aISSUE 20 rena SPRING 2015

LONDON PLEDGES £2 MILLION TOWARDS SECOND AIR AMBULANCE CONTENTS A selection of Events: £2 million pledged for a second Air Ambulance 4 Lodge and Chapter The Men at the Top: David Thompson Mentoring 5 8 April 2015 A Younger Mason Speaks... 9 New Masons Reception 16 April 2015 14 60 Years in for Rex Thorne Metropolitan Grand Almoner’s Anecdotes 17 Chapter Annual Convocation 18 So what's the Royal Order of Scotland all about then? 16 April 2015 20 Sir Anthony Baldry MP New Companions Seminar 22 Masonic Memorabilia 22 April 2015 24 Charity Round Up Secretaries/Scribes E seminar 28 The Men at the Top: Richard Gardiner 19 May 2015 Sports News Treasurers/Auditors 31 Workshop 36 So why should I visit... A Universities’ Scheme Lodge? 10 June 2015 Met SLGR Investiture and AGM See page 11 or Porchway 39 for more information 43 The Metropolitan Grand Director of Ceremonies writes... and details

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2 ISSUE 20 arena

FOREWORD RW Bro Michael Ward Deputy Metropolitan Grand Master

Brethren and Companions all, Grand Lodge, but also the New Masons' It gives me great pleasure to Receptions, which work so well in introduce the spring edition of arena . making our Craft more familiar to The masonic season is in full-swing and recent members and their families and there is much going on in the friends. Metropolitan area. So much so, that as On the Royal Arch side, we are usual, it is hard to know where to looking forward to the Annual begin! Perhaps I can start by drawing Convocation of Metropolitan Grand your attention to the new "Helicopter" Chapter on 16th April 2015, and hope Appeal, as highlighted on the front each Chapter can be represented when cover of this edition? Introduced by Companions receive SLGCR, LGCR, the MetGM at the packed Annual and LCR and the formal business is General Meeting on 5th March (see completed. Our Talking Heads page 4 for the story), MetGL and presentations, which raise our profile MetGC are looking to donate £2m as The Next Step in Freemasonry, towards the £5m required to purchase a continue to be well received in London second helicopter for the London Air Lodges and, increasingly, in the Ambulance charity, with which we Provinces with planned future have had a long standing relationship. I performances in , Jersey, hope that you will be able to Guernsey and Suffolk. wholehea