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Making Visiting Work

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Over the last few months we have been fortunate to have had a number of Middlesex Lodges perform ceremonies on our behalf and it’s always great to get positive feed back.

Our candidate and his father

So, on one of my recent tours of Masonic websites, I came across this entry on the website of Middlesex St.Andrews Lodge No.8897. A Lodge with great traditions and ritual, who recently performed a Raising ceremony for one of our members.
The text was as follows:
“Many thanks go to North Harrow Lodge No. 6557 for giving a purpose to our meeting on 22nd March 2013. Bro. James Flood was raised by Middlesex St. Andrews and proved to be an exceptional candidate. Our March meeting was looking pretty grim a couple of months ago but with the assistance and co-operation of North Harrow Lodge, this meeting proved to be a pleasant change. One sour note (from our point of view) was the Festive Board, where the North Harrow visitors managed to walk off with all of the raffle prizes, which included some exceptional bottles of whisky!”

Their Secretary
Their W.M 

The hospitality shown to the six North Harrow visitors by Middlesex St.Andrews was exceptional, even though we did win three bottles of malt whisky and a bottle of wine ! Oopps !! Thank you from all at North Harrow !!!

A Time for Reflection

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Howard

A year has passed and I thought It’s time to reflect on the work that has been achieved with the help of many of the Masonic Lodges in the Province of Middlesex.
Over the last twelve months North Harrow Lodge has performed ELEVEN  initiations, ONE passing and TWO Raisings and welcomed into our fold a further THREE Joining Members.

James & his Father Richard

FOUR other Middlesex Lodges namely Hegeston 5220 (3), Haste Hill 7592 (2), Campbell 1415 (2) and Hercies 9651, have performed EIGHT Ceremonies of Passing on our behalf and a further SEVEN Lodges namely  Middx St.Davids 5460 (2), Syon 7394, Wealdstone 5236, Middx St.Andrews 8897, Wembley 2914, The Hale 5141 and Sudbury 4529, have performed EIGHT Ceremonies of Raising for us.

Feliciano

Our sincere thanks and gratitude go to these Lodges for performing some outstanding rituals, extending the hand of friendship and have ultimately helped us to clear the THIRTY ceremonies that we had projected at the start of 2012. (Photographs are of some of this year’s Master Masons in no particular ) and what a great bunch they are!!!!

The Sec with Navin

That has also meant that we have made over THIRTY visits to other Lodges in the last year and built a friendship that, I am sure, will last well into the future. My special thanks must also go to our Worshipful Master W.Bro Terry Clayfield who has accompanied me on most occasions in support of our candidates.
Our TEN new Master Masons continue to impress us.  ALL have taken an office in the Lodge which range from Stewards to SD and play an active part in the ceremonies, festive boards and Lodge of Instruction meetings.

Feliciano & Rimal

It has enthused the membership and empowered the new brethren to progress.
Now we look forward to the future and have another THREE initiations scheduled and a total of THIRTEEN 2nd and 3rd Degrees outstanding.

Aamir, Our W.M  & Howard
Simon & Guy (VO)

From November last year, we have also continued to share our success with others by passing TEN Candidates for initiation to NINE Lodges.
70% of our initiates have come through our website or Social Media and the rest through their respective connections.
Lets hope that our success in membership will encourage more Lodges to embrace the Internet as a tool in recruitment.

Showing the Way Forward

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As a follow up on my last post. I felt honoured to have been asked by UGLE to present one of four case studies into how North Harrow Lodge has been successful  in recruiting an unprecedented number of  new members through it’s Website and Social Media presence.
It must have been an early start for most of the delegates who attended the 5th Annual Mentoring Conference at Freemasons’ Hall on Wednesday 6th March as they came from all parts of the country for the 11am start. I found myself travelling into Central London on the tube at about 8.30 in the morning, something I have not experienced before, that is at “rush hour”. Standing room only !! more like a cattle truck. Every other person was either on a mobile phone or an electronic device. (This is the way forward to attract potential member ! He Thinks)

So… On entering the portals of Freemasons’Hall, I was greeted by a most pleasant attendant who directed me to Lodge Room no.1 which was to be the main reception room for the day and from where I was to deliver my 5 presentations.
The Laptop, screen, projector and handouts had all been prepared for me in advance by Louise who is the  PA to Nigel Brown, Grand Secretary and what a most efficient young lady, even my PowerPoint presentation had already been loaded on the machine.

