Southport Masons rally in support of The Running Deacon who raised over £3,500 for charity in a single afternoon. Charity remains a cornerstone of Masonry, and a central feature of its character. This was embodied by one of the hardest working and most popular Masons in Southport.
Richard Jenkinson, despite already serving as an acting Provincial Junior Grand Deacon and working full time, decided to run the April 2024 London marathon in aid of the Masonic Hall Foundation. The task of raising money for charity began as early as that of the training. A bucket was placed in the bar of the Southport Masonic Hall, and emails were regularly sent out from the group publicising the good cause and asking fellow Masons to support Richard.
This publicity was augmented by Richard himself who, as an acting deacon, had spent the year travelling the province in support of the senior officers, often 2 or 3 times a week. Indeed, managing calories when eating 2 and 3 course meals at the festive boards has been one of the greatest challenges! However, it also offered ample opportunity to meet new people and despite Richard’s natural reserve and desire to avoid being centre of attention, the topic of the marathon couldn’t help but be a topic of interest.
The Masons of West Lancashire rallied around Richard, who is a proud member of Fermor Lodge No 1313 and Fermor Chapter No 1313 and both based in Southport. Private individuals, lodges, chapters and other Masonic Orders all played their part and it became extremely popular for coins and especially notes to be thrown into the charity bucket at the bar. A number of lodges went the extra mile and ran special raffles at their own festive boards with the proceeds being donated to the sponsorship. In total a staggering £2,104.03 was raised by the bucket along and a further £1,430.55 direct donations to give a grand total (at time of interview) of £3,534.58.
As those who have run a marathon will surely testify, the distance training is in itself an achievement. Running 2 or 3 times a week, it is necessary to build up the distance gradually, in order to train the body and avoid injury. As it gets close to the marathon date itself the distances, and time spent running, increases to the point 26 miles is achievable. Doing this while working full time and holding a Provincial office is no small achievement and nor is the speed with which the marathon was run.
Richard’s positive attitude continues to amaze, as does his tireless energy. Despite only just coming to the end of his year as an acting deacon, Richard has already agreed to take over the duties of Group Secretary for Southport.
In the meantime, Richard would like to personally thank all those individuals, lodges, chapters and other Masonic Orders who contributed to his cause, which has been an amazing year and thanks to all those kind individuals it’s been an amazing year for charity as well.