Chris Connop's Page

Dear all,

As you are all no doubt aware, I will be retiring from my post as Grand Lodge Information Officer this weekend. 

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking you for your support and friendship.  I have really enjoyed working with you.  I think that together, we have made progress over the years in changing the perception of Freemasonry.  There is still much more to be done and I wish you well in your future endeavours.

Although I will be re-appearing from time to time at Freemasons’ Hall as a consultant, particularly in the area of discrimination against Freemasons, I will not have a base here at Freemasons’ Hall.  From now onwards, your first contact at Grand Lodge will be Susan Henderson, herself a Freemason, who I am sure will be able to give you the assistance which I have tried to give over the years.  Her contact details are shenderson@ugle.org.uk or 020-7395-9302. The Grand Secretary will continue to oversee all matters in this area, which he considers to be of prime importance.

Sadly, our PIO website is now defunct, largely because of the judgment before Christmas in the High Court which resolved that permission must be obtained from the publication itself if media articles are to be reproduced online.  Please send all the material that you think is of interest directly to Susan for FMT or the new FMT website.

Once again, my sincere thanks and good wishes to you all.  Hopefully our paths will cross in the future, as I will be very much involved as an APGM in Middlesex.

Yours sincerely and frarternally,

Chris

 

Chris Connop, PAGDC
Information Officer, UGLE

 

 

NOTICE

 

Please note that all provincial website links to MetGL are to www.londonmasons.org.uk

Any other connection to MetGL are for purely Masonic purposes and not for access by external parties.

www.londonmasons.org.uk

 

 

Important Notice 01/02/2011

We have been informed by the Newspaper Licensing Agency that, following a recent judgement in the High Court, we cannot now reproduce articles from the media in our own press and on our websites unless we first obtain permission from the publication itself. This explains why little new has appeared on uglepio.co.uk for a few weeks. I would ask all Provincial Information Officers to contact the local media to obtain this permission.

Suggested wording of a letter:

“Dear Sirs,
               I am writing as the Provincial Information Officer for the Freemasons of ………, to request permission to scan and copy articles and any associated photographs which may, from time to time, appear in your Group’s Newspapers or websites, and may refer to, or feature, Freemasons and / or Freemasonry. The articles may be pasted onto an open News Web-Page on a United Grand Lodge of England Web Site (uglepio.co.uk), on the Provincial Web Site (insert url) where appropriate and in masonic publications, for information purposes. The relevant newspaper will be credited.

Freemasonry is a non profit-making organisation.”

When this permission has been obtained, it is vital that you let me know the names of the newspapers within the group so that Karen Haigh and I can build up a list.

Thank you in advance for your help in this.

Chris Connop

 

 

 

New Association established for River Lodges

Twelve Lodges from London, Surrey, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex and Staffordshire have taken the first tentative steps in establishing a new networking and support group.
The Association is open to any lodge recognised as regular by the United Grand Lodge of England named after or connected with a river
.
The aims of the Association are to promote fraternal relationships between member Lodges, to support charitable aims, undertake social functions or fund raising in its own name or the support of those of any of its member lodges.

The Association will be founded on Sunday the 26th September 2010 to coincide with ‘World Rivers Day’, designated as a celebration of waterways across the globe.

The Association would be pleased to hear from any Lodges either in the UK or Abroad interested in becoming joining members. There are no costs involved, communications will be undertaken electronically and whilst inter-visiting will be encouraged it will be on a self-paying basis.

All enquires to the Secretary:  David Wise,  Email HERE

Who are the Founding Lodges of the Association?

The desire to form an Association was initiated by W. Bro Peter Kipps PAGStB of Ravensbourne Lodge No.1601, the Founding President designate of the Association. Ravensbourne like many lodges had a falling membership and efforts were being made to resurrect it. As part of this process it was identified that newer members needed to be able to see the ceremonies they had recently gone through and also increase the social side of Masonry and widen their Masonic circle of friends.


Smaller lodges were also likely to find it harder to hold their own social events and forming an Association could offer a suitable vehicle to carry out these functions. The Founding Lodges of the Association have a combined membership of over 200 individuals and there is the potential to attract further joining member lodges in the future to increase this membership base even further.

       

 

Request from ‘Freemasonry Today’

‘Freemasonry Today’ would be grateful for any details of local Masonic projects or aid related to organ donation and transplants.  Details should be sent to:

  editor@ugle.org.uk

 

 

 

Help Lifelites win £5,000 Argos World Truck

 

Dear Supporter

Please help Lifelites win £5,000 worth of goodies in the unique Argos World Cup themed initiative ‘World Truck’.