Nigel Brown welcoming the delegates
Courtesy of UGLE

By 10.30 the room was awash with delegates getting to know each other over a cup of tea or coffee and eager to hear the case studies.
At exactly 11am, Nigel Brown gave his welcome speech and afterwards introduced  Jessica Bondy who spoke about the way forward to celebrate  the Tercentennial of UGLE in 2017.

My closing slide.

Then the delegates split into 5 groups of about 15 and were led off in different directions to hear case studies from The Connaught Club , De La Pole Lodge,  Wenceslas Lodge and North Harrow Lodge  each were to take 25 minutes to include any questions and allow a further  5 minutes for the delegates to rotate on to the next presentation.

A welcomed lunch break

So, I gave my presentation 5 times throughout the day. It was very well received by all those present who were able to ask as many questions as they wished subject to time permitting.
A PDF of my PowerPoint is available  from our website Click here to view

James Bartlett closing the conference
Courtesy of UGLE

At the end of the day James Bartlett thanked all those present for attending and hoped they were able to take back to their respective Provinces and Districts a few ideas on recruitment and retention before before closing  the proceedings for another year.
Some Photographs courtesy of  UGLE

UGLE Mentoring Conference 2013

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North Harrow Lodge has been invited to present one of four case studies on the success of it’s recruitment at the 5th Annual UGLE Mentoring Conference being held at Freemasons’ Hall on the 6th March 2013.
Focusing on Masonic mentoring and membership retention, the conference will be attended by delegates from Metropolitan Grand Lodge and  Provincial and District Grand Lodges throughout the world – over 70 delegates in total have been invited.

Three of the case studies will be from Lodges who have taken different approaches to recruitment and mentoring but achieved the same positive end result, whilst the fourth will be from The Connaught Club who have attracted over 200 young Freemasons as members.
I have been asked to deliver North Harrow’s presentation which will discuss over the course of the day how the Lodge has attracted and subsequently initiated 19 candidates in three years with the help of it’s Website and Social Media presence.
It is such an honour for me to be asked to present this case study on behalf of North Harrow and be able to share our knowledge and experiences that others may also benefit.
Acknowledgement is given to The Connaught Club for some of the above content. http://www.connaughtclub.org/  They are always looking for young masonic members !!

Another One bites the Dust

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Over the last year we have supported many Lodges with ceremonies and introduced candidates obtained through our website to a number of them.
However, inevitably there are some Lodges that have decided to hand back their warrant and subsequently close.

One of these is Haste Hill Lodge no.7592. We have been fortunate to get to know them over the last few months as they have performed a couple of our second degree ceremonies.
Last night was their penultimate meeting and they performed an excellent ceremony on our behalf to the highest standard. It’s a shame that a Lodge that has such passion is dogged by reduced numbers, ill health and an ageing membership that has succumb to closure.
It was a very sad occasion to hear the secretary read the Notice of Motion to close the Lodge at their May meeting and to return the Lodge Warrant to the PGM after 50 years. They also have to sell off their Lodge furniture in order to pay off outstanding Lodge debts, a very sad state if affairs. If you are interested in obtaining any spare regalia, Contact the Haste Hill  Lodge Secretary for further details.
However, on a lighter note, I had the pleasure of acting as SD at the last minute for our candidate for his Passing and other members of our Lodge acted as JD and IPM respectively at last night’s meeting and there were a total of 13 at the FB, we all enjoyed ourselves immensely and our candidate had the pleasure of experiencing an extremely high level of ritual.
North Harrow have been fortunate to have recruited a large number of candidates over the last 3 years with the use of online media, without which, we would have succumbed to the same fate as Haste Hill.
Lodges have to move with the times and Social a media and an online presence is essential in today’s world.
Lets hope more grasp the nettle and make a leap into the future!!! It’s the way to go!!!

