Since 2006, The Freemasons' Grand Charity has funded Deafness Research UK with £180,000 to carry out research by Dr David Furness at Keele University, to look into the causes of age-related hearing loss.

New of this grant was reported in the Daily Telegraph on 28th December 2011.

Over 9 million people are affected by age-related hearing loss in the UK, with over half of people aged 60 and above affected in some way. The research carried out has found that much age-related hearing loss is caused when fibrocyte cells (cells in the inner ear) start to degenerate. The loss of function in fibrocyte cells means that other parts of the inner ear begin to deteriorate, leading to further hearing loss and possible eventual deafness. The researchers at Keele University are now attempting to grow new replacement fibrocyte cells inside the ear - the first study of its kind in the world. If this project is successful it could lead to the possible prevention of age-related hearing loss, greatly affecting the lives of millions of people across the world.

The project in detail

The initial grant funded a project which aimed to determine the role of cells in regulating the environment of the inner ear to maintain a stable condition. The results of the project were positive: evidence showed that fibrocyte cells appeared to begin degenerating around 2-3 weeks prior to inner ear hair cells. The relatively short time frame between fibrocyte death and inner ear hair cell damage led the researchers to believe that fibrocyte death caused inner ear hair cell damage, resulting in hearing loss. This gave real value to the prospect of exploring cell replacement techniques, to attempt to prevent age-related hearing loss.

A further grant was then made to continue the project, which made huge progress by demonstrating a link between fibrocyte depletion and the death of inner ear hair cells. This led the researchers to believe that if it were possible to replace degenerating fibrocytes using cultured cells, then it may also be possible to regenerate the damage done to hearing, as a result of age-related hearing loss. The latest stage of the project has been to develop a transplantation technique to inject tagged cells into the inner ear, which the researchers can then identify, thus determining whether the transplantation prevents or reduces age-related hearing loss.

Dr Furness stated in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper:

"If we can find a way to replace fibrocytes through stem cell therapy when they start to degenerate, but before other parts of the inner ear get damaged, we could potentially have found a way to prevent age-related hearing loss.

"The second stage of our research is to do just that - grow fibrocytes in culture specifically to treat age related hearing loss. We're still in the preliminary stages of the research, but are growing these cells successfully and the next stage will be to find a way to transplant them effectively into the ear."

The Provincial Grand Chapter of Durham held a special convocation on Friday 18th November at the Masonic Hall, Alexandra Road, Gateshead. For this meeting 12 companions from The Provincial Grand Chapter of Bristol including their Grand Superintendent EComp Alan Vaughan travelled to Durham where they were accommodated overnight at a local hotel.

Having set off at 6.30am they arrived in Gateshead at 1pm where they immediately proceeded to 'ransack' the Chapter Room which had been carefully set up in the Durham format, before practicing their ceremonial making a few adjustments to fit into the Gateshead building. All Lodges and Chapters in the Province of Bristol meet in one city centre Masonic Hall.

It was only earlier this year when Supreme Grand Chapter authorised the demonstration of the unique Bristol ceremony and this was the first time in over 200 years it was performed outside of the Province of Bristol. Much of the equipment including a series of coloured "veils" had been specially constructed by the Bristol Companions for the occasion. Durham's Past Deputy GSupt Derek Warneford was the lead Durham organiser of the occasion and he evidenced skills akin to ‘Blue Peter’ in constructing a pair of white pillars made from MDF, carpet inner rolls, 2 footballs and copious amounts of mastic and emulsion paint!

By 6pm when the Provincial Grand Chapter of Durham Officers of the year and Officers of Supreme Grand Chapter had processed to their places the main Lodge room at Gateshead was full for this ‘sell out’ occasion. After a short historic introduction by their Grand Superintendent the Bristol Demonstration Team entered and gave an excellent demonstration of ‘The Passing of the Veils and a Bristol Exaltation Ceremony’ with a Chapter of Industry No. 48 Companion, Ian Knighting acting as the candidate. This was a challenging role as the exaltee had questions to answer on the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason degrees as he passed through a series of veils towards the Chapter room and exaltation ceremony. It was a further challenge as Knighting is clearly an uncommon name in the South West and Ian answered questions without hesitation no matter what name he was given!

