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The Province of East Lancashire holds certain key, annual events, and of course the Royal Arch Banquet is amongst the most eagerly anticipated.
Saturday 8th June saw the Royal Arch Banquet being held at Manchester Hall. A most magnificent event in the most opulent of venues. One hundred and forty attended the event with Companions in dinner dress and ladies looking splendid in an array of beautiful gowns.
A champagne and canapes reception, held in the Goulburn Lodge room, where one and all mingled with the Most Excellent Grand Superintendent and Lady Trippier. Friends from within the Royal Arch congregating in the most relaxed atmosphere.
Traditionally it is The Deputy Grand Superintendent who hosts the banquet and EComp Martin Roche delivered an extremely warm, if not highly humorous, welcome to a packed room which was then followed by a six course banquet served in the Goulburn dining room.

The room is beautifully decorated and your eye is instantly drawn to the captivating chandelier. All the tables were resplendent suitably matched by the quality of the dinner. All in attendance were extremely well catered for by the very professional and equally courteous Manchester Hall team.In recent years and through the enormous generosity of the invited guests, the Royal Arch Banquet has managed to accumulate sufficient funds to be able to make generous donations to a number of very worthwhile causes.

The Second Provincial Grand Principal, EComp Harvey Basger, announced that the following donations would be made;
£500 to Northern Oesophago-gatric Cancer fund, Europe’s largest and most revered oesophago-gastric cancer unit.
£500 to Prostate Cancer Research.
£1000 to Child Action North West, in support of children and young people.
£1000 to Trafford Domestic Abuse, in support of individuals and families.
£1000 to Dementia UK.
£5000 to The Christie in memory of the late Paul Rose PGSwdB, PastDepGSupt.
The announcement of the donations was particularly well received and EComp Harvey Basger reiterated his grateful thanks to all present for their past support and contributions and hopefully their continued support in the future.

In true Masonic tradition, The Banquet apart from being a wonderful social evening, clearly serves to provide assistance to those most in need.
This year, with the sale of raffle tickets along with the sale of wine and charitable contributions, the event raised a further £2,000.
A number of volunteers contributed to the success of the Banquet this year, as they do each year, but none more so than EComp Peter Messum and EComp David Thompson who work tirelessly for the event and to whom we must give our grateful thanks.
The Royal Arch Banquet continues to be one of the stellar social events in the Provincial Calendar, an invitation to which is highly sought after.
Thank you to all those who attended and to all those on the list of invitees please save the date of next year’s event, that of Saturday 13th June 2020.

Report and Pictures from Leigh Rickett