All you need to do is visit www.worldtruck.co.uk click on the ‘Win the World Truck’ tab, enter your details and nominate LIFELITES as your chosen charity.  You need to tick the relevant boxes if you don’t want to receive marketing via Argos.

It really is that simple and the bonus is that you could also win a truck load of goodies for yourself.

If you forward this e-mail on to your friends, family and work colleagues we could be in with a real chance of winning.

As you know Lifelites are committed to providing state-of-the-art technology, completely free of charge, to all children’s hospices across the country.  Without your help we would not be able to give kids with limited life unlimited possibilities.

Many thanks for your help

Simone Enefer-Doy
Chief Executive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

FIRST PHASE OF HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY –

“A TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT” 

The Pro Grand Master Peter Lowndes joined the representatives of more than 35 provinces to celebrate the success of the first phase of the Historical Records Survey at a reception at Freemasons’ Hall in London in May. Over 6000 lodges and chapters completed the survey which recorded more than 117,000 documents and shows the depth of material available within lodges and chapters.

He noted that “Lodges and chapters reflect the variety of local influences, personalities and local circumstances on freemasonry over time. Local diversity, as it would probably now be called, is probably one of the strengths of English freemasonry that enables us to look forward to celebrating a three hundredth birthday in 2017. It is particularly important that when we look at the history of freemasonry we look at the local history as well as the history of “head office”.

Provincial representatives had many stories to tell about tracking down lodge records previously thought missing and the challenge of opening long forgotten cupboards and tin boxes in Masonic halls. They also heard about a new conservation grant scheme available to lodges and chapters who have taken part in the survey. Grants of up to £250 are available for the preservation and conservation of lodge and chapter records. Details are available from the Library and Museum at Great Queen Street on libmus@freemasonry.london.museum

Contact:

Diane Clements
Freemasons’ Hall
020 7395 9250
libmus@freemasonry.london.museum

 

 

Recording of ‘Freemasonry Today’ for the blind and partially sighted.

Some of you may not be aware that I record as much of the magazine as I can on cd (and cassette) for our brethren who have difficulty in reading the magazine.  If you discover someone within your Province who would like to take advantage of this service, please encourage him or his Lodge Secretary to contact Karen Haigh here at Freemasons’  Hall  at  khaigh@ugle.org.uk or on 020-7395-9350.

 

 

Local Authorities

My thanks to those Provincial Information Officers who have reported back to me on the question of Local Authorities which still single out their Freemason employees for declaration or use Freemasonry as an example of a ‘secret society’.  I am building up a dossier.  I’m still not convinced that I have the full list of these ‘rogue’ Authorities.  The Grand Secretary and I will soon want to challenge them and therefore we would be grateful if you could identify such Authorities as soon as you can if you have not already done so.  Thank you for your co-operation.

Chris Connop 

 

This is the text of the obituary for the late MW Bro. Lord Cornwallis which
has been submitted to ‘Freemasonry Today’ and which may be read out in Lodge

Rt Hon Lord Cornwallis, OBE, DL 

The death on 6 March of Lord Cornwallis breaks a chain of more than one hundred years of continuous distinguished service to Freemasonry by the Cornwallis family.

Fiennes Neil Wykham, 3rd Baron Cornwallis was born in 1921, educated at Eton and served in the Coldstream Guards during the Second World War. As a Farmer of extensive orchards he served on major committees in the House of Lords and the European Commission protecting the interests of fruit growers and small businesses in general, for which he received his OBE. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent in 1976,

He was initiated in Douglas Lodge No. 1725, Maidstone in 1954 and was Provincial Senior Grand Warden of Kent in 1962 and Senior Grand Warden in 1963. An interest in charity took him to the former Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, of which he was Chairman 1966 – 1972.

In 1971 he was appointed Assistant Grand Master. Shortly after, the Bagnall Committee was set up to make a fundamental review of Masonic Charity. On its report being accepted he was asked by the Grand Master to chair the Grand Master’s Committee to implement the major changes which resulted in the reorganisation of the Charities into their present form, no mean feat.

In 1976 he became Deputy Grand Master and Second Grand Principal and in 1982 succeeded the late Lord Cadogan as Pro Grand Master and Pro First Grand Principal, serving for ten years.

His period as Pro Grand Master was not an easy one. Public perceptions of the Craft, political interference, major enquiries into the compatibility of Freemasonry and Christianity by the Methodist and Anglican Churches and the problems of the former Royal Masonic Hospital took up a great deal of his time. He gave real support to the then new policy of openness (not popular at that time) and lived to see it begin to bear fruit.

After his retirement in 1992 he continued to serve on the Grand Master’s Council and his experience and wise counsel were much appreciated by his successors.

 

Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London Initiative - posted 3 March 2010

 

London Olympics 2012.

