Charity
Provincial Charity Stewards
Provincial Grand Charity Steward
Assistant Provincial Charity Steward
South Wales Mark Benevolent Fund
The South Wales Mark Benevolent Fund (Registered Charity No. 254319) has been in existence since 1967 and thanks to the 2020 Appeal, is now in a stronger position than it has been for many years to support Brethren of the Province and their families in conjunction with the Masonic Charitable Foundation and the Mark Benevolent Fund.
The Fund is managed by a Board of Trustees which comprises:
| R W Bro T R Eirian Jones | Chairman & PGM |
| W Bro Philip W Davies | Deputy PGM |
| W Bro Alun H Thomas | Assistant PGM |
| W Bro Anthony W Seymour | Treasurer |
| W Bro Martin A Jones | Secretary |
| W Bro John W Hatherley | Provincial Almoner |
| W Bro Gareth Andrews | Provincial Charity Steward |
| W Bro Stephen C E Harries | Trustee |
| W Bro Keith B Ferguson | Trustee |
| W Bro Jeffrey D Williams | Trustee |
| W Bro James R Bevan | Trustee |
It will continue to be supported by contributions made by Lodges at Installation meetings, donations made by the Provincial Officers Mess, the 150 Club and any continuing 2020 Appeal standing orders.
The best way for Brethren to continue to support the South Wales Mark Benevolent Fund is by becoming a member of the 150 Club. This can be done by completing this application form (also available from your lodge Charity Steward) and returning it to the Provincial Office. The 150 Club holds two prize draws every year each with three prizes currently of £350, £250 and £150 and it makes a contribution of £1,500 annually to the South Wales Mark Benevolent Fund.
Mark Benevolent Fund
The Mark Benevolent Fund – MBF, a Registered Charity (207610), came into existence in 1868 on the suggestion of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, the Reverend George Raymond Portal, (in 1881 Canon Portal) who served in that Office for four years. His views on charity were far more progressive and radical than the general thinking of the times. He was greatly influenced by his passionate embrace of that fundamental virtue to which his attention had been directed in the Craft Initiation Ceremony.
He believed it necessary for the Mark Degree to have its own Benevolent Fund because he was certain that if charity was to be effective it had to be dispensed swiftly, and without the bureaucratic formalities from which the other Masonic charities appeared to suffer. It was an anathema to him for there to be any delay in providing assistance to those in need and the Grand Master’s own Latin motto, “Bis dat qui cito dat” – he gives twice who gives promptly – became the principal guideline of the Fund of Benevolence.
Today, the MBF administers to Mark Master Masons and their dependents in need by means of grants, subject to the provisions of Rules 165-167 and Annex B of the 2012 Constitutions and Regulations. Petitions for relief are received from Lodge Almoners and Visiting Brethren via their Provincial/District Grand Almoners or Secretaries. The MBF Petitions Committee sits on a near-monthly basis to consider cases and relief is almost immediate upon approval.
The income to the MBF is principally from individual and Lodge contributions towards Life Subscriber, Life Governor, Vice Patron, Patron, Grand Patron and Grand Patron Gold Award of the Fund.
The Mark Benevolent Fund has produced this brochure with more information.
If you wish to make a donation to the Mark Benevolent Fund the following forms are available: