Chairman's Page

As Chairman of the Province of Nottinghamshire's 2007 Festival Appeal on behalf of the New Masonic Samaritan Fund(NMSF), I have very much pleasure in welcoming you and wish to thank you for your interest in visiting our Web Site.

In today's competitive world with so many demands on one's charitable giving, the Executive Committee of the 2007 Festival Appeal felt the need to be innovative and to reach out to the wider masonic audience and to share with you our plans and aspirations.

As you may know, there are four principal Masonic Charities operating within the English Constitution, namely the Masonic Trust for Boys and Girls, the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution, The Grand Charity and the New Masonic Samaritan Fund.

The Festival system is an ingenious way of raising funds from the membership of the Craft in support of the work of each of these charities.  A Festival runs for a period of eight years and each of the four principal Masonic charities has one Masonic Province celebrating the conclusion of its Festival each year.

The New Masonic Samaritan Fund, was founded in 1990 and is only just beginning to benefit from the Festival system.  Consequently and not withstanding start-up funding received from The Grand Charity and the Cornwallis Appeal, the NMSF has limited investment income to support its activities and must rely very heavily on current donations to fulfil the needs of its petitioners.  It is the only principal Masonic Charity within the English Constitution to care for sick and needy Freemasons, their wives, widows, children and dependants.

This then is the challenge we face in the Province of Nottinghamshire, which currently numbers about 4,200 Freemasons, where we have set ourselves a target of raising at least £3 million by mid 2007.

We intend to keep you informed of our progress by updating this site on a regular basis and hope that you may wish to support our endeavours by your encouragement and even, perhaps, by making a donation!

Once again, thank you for visiting us and for your interest.

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity"

[ Home ]

Send mail to notts2007@freemasonry.org   with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1998 Province of Nottinghamshire 2007 Festival Appeal
Last modified: April 21, 1999