Metropolitan Grand Lodge is considering some events to coincide with the London Olympics in 2012. It is understood that the Library & Museum is to organize an exhibition with a sporting theme at this time. Ideas being discussed in MetGL include a fund raising dinner for masons & non-masons and their partners from across the globe at the Grand Connaught Rooms; a reception in the Library & Museum; a lodge meeting and other such events.

It will enhance the events if a number of international sports persons, though not necessarily athletes or Olympic sports, with Masonic connections (members; partners; family members) can be present at one or more of the events.

In order that MetGL can approach these masons for their support, they are seeking your assistance by communicating the names and contact details of such masons (or their family members).

It will be of great help if you send the details to:-

W.Bro.Geoff Gillo
Metropolitan Information Officer
metio@metgl.com

I am sure that you will agree this is a great opportunity to bring freemasonry and the community closer together and we should do all in our power to support Metropolitan Grand Lodge.

Yours sincerely & fraternally

Chris Connop

Channel 4 Programme: ‘Decoded: Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol’

We have recently co-operated with the well-known broadcaster and actor, Tony Robinson, in the making of a programme about Dan Brown, with particular reference to his latest novel, ‘The Lost Symbol’.  This programme is due to go out on Channel 4 on 26 December at 9.00pm.

We understand that much of the programme will focus on Freemasonry in the USA, but Tony Robinson came to Freemasons’ Hall and filmed three short interviews with the Grand Secretary, Nigel Brown.

In years gone by, we would have refused to take part in such a programme, fearing that the makers would present us in a negative or distorted light.  In the spirit of openness, we now take every opportunity to present Freemasonry in a positive light and to debunk conventional mythology.  We must now take the risk that our message will not be distorted or trivialised.

Bro.Nigel talked freely and frankly and we can only hope that Tony Robinson will have responded appropriately to our co-operation and openness.

 

 

Comment and request on Declaration in the Judiciary and Magistracy

We are delighted that Magistrates, Judges and other members of the judiciary no longer have to declare membership of Freemasonry.  This finally ends ten years of discrimination as far as the Ministry of Justice is concerned.  We are, however, only halfway there!  We still have problems in the Police, Prison Service, Probation Service and with various Tribunals, which of course come under the authority of the Home Office.  I can assure you that the Grand Secretary and I will not rest until this blatant discrimination is completely a thing of the past. I would be pleased if you would investigate the Local Authorities in your Province to find out whether any are singling out Freemason employees for declaration or if they use Freemasonry as an example of a secret society which requires declaration.  It would be helpful if you could email me the relevant documentation for our consideration.

With thanks

Chris Connop

 

 

URGENT - Royal Arch Chapter and Freemasonry Today

 

A message from Michael Baigent, Editor, Freemasonry Today

At Freemasonry Today we are keen to raise the profile of the Holy Royal Arch and so for the last two issues we have had a dedicated page in the news section of the magazine. If necessary we could add a second.

Unfortunately we are not getting very much news from Royal Arch Chapters - for the next issue, in fact, we have absolutely nothing.

What we would like are news items (photograph of 1 MB or so plus 300 words) showing the contribution Royal Arch Chapters have made to the community. We prefer to see what the money is spent on or what Companions have done for others rather than see a cheque being handed over.

A good example of what we like is in Issue 6 (Spring 2009) page 17: A Ford Galaxy people carrier was presented to local Age Concern by the Royal Arch Province of Warwickshire. The photograph does show (just) a cheque but more importantly it shows the car purchased.

While we would like your news regularly, at the moment we urgently need material for the next issue since it would be a pity to have to drop this page. So if any Chapters have some good photographs of their charitable work then please send them to us by the end of this week.

Thank you

Thank you to all of you who are now sending me interesting pieces which I can post on our website.

CHEQUE PRESENTATIONS

One of the major points which arose from the meetings between Provincial Information Officers, the Grand Secretary and me, was the need to find stories and pictures which are likely to be of interest to the local press and media.  Pictures of cheque presentations are not interesting!  We should be trying to show the consequences and results of our charitable giving and if possible, to tell a human story.  With this in mind, I will not post pictures of cheque presentations on our website.  I’m sure you will understand!

‘FREEMASONRY TODAY’

In line with my previous announcement, we are keen that ‘Freemasonry Today’ should contain articles which are of general interest and not just reports of raised funds.  We hope that you will find some way of encouraging individuals and Lodges to identify an interesting human story and not just report cold facts.  It would be helpful if they could submit their potential articles to you for initial approval.  If you think they are of value for the magazine, please send them, by email if possible, to me as the Grand Secretary is keen that I should see them before he can deem them fit to go forward to the Editor.

My very best wishes

Chris C