The 120+ Durham Companions present were then entertained by an extremely well delivered exaltation ceremony. They noticed significant differences between the Durham and Bristol ceremonies, perhaps the most significant was the absence of any lectures. In Bristol most of the information in our lectures is delivered within the main body of their exaltation ceremonial.

The Provincial Convocation was followed by a 4 course meal and in fitting with the convivial nature of the evening the toasts were announced by EComp Stephen White, ProvGDC of Bristol leaving our own ProvGDC EComp John Watts only to introduce the Grand Superintendent of Bristol when he responded to the visitors toast. During his response EComp Vaughan presented a set of Bristol Cufflinks to the Grand Superintendent, Provincial Principals, Director of Ceremonies and the representative candidate EComp Ian Knighting for their assistance in making the evening such a success.

In the winter sunshine, a donation of £2,772 was presented to St Michael’s Hospice as part of the continuing annual programme of support awarded by The Freemasons’ Grand Charity to hospice services throughout England and Wales. Freemasons have a long tradition of funding adult and children’s hospices, with the Grand Charity donating £9.3 million since 1984.

This ongoing support is of special significance to St Michael’s Hospice, Bartestree, as it continues to raise much needed awareness of the planned refurbishment and re-development of the Hospice which will maintain the Hospice’s national and international recognition as a provider of Specialist Palliative Care, and regional centre of excellence in the delivery of Palliative Care Education.

Individual Masonic Lodges in the Province of Herefordshire give additional support to St Michael’s Hospice throughout the year following the example and wishes of Right Worshipful Brother Rodney Smallwood, Provincial Grand Master for Herefordshire.

With only 10% of its expenditure received from the Primary Care Trust, St Michael’s Hospice has to raise over £3.5 million annually through charitable giving. Such is the responsibility of Ruth Denison, Head of Fundraising, and Chief Executive Nicky West.

Manager Frankie Devereux has welcomed Freemasonry in Herefordshire as the latest Guardian of The Haven in St Owen Street, Hereford. 

Entirely dependent on charitable giving, The Haven which provides, completely free of charge, support to those affected by breast cancer, invites individuals and corporate bodies to become Guardians by donating £1,000 a year.

VW Bro The Reverend David Bowen, is most anxious to maintain the long standing support of The Haven by Herefordshire Freemasons, and initiated this desire among Freemasons to become a Guardian. The Deputy Provincial Grand Master of the Masonic Province of Herefordshire is a true supporter of local charities and welcomes this opportunity to support The Haven on an annual basis.

Frankie Devereux welcomes visitors to The Haven Centre. Those visiting should note the following words written by a patient, which can be seen on the Centre’s colourful Tree of Life “Fear will take you a prisoner. Hope will set you free.”

The Haven, with the backing of its Guardians and the host of local supporters, will continue to give that fundamental hope to those who cross its threshold.

Single-handedly rescuing his squadron after they were pinned down by heavy gunfire, Paddy Mayne’s life reads like a wartime page-turner. Matthew Scanlan tells the remarkable story of this SAS legend, wartime hero and Freemason


The dark days of the Second World War saw many a hero come to the fore, but none quite as remarkable as Paddy Mayne. Rugby international, commando and a founding father of the Special Air Service (SAS), Mayne was one of the most decorated Allied soldiers of the war, winning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) four times, as well as the Croix de Guerre and Légion d’Honneur. But while his warrior exploits are comparatively well known, few people are aware that this extraordinary man was also a Freemason.

Robert Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne was born on 11 January 1915 in Newtownards in County Down, Ireland, and showed an early love and aptitude for sport. Excelling in many areas, Mayne not only became the Irish Universities Heavyweight Champion in August 1936, but was also capped playing rugby for Ireland six times, and in 1938 was selected to play for the British Isles Touring Party of South Africa.

Mayne was already a member of the Territorial Army when the Second World War broke out in September 1939 and he soon received a commission in the Royal Artillery. In April 1940 he transferred to the Royal Ulster Rifles before volunteering for the newly formed No. 11 (Scottish) Commando, with whom he saw his first action, attacking Vichy French forces in Lebanon. For his courageous and clear-minded leadership, Mayne was mentioned in despatches. However, he soon lost interest in the Commando and in August 1941 joined a revolutionary new outfit that was being formed in North Africa by former Scots Guards officer David Stirling.

