Loose Ends

Ever Mindful of Others

Hungerford Blogger

Our late Chaplain, Nigel Ludlow, regularly used a grace which included the reminder that we should be ever mindful of the needs of others. It is important that we as men, and as Freemasons, remember that whilst we have plenty, there but for the Grace of the Supreme Being, go us. (Freemasonry accepts men of all faiths and uses terms such as Supreme Being to denote the deity according to the faith of the individual.)

To this end, the members of the Hungerford Lodge donated £550 to the Loose Ends charity in Newbury. Regular readers of this blog will recall that we were previously able to give £250 in 2018. We keep in contact with the charities that we help to see how the funds that we provide are used and to understand what other help might be required or that we can provide.

Gilbert Mills with the team at Loose Ends Newbury

Loose Ends provides an invaluable service to our local community. They operate a well established drop in centre at Morton Hall, Newbury Baptist Church which is in Cheap Street near to the Rail station. They can be reached via their email address admin@looseendsnewbury.org or via Facebook looseendsnewbury or by phone at 07444 324686

Originally opened by Richard Westall in May 1990 on a one year trial basis, they have now been in operation for nearly 30 years. They originally met only on a Sunday for a sandwich lunch. By request, this then became a cooked lunch further down the line. Within a couple of years, Loose Ends was opening on a Wednesday and then Friday. Five years ago they started serving lunch on Monday and Tuesday and they now operate five days a week.

Loose Ends are raising additional funding in the coming months to finance planned upgrades to their existing facilities at Morton Hall – in particular, some of their furniture and catering equipment is reaching the end of their useful life.

They have also been informed by Newbury Baptist Church that they hope to redevelop the current site and that Loose Ends may need to find a new location in Newbury. As a result, they need to reserve additional funds in case they need to finance moving costs, costs of new premises and development of these premises to accommodate their future needs.

If you are interested in helping Loose Ends with your time or by making a donation, they would love to hear from you.

Hungerford Lodge members make regular donations to the Hungerford Lodge Benevolent Association which then assists local and national charities as well as other good causes with support. This website contains lots of useful information regarding the Hungerford Lodge and Freemasonry more widely. If you think this might be for you, please contacts us.

Helping with Loose Ends

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Loose Ends
Nick Stephens with Helen and other volunteers from Loose Ends

Hungerford Freemasons recently donated £230 to Loose Ends, a drop in centre in Newbury serving food to the homeless and vulnerable. The money, raised in typical masonic style via a raffle, came from the social event following our recent meeting. Lodge members were encouraged to bring raffle prizes as well as tinned food that could be used by the centre.

Loose Ends is run by volunteers who prepare and serve hot, healthy meals as well as offering groceries, tins, toiletries and clean clothes to all those in need.

Helen, a volunteer at Loose Ends thanked everyone for their support and kindness “Without this kind of support, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. We strive to provide a safe, friendly atmosphere where people can socialise. Our clients are often homeless or ‘sofa surfing’, may have addictions, suffer from a mental illness or are on low incomes.”

You can donate to Loose Ends directly via “MyDonate” – click on Donate to Charity and then search for Loose Ends.

Alternatively, you can help them by sending them a gift via Amazon.