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Masonic Support for "The Shed"

What is a Masonic Toast

A festive board, or dinner, normally follows a lodge meeting. While fairly formal with speeches and toasts it is marked by the sound of friendly discussion, sometimes singing and plenty of fun and laughter.

On the subject of formal Masonic toasts the format of these vary with the lodge but there is always a toast to the Queen and to The Grand Master followed by others which vary according to the ceremony. For instance when there is a new initiate he is toasted and often responds. In some lodges they sing the Initiates song.

Masonic Support for "The Shed"

General

L-R: Mike Barlow, The WM. David McGovern and Tony Woods

The WM of the Lodge of Faith No.581, when asked to which charity he would like to donate £200 from our charity account, instantly suggested “The Shed”, a local Tameside Charity supporting Tameside citizens.
Arrangements were duly made to visit the Shed and present the cheque to their Co-ordinator, Mike Barlow. He kindly invited us to tour the several Sheds on their premises.

A young man showing our WM his renovation of an old chair
Shed after Shed were full of the many and various examples of the work they do. They offer a safe, friendly and inclusive workshop where men (and women on Fridays) can come together to work, share ideas and experiences and, importantly, make friends.
There are areas for Bee Keeping, Hen Coops, Cooking, Woodwork and many other areas all to the advantage and interest  of the attendees.
Mike mentioned that they have a great reliance on voluntary help and charitable donations such as ours which could be in the form of materials as well as financial.

Lunchroom and Cooking department

The tenets of their work are:

  1. Avoid social isolation of older men.
  2. Encourage independent living and a healthy lifestyle.
  3. Promote lifelong learning.
  4. Encourage development of new and sharing of existing skills.
  5. Provide therapeutic support through practical activities for men with health issues and who require post illness support for strokes, cardiovascular problems, mild dementia, bereavement, depression and severe head injuries, etc. so they are better able to manage their mental health and lifestyle issues.

It’s reasonable to say that the donation presented by the Lodge of Faith will have been gratefully received and faithfully applied.

If anyone would like to visit The Shed contact them on: (0161) 368 4974 or call in at The Together Centre @ Loxley House, Birch Lane, Dukinfield, SK16 5AU.

http://www.theshedtameside.org.uk

Article and Photos by Peter Bibby