STUFF OF SCHOOLBOY LEGEND
The aim of this unit, known as L Detachment Special Air Service Brigade, was to operate behind enemy lines, obtain intelligence, disrupt Axis communication routes and attack enemy airfields. After some initial setbacks, Stirling struck upon the idea of utilising the well-established Long Range Desert Group to transport his force into action with heavily armed vehicles. It was an idea that would establish the new unit’s credibility, and later render them the stuff of schoolboy legend.

On 5 December 1941, Mayne helped to lead a successful attack on Tamet airfield near Sirte in Libya. The raiders destroyed fourteen enemy aircraft and damaged a further ten, and for his part in this audacious attack Mayne received his first DSO. But he did not rest on his laurels, and just three weeks later, as General Claude Auchinleck pushed Erwin Rommel’s forces back past Benghazi to Agedabia, Mayne and his men returned to the same airfield where they then destroyed a further twenty-seven planes.

Over the next fourteen months, as the North Africa campaign ebbed and flowed across the Egyptian, Libyan and Tunisian deserts, the SAS mercilessly harried German and Italian airfields, and it is estimated that they either destroyed or immobilised upwards of four hundred enemy aircraft. Mayne reportedly destroyed around one hundred aircraft himself – more than any fighter ace during the entire war – and, on occasion, even resorted to ripping out some of the cockpit controls with his bare hands.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
In January 1943, Stirling was captured by Axis forces in southern Tunisia and soon thereafter the 1st SAS Regiment was renamed the Special Raiding Squadron (SRS), with Mayne, now a major, in command. As the North Africa campaign drew to a close, the SRS went on to play a significant role in the Allied invasion of Sicily and on 9 July 1943, in an action somewhat reminiscent of the Hollywood film The Guns of Navarone, it attacked and destroyed two Italian coastal batteries at Capo Murro di Porco to help ease a path for the landing of General Montgomery’s Eighth Army. Two days later, the SRS also spearheaded the amphibious landings mounted at the ancient Sicilian port of Augusta, forty-seven kilometres north of the cliff-top battery they had just disabled, and for his part in this action Mayne received a first bar to his DSO.

In early September 1943, the SRS pushed on and mounted an attack at Bagnara Calabra in Calabria, helping to establish a bridgehead on the Italian mainland for the Allied advance. A month later they also helped to capture the town of Termoli, although at a terrible cost to the regiment.

This capture signalled an end to Mayne’s Italian campaign, and on his return to England the SRS was subsumed into a larger SAS Brigade, with Mayne as its lieutenant colonel. The main focus of the brigade was to support the Normandy landings, what we now know as ‘D-Day’, which eventually took place on 6 June 1944. In August 1944, Mayne was dropped by parachute into occupied France where, deep behind the lines, he harassed the enemy in his inimitable way and for his actions he was awarded a second bar to his DSO.

LIFE AFTER WAR
As the Allies pushed into Germany in the spring of 1945, Mayne and the SAS worked in conjunction with the 4th Canadian Armoured Division in the capture of Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. It was during these closing days of the war that Mayne single-handedly rescued a squadron of his men after they became pinned down by heavy gunfire. The incident occurred near the German town of Oldenburg and, according to several sources, Mayne rescued his men by lifting them one by one into his jeep before despatching the German gunners in a nearby farmhouse. He was recommended for the Victoria Cross, which was personally endorsed by Field Marshal Montgomery, but it was controversially downgraded and instead Mayne received a third bar to his DSO – an act seen as a grave injustice by many.

On 27 March 1945, Eklektikos Lodge, No. 542 (IC), held a ballot for Mayne to be initiated as a Freemason. Accordingly, Mayne was initiated on 25 September 1945; the lodge records modestly give his vocation as ‘Army’. After bailing out of an expedition to the South Atlantic due to serious back problems, Mayne returned to Newtownards in 1946 where he received the second and third degrees on 28 May and 24 September, respectively. An enthusiastic Freemason, two years later he joined a second Newtownards lodge, Friendship Lodge, No. 447, and served as Worshipful Master of his mother lodge in 1954.