One Step Beyond

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Rena with 3 of the chefs

After Freemasonry, skiing is my next passion, so after a distance of 700 miles and 11 hrs driving through torrential rain we finally arrive in Meribel, a picturesque skiing resort in the French Alps.

We had booked our holiday at the last minute with Dodgy Phil, he is the complete opposite of what his name implies, whom we have known for many years and lives half the year in Meribel running ski chalet holidays and the other half in Thailand, where he is building a traditional sailing boat, what a life ehh!!!

6″ of overnight snow 

Our accommodation for the week is a luxury chalet, owned by one of the richest and “original” families in Meribel but leased to “Dodgy” for the season.
The 5 staff have been magnificent, supplying cooked breakfast, afternoon tea and cakes and a 5 course dinner with a complimentary bar at all times, what more could you wish for !!!
Well, it could have been better if we had one day without snow falling and being woken at 7am by the snowplough clearing the road outside our chalet.
Then at last our wish was granted , glorious sunshine , blue from edge to edge, a skiers dream day, powder, sun and empty slopes. However, the temperature dropped to -18c at 2000 metres, so it was a wrap up warm day.
The conditions were absolutely fantastic, powder off piste and perfectly groomed on piste conditions, skiing on empty runs.

Yours Truly ready for action 
Road clearing a priority

Then it was time to return to Britain and another 11hr drive home, but hoping to squeeze another in before the snow melts.

Blue Skies

Our early morning snowplough
Our Chalet Mascot

A Winter’s Masonic Tale

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Bro Secretary & Bro Bhatia
with his GL Certificate

No one would have ever thought that the adverse weather conditions on Friday 18th January would have had so much of an impact on a lodge meeting.

Our 2 New initiates

However, four months ago we decided to organise our first Burns Night Lodge meeting.
The piper was booked, the address to the haggis was arranged and a full festive board program organised, Oh how happy I was, it was to be the largest Lodge meeting North Harrow had held in many years, with over 60 booked in, all of which was decimated by 4″- 9″ of snow falling in a few hours on the morning of the meeting.

This was followed by numerous telephone calls from the 30+ guests apologising for not being unable to attend due to the snow conditions. I had to make the decision as to whether to cancel the meeting or go ahead with a limited turnout. I was relieved and amazed that both candidates for initiation and 20 of our members and 6 guests managed to brave the atrocious conditions and we were able to perform the double ceremony and present 3 of the 4 Grand Lodge Certificates in a superb manner to the extent that one of the Grand Officers present asked for his appreciation be recorded in the lodge minutes after which I had the pleasure of reading out another 5 Registration Forms “P”s, 2 for Joining and 3 for Initiation.. Thats what I call a successful Meeting.
The next challenge was the Burns’ Night  festive board which was a hoot!! 

Our W.Master Terry Clayfield
A superb Address to the
Haggis by Bro Vaughan
Bro Feliciano & Bro Shah

No  piper! No address to the haggis by a traditional Scotsman in a kilt, but as the show must go on !! Our SW, Vaughan Coleridge-Matthews gave a credible and hilarious alternative Address to the Haggis and supplied Tam-o-shantas to all the top table. We have never laughed so much. So from a potential disaster, we had one of the most enjoyable meeting we have ever had.

Bro Vaughan presenting
the Review of Veet for Men
W.Bro David
“Veet “Winner

Lastly, the Raffle was an amazing success with almost 10 prizes the last being a tube of “Veet for Men” which was won by W.Bro David Russell, however, before he was presented with it Bro.Vaughan  read this Review for “VEET FOR MEN”

In the face of adversity, North Harrow came through with flying colours !! My grateful thanks go to all that attended and made it a fun evening, that could have quite easily been a disaster.
North Harrow Lodge wins again !! We do have fun !!

