Due to the Christmas holidays, Mereside Lodge No 6360 and Great Marton Lodge No 3985 who meet on the same week in December at Blackpool Masonic Hall, regularly hold a joint meeting in December. This year both lodges decided it would be a great opportunity for the lodges to hold a ‘ladies and gents to dine’ Christmas evening.
The brethren, guests and ladies filled the lodge room at Blackpool Masonic Hall after both lodges had closed to witness Sir Peter Roscow KLB, past master of Mereside Lodge, present a cheque for £500 to Samantha Ashcroft of Headway and to listen to a talk on Headway charity given by Samantha.
Mereside Lodge member John Bellhouse introduced Samantha who thanked John for the introduction and the brethren for their kind donation which will be used to make the lives of head injury sufferers a little better.
Samantha went on to explain that Headway is a charity which endeavours to improve the lives of people who have suffered head and brain injury. Headway offers a space for people to meet and socialise and organise social events such as day trips.
Also available are ‘drop-in’ sessions where people can relax and receive physiotherapy, learn about first aid and brain injury awareness. Advice on welfare and legal issues is also available should the need arise.
Headway has a dedicated team of trustees, committee members, volunteers and fund-raisers who all work together for the good of the charity.
After the talk by Headway, Blackpool Group Membership Officer, Colin Rodgers gave an informative talk on the history and origins of Freemasonry which was of great interest to the guests and Masons alike.
After the talks, there was a brief ‘question and answer’ session before everyone retired to the dining room for a fine Christmas meal complete with crackers and sublime jokes.