With his war years now firmly behind him and the SAS officially disbanded, Mayne tried to settle back into the routine of domestic life but with some difficulty. Physically, he was not the man he once was, and he suffered terribly with his back. However, an intelligent and sensitive man, Mayne took up gardening, found solace in books and he greatly loved Irish culture. He regularly propped up the local bars to enjoy singing, storytelling and poetry recitals, just as he had done with his men under the desert stars in wartime, but herein also lay his Achilles heel: he loved to party, often excessively.

On the night of Tuesday 13 December 1955, after attending a regular meeting of the Friendship Lodge, Mayne continued drinking with a masonic friend in the nearby town of Bangor, before finally making his way home in the small hours. However, he never reached his destination. At about 4am he was found dead in his wrecked red Riley Roadster in Mill Street, Newtownards, having reportedly collided with a farmer’s vehicle. News of his death reverberated across Northern Ireland and, at his funeral, hundreds of mourners turned out to pay their respects and to see him interred in a family plot in the town’s old Movilla cemetery.

Following his passing, his masonic jewel was preserved for many years by an old school friend, before it was eventually presented to Newtownards Borough Council where it can now be seen preserved in the Mayoral Chamber of the Council Offices.


We would like to thank the Mayne family, the SAS Regimental Association and all who helped in the preparation of this article

Mentoring as a concept has been widely embraced by members of the Craft and as The Pro Grand Master, MW Bro Peter Lowndes, said in his address to the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Lancashire in May this year, “it has to be right to explain to a brother what he has joined and to help him enjoy his masonry so that he wants to contribute to its future”. The Rulers’ Forum Working Party stated in their address to Grand Lodge in March 2008 that “Mentoring has to run through the Craft like Blackpool through a stick of rock”, however there is still a huge amount of work to be done to reach this utopian state. In this article I am going to consider what steps the Craft should take, if we are to achieve this goal, but before you say this is a wild “pipe dream” the encouraging news is that there are many Lodges around the country where this is the case and what happy places they are to visit, they are vibrant and they have candidates waiting to join. These Lodges are not clones of each other, I know one that is two hundred years old and others that are much younger. They each have their own unique character, but they all have the same feeling of warmth, of welcome and of caring about each other that is not just superficial and shallow, but genuine and deeply felt.

How can we achieve this?

How easy our task would be if we could just bottle the essence of these lodges and pass it around the others so that they could imbibe it and enjoy its efficacious effects. Unfortunately, as in most things in life, it is not that easy, but the concept is very simple, a genuinely caring attitude, a deep feeling of friendship and a respect for the other members of the Lodge. The challenge for the craft is to convey this simple message to every mason and the method we have chosen is mentoring. The majority of Provinces, London Metropolitan and some Districts now have systems in place that are either cascading the message from the top or allowing it to “well up” from the Lodges, depending on their preference and the individual character of their Lodges. I suspect that we are going to find that this first stage will prove to be the easy bit and that embedding the understanding and belief in the principles will be a much longer task. The image of painting the Forth Bridge comes to mind, but our prize is a happy vibrant and active Craft with an important role to play in society that is both inspirational and aspirational.

To attain this goal we must equip our brethren with the knowledge and understanding to achieve it. To use one of our own allegories we must take the rough ashlar and shape it into a smooth ashlar fit for the intended structure and, as I said above, the tool we are going to use – the chisel – is Mentoring. However, we will not attain our goal by substituting mentoring with “tick box” exercises or a series of hoops for a candidate to jump through.

Neither will it be achieved with the occasional chat when a new brother leaves the Lodge room whilst there is a higher degree ceremony taking place. The whole point of mentoring is that it is a one to one relationship where a more experienced person guides, encourages and supports a less experienced one. The objective of the various Mentoring Schemes is to provide support at every level. The Personal Mentor is supported by the Lodge Mentor (or Lodge Mentoring Coordinator or Lodge Mentoring Officer). He in turn is supported by the Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Lodge and they in turn are supported by each other and by Grand Lodge.

It is the responsibility of the Lodge Mentoring Coordinator to select an appropriate Personal Mentor for every new candidate who joins his Lodge. In an ideal world there would be a number of suitable brethren to act as Personal Mentors who have each attended Workshops and who understand what mentoring entails. It is these brethren who will help the new member understand the principles and tenets of the Craft and ensure that he is included and involved in the life of his Lodge.

