## **Gloucester & Herefordshire Mark Charity.** A meeting of The Trustees was held on Monday 16[th] March 2022 at 2.00pm. **Held virtually via Zoom** ## **PRESENT** RW Bro FJ Gillo - PGM RW Bro JOB Barke - PPrGM W Bro JP Wake W Bro MT Holland W.Bro R Pike - Treasurer - W Bro D J Hedley Charity Steward - W Bro B P Gargett DepPGM ## **APOLOGIES.** Not Applicable as all Trustees were present. The Provincial Grand Master welcomed all the Trustees to the meeting and thanked them for their attendance and advised that this would be his last meeting as chairman due to his imminent retirement as PGM. He welcomed W Bro B P Garrett, Deputy Provincial Grand Master as an observer, who, subject to agreement by the Trustees, will succeed him following Provincial Grand Lodge. **1. Minutes** : The minutes of the last trustees meeting held via Zoom on Monday 19[th] April 2021 having been circulated to all Trustees prior to the meeting, the PGM, RW.Bro J F Gillo asked if there were any amendments or observations regarding their accuracy. There being none, W Bro J P Wake proposed the adoption of the minutes as presented by the Provincial Grand Charity Steward, this was seconded by RW.Bro J O B Barke, the minutes were approved by the Trustees and will be signed by the PGM, RW.Bro F J Gillo on the first occasion available. **2. Matter Arising:** The Provincial Grand Charity Steward confirmed that the £1000.00 had been donated to Mark Province of Surrey for the MBF 2022 Festival as per the agreement at the previous meeting. He asked if there was any update regarding the potential support for the 900[th] Anniversary celebrations of Tewkesbury Abbey. RW.Bro J O B Barke advised he had been in touch with the Dean, but had received no response, other than the Abbey would look in to how we may help. The Trustees agreed to withdraw the proposal, however, it was also agreed to have a contingency sum of £2000 available in case contact is received in the future. **4. Provincial Charity Accounts.** The Accounts for the year ending 31[st] August 2021 having been audited and circulated to all trustees, the PGM, RW.Bro J F Gillo enquired if there were any questions or need for clarification regarding their accuracy. W Bro M T Holland proposed the adoption of the accounts as presented by the Provincial Grand Charity Steward, this was seconded by RW.Bro J O B Barke and the accounts were approved by the Trustees **5. Provincial Relief Chest.** The Provincial Grand Charity Steward advised that the money held in the Provincial Relief Chest amounted to £2,492,99 **6. Statement of Provincial Charity Funds** The Provincial Grand Charity Steward provided a statement as to the current funds available for disbursement as at 1[st] February 2022 - Funds held in G&H Mark Charity Account CIO £21,709.91 - Funds held for Lodges in above CIO, £2,423.96 - Funds held in the MCF Relief Chest £2,492.99 - Funds held in the COIF Charities Deposit Fund £20,317.00 Total Funds available for disbursement from all funding streams **£42,095.94** **7. Match Funding** The Provincial Grand Charity Steward had requested, that the idea of Match Funding Lodges donations be considered in the light of a recent request from the Provincial Grand Stewards’ Lodge, which the Trustees agreed to match fund. He commented that the majority of the donations over the past number of years had been relatively large to support agreed projects. He felt that to encourage the Brethren and Lodges to support the G&H Mark Charity more effectively and consistently it would be worth considering a match funding element to our donations. Following discussion on the matter, RW.Bro F J Gillo requested that the Provincial Grand Charity Steward prepare a paper for the Trustees to consider. **8. Trustees Term of Office.** RW.Bro F J Gillo had requested this item on the agenda, in light of his pending retirement as PGM. He asked if any of the current Trustees wished to stand down. Following some deliberation, it was agreed that all current trustees would remain in post and that W Bro B P Gargett be invited to join following his appointment as PGM in May 2022. W Bro M T Holland proposed a vote of thanks from the Trustees, to RW.Bro F J Gillo, for all his dedicated work on behalf the G&H Mark Charity for a number of years, which was unanimously acquiesced by all the Trustees. RW. Bro J F Gillo thanked the Trustees and commented how much he had enjoyed his role of Chairman and the support of the Trustees during his tenure. **9. Set & Forget.** The Provincial Grand Charity Steward put forward the idea of an initiative to encourage regular giving by the Brethren. Following a recent review and report to the Trustees of the regular giving over the past 5 years, it was notable that this has decreased very sharply as we have lost senior and long serving brethren to the Grand Lodge above. This has not been helped by the Covid Pandemic and all its ramifications, but also a lack of information regarding regular charitable donations. He advised that he has been looking at a simpler and more effective way of donating which spreads the cost and which, hopefully, means a lot less work for the Lodge Charity Steward. There has been some confusion about the various ways in which funds can be donated and he has been trying to find the simplest and most effective way for Brethren to donate. We have a voluntary agreement that each Lodge makes an annual donation, either from a raffle or collection. Unfortunately, not every Lodge does so. It is therefore necessary, for the benefit and long-term sustainability of the Charity, to try to encourage regular giving from the brethren of the Province. **“Set and Forget”** is devised to encourage brethren to **set** up a regular payment straight to our own Relief Chest of £5.00 per month (or more or less if desired and dependent on financial constraints,) and then to **forget** about having to find lump sums again in the future. The key is regular giving without having to remember and which limits the impact on personal finances but has a real benefit to the G&H Mark Charity. It is a safe and efficient way for brethren to give a fixed sum over an indefinite period and which they have the absolute right to cancel at any time and it naturally ceases on the death of the donor. For the Lodge Charity Steward it means a great reduction in workload in having to continually encourage members to dig deep. Instead of him collecting, collating and sending lumps sums he will be provided with a list of the donations made by the members of his Lodge and the gift aid claimed. Following discussion on the matter, RW.Bro J O B Barke proposed and W Bro J P Wake seconded that the idea be adopted. RW.Bro F J Gillo requested that the Provincial Grand Charity Steward prepare a paper for the Trustees to consider in detail. **10. Propositions.** RW.Bro J F Gillo proposed and W.Bro M T Holland seconded that **£1,000** be donated to the MBF 2023 Festival appeal for the Mark Province of West Yorkshire. This was carried unanimously by the trustees. The Provincial Grand Charity Steward proposed that a donation of **£1000.00** be donated to the Mark Emergency Fund for its efforts in support of the Ukrainian Refugees, this was seconded by W Bro M T Holland and agreed unanimously by the Trustees. ## **11. AOB.** The PGM advised, that the money donated from his discretionary fund to Romania for their efforts in supporting the Ukrainian refugees crossing the border, had been returned due to the information regarding the account not been completely accurate. He advised that he was seeking assistance from Mark Masons Hall regarding donating to Romania. ## **Date of Next Meeting** . The next meeting will be arranged following receipt of the Provincial Grand Charity Stewards papers. There being no further business to be considered by the trustees, the meeting was closed at 14.45pm Signed …………………………………………………………….. **Provincial Grand Master.** 50.00 24523 653.IX) 71855 542.36 Tax Redairnd. 473J2 0.00 io. 4J69.ts) 68_41 om t7. 97.00 4J69.trf) 133 70.74 950.gyl 950.90 2749.80 Lod8¢fk•Atiw" GiftAid 7.059.19 608823 5.723.r3 o.ixi i J35.46 7.059.19 4500. .13552 4954.88 T]XfL8f