This weekend saw the Widows Sons host their 20 year anniversary at Newton Abbot Rugby Club in Devon. The rally was organised by region 7 of the Widows Sons comprising the following chapters:
• Stonecutters (Wiltshire)
• Wyvern (Somerset)
• Pilgrims (Devon)
• Quarrymen (Dorset)
• Brycgstow (Bristol and Gloucester)
While the rally didn’t start until Friday the host chapters arrived on Thursday to set up for what was to be a very busy weekend. Throughout the weekend there were a number of duties to be completed by the host chapters to make sure everyone got booked in okay and that the campsites were organised in a sustainable manner. This also included duty paramedics and members sat in the admin tent ready to help out should they be required. Thankfully though the weekend went off without any problems and was a huge success.
The Quarrymen were lucky as our Provincial Grand Master Stephen James came down to show his support for all the fantastic fundraising and interest we generate within freemasonry.
On Saturday The Widows Sons Lodge 100011 held their latest meeting. This is believed to be the largest meeting outside of the United Grand Lodge of England.
There were a number of Widows Son Chapters from abroad such as France, Belgium, Finland and Portugal. The Widows Sons were also pleased to issue out a number of new charters to the Hallstone Chapter, Oxonian Chapter, Guernsey & Alderney, Isle of Man and a couple of other new chapters.
There were a number of charities at this rally including DocBike, Mental Health Motorbike, Lifelites, Royal British Legion, Chris Jones who is currently walking the coastline of the United Kingdom in aid of Masonic Charitable Foundation, Strongmen and one other who all received £1000 each towards their charity. The Widows Sons were delighted to be able to donate this fantastic amount to these worthy charities.
On Friday and Saturday night there were live bands playing which included the Balance of Power, Recovering Satellites, ACZZ and Pronghorn.
In total the Widows Sons 2024 National Rally raised £16,000 which will be going to charities both locally and nationally.
