View the photographs taken at the Annual Provincial Lunch at the Bear Hotel, Cowbridge on Sunday 7th August 2016
The annual Provincial lunch took place at the Bear Hotel, Cowbridge. In his address, the Provincial Grand Master Rt W Bro Gareth Jones OBE welcomed and thanked the outgoing Provincial Officers for their valued services to the Province during the past Masonic year and wished the the newly appointed Provincial Officers a great year ahead.
He mentioned that this particular occasion was special in that for the first time the Brethren and their partners who serve the Province on a day in, day out basis had also been invited.
It was a great delight to welcome and thank the members of the 2021 Festival committee who work extremely hard to ensure the 2021 Festival is a significant success and raising so far in excess of £2,000,000 and are aiming to achieve as near as they possibly can the target of £5,000,000.
He also thanked the Diary and Year book contributors who work hard to deliver these very high quality publications for our use, but also raising very significant amounts of money for the Friends of Albert Edward Prince of Wales Court.
The Provincial Grand Master said it was a great pleasure to invite along the Provincial Application Officers. Throughout the year under the watchful eye of W Bro George the Provincial Grand Almoner, they do a huge amount of work in the background to make sure the monies raised by Freemasons across England and Wales are targeted to the most needy and their dependants in our society.
He went on to welcome VW Brother Andrew Gretton, Chairman of the Masonic Benevolent Fund and his committee, who look after very significant sums of money which are put to good use to ensure that we do as as Freemasons what we do best, that is, while we are enjoying ourselves we make sure look after those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
Finally, the Provincial Grand Master welcomed and thanked those who work tirelessly throughout the year in the Provincial Office. In particular, he recognised the significant planning and preparation which had gone into organising this annual event, in particular by W Bro John Bamsey.
Finally the the Provincial Grand Master, on behalf of the Brethren, thanked the Ladies for allowing us to enjoy our Freemasonry and engage more with our local communities and help others who are in need. To do more to develop good men into better men and so improve Freemasonry for the future for ourselves and future generations.
Photographs by kind permission of W.Bro. Phillip Edwards JP