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Updating our Experience

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North Harrow Lodge no.6557 is still experiencing an unprecedented surge of members.

The website continues to be a success in more ways than one. While 70% of new members have been secured directly through our site, the renewed enthusiasm shown by our existing and new members has in turn proved a draw for others.

In 2011 we were fortunate to have initiated four members which, for most Lodges, would have been a great achievement.

However, the numbers continued to grow with eight new initiates in 2012 and seven in line for 2013 plus 3 joining members. This takes the total to about 39, almost double our previous membership.
At this point, we found ourselves facing a new set of challenges.
With almost 30 outstanding ceremonies projected at the start of 2012,  we had to make sure new candidates didn’t lose interest while waiting to progress through their respective degrees.
For us, standing still was not an option.
Mentoring and communication play an important part in retention and keeping a prospective members’ interest in Freemasonry. As we are busy in the Lodge, we are able to give them work at the earliest opportunity without them feeling under any pressure as progression within the Lodge is now  subject to merit and ability.
We have also been fortunate to have the support from a number of other Lodges in Middlesex who have had no scheduled work and were able to take on most of our Second & Third degrees.
This means:
1.     Our candidates can progress as quickly as they want.
2.     It boosts the numbers at the meetings of the other Lodges because we will attend to support our candidates
3.     It gives enthusiasm to the other Lodges as they have work to perform.
4.     Most importantly, supporting our candidates at other Lodge meetings enables friendships to be made between us and those Lodges.
To do this, we initially interview interested candidates to make sure of their eligibility to join the Craft and if successful, give them the option to be initiated into another Lodge in Middlesex to suit their availability.
We then produce a spreadsheet to track the Candidate Progression
Over the last couple of months, we have introduced 8 candidates for initiation to seven Lodges and will, as part of our initiative, continue to monitor their progression and where possible attend their meetings, just to make sure all parties are happy.
We have also continued to expand our online offering by launching this new blog (http://www.northharrowlodge.org/) where members can keep up to date with each other’s activities. Daily visits to the blog continue to grow week on week, and the popularity is helped greatly by our Twitter presence (http://twitter.com/HarrowFreemason) which now has over 400 followers.
By putting our efforts into digital and social media, we have been able to tap into a growing online community of existing and would-be freemasons. In doing this, we have provided a place where people can learn about, discuss and eventually join our Lodge more easily than they have been able to in the past.
If you are not a Freemason and want to find out more, you can contact me directly through the website, or if you are a Freemason  why not visit us and see how we do things? Just email me to book in and arrange to be sent a Summons: Secretary@NorthHarrowLodge.org

It’s Not What but Who

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It’s not always what you know but who!! So today was one of those blessings! My great friend David, whom Ive known for over 30 years  had invited me and a couple of colleagues for lunch at the East India Club in St. James’ Square. How decadent and awfully nice !!! One of London’s hidden gems.

This private members club was founded in the middle of the 19th century, its original members were ‘the servants of the East India Company and Commissioned Officers of Her Majesty’s Army and Navy’. The legacy of those early members, home on furlough from far flung lands, continues today. Only open to members and their guests, the club still provides a refuge and meeting place for busy young men and their more seasoned seniors. The dress code is always jacket and tie (if you happened to arrive without a tie, they will provide one from a rack at the door). We were signed in and scurried to the bar!!!

They have an extensive wine list and luncheon menu , which had to be sampled as my host has booked a room at the club next February for their Lodge Ladies’ Dinner Evening.

Although the Grouse was off the menu, I plumped for the loin of  Pork with crackling and all the trimmings, which was exceptional, washed down with the club claret, followed by a 2005 St.Julien and then a 2001 Margaux ( for evaluation purposes only, of course) I know, we should have had white., but HeyHo, the reds were absolutely superb.
Then a few hours later and feeling a little soporific, it was time to leave and fight the hoards on the Met line home…..Just can’t wait for another invitation ! What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon !!! Thank you David