What else can we do?

We should also ask ourselves, is the role of the Personal Mentor finished when the new mason is raised to the Third Degree? It has been said that once a mason has been introduced to the Preceptor of the Lodge of Instruction the Mentor’s role is finished, but I would suggest that as a brother progresses through each of the offices he continues to need a mentor, especially when he is appointed Junior Warden. This Mentor may not necessarily be the same person who looked after him when he was a new member in fact this is an excellent role for a recent Past Master. It utilises his experience to help, for example a Warden to avoid any pitfalls that may await him. It also gives them both the opportunity to visit other Lodges together so that the Warden can meet brethren who will be in his Masters’ Circle and the Past Master can maintain his friendships with other Past Masters. When the Master is Installed he does of course have the guidance of his IPM and the support of all the Past Masters of the Lodge, but if he has been properly prepared by a mentor then his time will, hopefully be even more enjoyable and successful than might otherwise have been the case.

There are of course other offices in the Lodge that would benefit from having a Mentor. Some offices have an assistant and this is a good opportunity for a future Secretary or Director of Ceremonies to learn the role, but others such as the Almoner or Charity Steward do not. The position of Almoner is a demanding one and requires particular skills to carry it out and so the need for a mentor in this case is essential. But even where a Lodge Officer has been an assistant for a number of years he will still need to be mentored when he steps into the actual Office.

The Royal Arch

We should also consider the Royal Arch. If the Masonic journey is from Initiation to Exaltation as stated in the Book of Constitutions then the Candidate’s Mentor must prepare him for Exaltation just as he does for the other ceremonies. He must not allow him to be rushed into Chapter too soon by over enthusiastic companions, but make certain that he is ready to take the important decision to be exalted. I will digress for a moment and say that many mentors agree that part of their role is to protect their charge from over-zealous masons who are eager to introduce them into various other side degrees before they have had time to enjoy and understand the Craft. A surfeit of a good thing can become indigestible and some promising masons have been lost through too much masonry. Equally the Mentor may need to advise caution to the Lodge if they are pushing the new mason into Office before he is ready for it. However, back to the Royal Arch; because the Chapter ceremony is so different to the Lodge ceremonies, even being set in a different time frame, I believe the candidate again needs to be mentored. Not in the understanding of the teachings of the Craft in general because this will be covered in Lodge, but in the specific meaning and teachings of the Royal Arch which should to be set in context with the other ceremonies. I would suggest that if it was possible for the same Mentor who had guided him through the three degrees in Lodge, to guide him through the meaning of the Royal Arch this would provide continuity, but very often this will not be possible.

Making it happen

All of the above requires organising. In the original presentation to Grand Lodge in 2008 the proposition was made that the role of the Lodge Mentoring Coordinator was to organise the appointment and training of the Personal Mentors, but as the scheme develops so will his role. There is a concern amongst some brethren that, if the Lodge Mentor becomes a Lodge Officer with a Collar and Jewel, appointments may be made for the wrong reasons, perhaps just to fill the office or to help a brother “up the ladder”. Of course we cannot rule this out, but the role of Lodge Mentor is demanding and not for the faint hearted. A Lodge Mentor who fails in his role will very soon be found out. Also a Lodge could be risking its future by making the wrong appointment and the Provincial Grand Mentor should be in contact with, and be aware of the abilities of, all the Lodge Mentors either personally or through his Group Mentors to prevent this happening. Strangely there have been some reports of Lodges that will not adopt a Mentoring Scheme because the Office is not in the Book of Constitutions. At the end of the day unless the brethren make mentoring work and believe in it, nothing will happen.

The Prize

If we succeed in achieving the goal, we will have created an organisation where every member will be a competent and confident ambassador for the Craft who has the ability to talk to the outside world about Freemasonry and answer any questions he may be asked. Our Lodges should be vibrant, warm and friendly places in which to meet, where the brethren feel involved and will want to encourage their friends to join and it is quite likely that the brethren will be more generous in their charitable giving because they will have a better understanding of our charitable aims. But all of this requires each of us to help new brethren to understand the principles of Freemasonry and to become involved in their Lodges so that they can enjoy being members of the Craft as much as we do.

