searching. The revenue generated for charities comes from companies that advertise on the site. There is no sign up fee or hidden charge to the user or the charity, it’s free giving. Charities of all sizes are benefiting from this new fundraising service, they range from Cancer Research to small village schools. If 10% of the UK online population used Everyclick.com for their searches, an additional £172,000 would be raised for charity every day.

“Most of us wish we could give more, now we can.  Everyclick is a really simple way to raise money for free, just by doing something you already do” said Polly Gowers CEO, co- founder and winner of the WEBA Ethical Entrepreneur of the year 2007. “As we see it, every search that is not raising money for charity is a search wasted.”  Everyclick.com has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity, please see the website for an up-to-date total.

The move will bring considerable costs savings for the Central Masonic Charities and the ability to cooperate in the future.  The Trust’s former offices are being refurbished and will provide income for the existing endowment.

For the Trust, it means that Ed’s efforts are recognised immediately and that much needed funds are transferred into the working account to disburse to our beneficiaries.

There are a number of Event pages set up for the upcoming festivals from 2009 to 2013 HERE and the main fund raising page is HERE.

Finally, if you would like to sponsor Ed and support the 26th Anniversary, 2011 Festival, please use the link below.

The Justgiving site allows sponsors to donate online and support various events including Festivals and Gift Aid is calculated and added to eligible donations.

The Province have set up a dedicated web site to assist their fund-raising efforts.  Fund-Raising Manager, Ray Collings, stated “We are delighted that the Masons of Devonshire have demonstrated their commitment to the Festival.  This significant sum means that we do not have to tap into our reserves to cover the assistance to our beneficiaries.  We are grateful to everyone for their efforts and their support of our important work”.

The launch concluded with an address by the Provincial Grand Master and the RMTGB is confident that under his leadership the Brethren of the Province of Lincolnshire will be motivated to achieve success in their Festival appeal once again.