The League of Welldoers is Liverpool’s oldest independent charity and was founded by Herbert Lee Jackson Jones, or Lee Jones as he was usually known in later life. Herbert, who was studying theology at Liverpool College, was considering a career within the church. However, it is thought that being moved by the appalling poverty in Liverpool, and particularly its effect on children, he founded the Liverpool Food Association in 1893.
The association moved into a disused cotton warehouse in Limekiln Road, which is just off Scotland Road, and gathering a small staff of volunteers, they began to distribute food and school meals to school children across the city. Changing its name to the Liverpool Food and Betterment Association in 1898, it eventually became The League of Welldoers in 1909, taking its name from The New Testament verse, Galatians 6:9 ‘And let us not be weary in welldoing’.
Herbert and the league could also be considered the forerunner of the ‘Meals on Wheels’ service, with volunteers delivering meals to the bedridden and sick, as with no welfare state in existence, having no money or being unable to work, could easily lead to starvation. The centre was used as a hospital to treat the poor, and as a means of cultural betterment, with regular open-air concerts often held in the courtyards and alleyways within the environs of Scotland Road.
Herbert, who lived at the centre for the rest of his life, was obviously held in very high esteem, as when it was known that he was gravely ill, huge crowds gathered at the centre to pray with 1,000s lining the procession for his funeral in October 1936.
In the 1940’s with the introduction of the National Assistance Act, and the formation of the National Health Service in 1948, the services provided by the centre, or the ’Lee Jones’ as it is affectionately known, obviously changed. The league has evolved in the modern era, to become a social hub, with regular activities with a pensioner’s club, daily lunches, ukulele classes, courtyard community garden and the ‘Lee Jones’ boxing club, as well as many other activities, with all funds being raised from voluntary fund-raising activities and individual donations.
Thanks to the efforts of Peter Duggan, Brian Gillbanks, Paul Sinclair, David Hitchmough and Clifton John Williams, as well as many other volunteers too many to name, from various lodges to name a few, Centurions of Merseyside Coronation Lodge No 2923, Liverpool Charter Lodge No 7650, and Hardshaw Lodge No8722. The centre has now acquired a new function, to serve as a new Masonic lodge meeting place.
They have all worked extremely hard to furnish a new lodge room, which has been handsomely decorated, with robing room and storage facilities, on site catering and a large parking area, it is an impressive hall with all the modern facilities one would come to expect. It is proposed to name the new lodge room after the late wife of Peter, Marilyn Duggan, who was a Past Master of Joyous Lodge No 18, and a Trustee of the League.
At present, the University Lodge of Liverpool No 4274 have made this their new home, and the University Chapter of Liverpool No 4274 has also followed suit. Peter explaining that they are happy to field enquiries from other lodges, chapters and other Masonic Orders if they are looking for a new meeting place.
Every year, the centre hosts a pensioners Christmas Dinner, with over 120 in attendance, and in 2024, chef, Paul Elackman, a fellow craft Mason of Liverpool Charter Lodge, was not only cooking the food in the centre kitchen but had also very kindly donated all the food at his own cost.
A veritable army of Masonic volunteers was on hand with members of the University Lodge of Liverpool also helping to serve food to the diners, consisting of Peter Duggan, Brian Gillbanks, John Daly, Ken Orme, Mike Basnett and Dwayne Jenkins, as well as other volunteers who wished to remain nameless. Providing entertainment was centre manager, Tony Bose, who was delighted by the volunteers and the partnership between the league and the various lodges.
The Christmas Dinner was a huge success, in part due to the charitable giving which not only can be measured in terms of sums donated, but also through the giving up of one’s time to help and support a community. The League of Welldoers was founded on the principles of charity, and as the distinguishing characteristic of a Freemasons heart, can clearly be seen in practice with those volunteers who helped to make the day a very enjoyable event for all.