James Bartlett - UGLE Mentoring Scheme Coordinator

Metropolitan Grand Master Russell Race has appointed and invested Jon Leech as the first Metropolitan Grand Mentor in a ceremony hosted by Jon’s Mother lodge, First Artificer No. 3774, at the Clerkenwell Masonic Centre. 

Administering mentoring in London is an enormous task spanning both the Craft and Royal Arch and a 46-strong team have been appointed to assist. 

Russell Race said: “Mentoring in London lodges and chapters is most important to ensure that not only do we recruit good men, but that we retain those good men for the future success of freemasonry.”

The second national Masonic Mentoring conference was hosted by Grand Lodge at Freemasons’ Hall on Great Queen Street on Wednesday, 10th February. Provinces and Districts were well represented, with delegates contributing from almost every Craft Province, the Metropolitan Grand Lodge and from Districts overseas, including the Eastern Archipelago and South Africa. A variety of perspectives were shared throughout the day, never with a shortage of discussion.

Proceedings were opened with an address from the Grand Secretary, who described the importance of equipping our members to act as advocates and ambassadors of the Craft. The opening address was followed by a key note presentation by W Bro Stuart Esworthy PPrSGW(Warks), titled 'The Values and Expectations of the 21st Century Mason', assessing the characteristics and nature of the Craft that may attract prospective candidates in the early 21st century.

Following the opening sessions, W Bro David Wilkinson PDGSuptWk, Metropolitan Grand Inspector and W Bro Jon Leech, MetGMen, presented the Metropolitan Grand Lodge’s Training of Mentors in London. W Bro Jon Leech also shared the Metropolitan Grand Lodge’s Initiate’s Guide, Guide for Royal Arch Masons and Mentoring Officer’s Guidance.

Lunch provided an opportunity to meet other Mentors, share experiences and browse a wide range of Mentors’ and Candidates’ support materials brought to the Conference by the delegates.

W Bro Gary Brown, ProvGStwd(Yorks W Riding) and W Bro David Loy PM ably tackled the after lunch session, energising the audience with an imaginative presentation of Masonry Matters, the Province’s successful, new initiatives enthusing new Masons, sharing ideas between Lodges and providing important, stimulating roles for new Past Masters .

The day concluded with a look at the year ahead from the national coordinator, W Bro James Bartlett, PJGD. The delegates discussed the 3R Library, the role of the Internet in attracting prospective candidates, recruitment materials and enthusiastically endorsed a further national conference in 2011, together with more regional meetings.

Mentoring method is explained through the Mentoring workshops, while the Degree seminar explores which Craft topics would benefit from clarrification. The seminars refine the topics covered by the District’s Masonic Mentoring scheme. The afternoon First Degree seminar was well received and the District intends to follow this with seminars on the Second and Third Degrees in the future.

W Bro Ronald Ng, the District Grand Mentor designate, kindly supplied a copy of the report on the Eastern Archipelago Mentoring workshops, including the programme, as well as a report on the Eastern Archipelago’s First Degree seminar, with detailed content to members of the Mentoring Scheme.

After the Lodge meeting the Brethren moved to the dining room for the Festive Board. More than £500 was collected for charitable causes. Feedback from the event has been extremely encouraging. The Provincial Grand Mentor W Bro Toby Jones announced that this first evening will be followed by a series of similar events for new Masons around the Province.

He pointed out to them that,

“ In appointing you as Lodge Mentor, your Lodge has not only recognised the importance of the initiative, but has also recognised in you the requisite skills to guide, teach and support our new members as they are introduced to the wonderful, yet often confusing, world of Freemasonry.

Whilst in many Lodges there are several Mentors, the Lodge Mentor is the brother in overall charge of the Lodge’s Mentoring programme.

He will not necessarily mentor anyone himself, but will certainly have the responsibility for selecting the most appropriate Mentor for each individual.

In effect, he is the brother that I expect to deliver a successful and sustainable mentoring programme for his Lodge.”

Lodge Mentor is not yet a recognised Office within Lodges and there is no collar. However, the Provincial Grand Master formally invested the Lodge Mentor of Humber Lodge No 57 with his Mentor Badge designed by the Provincial Grand Mentor for use in the Province and then took the opportunity of shaking the hands of all the other Lodge Mentors present.