Brethren the votes are in, they have been independently verified and we have the results!

Thank you to all the Brethren that took part in what was a very successful project. The following recommendations are what we think will have the most effect in the future for our Province. We would like to see every Lodge putting these ideas into action either on a whole Lodge basis or a small action group. We feel that this is the way forward and will complement the Pathway and Solomon in providing recruitment, retention and development of Lodges in the West Wales Province. The complete set of results and suggestions is available as a pdf at the end of this article.

1.         To raise the profile of Masonry in the community, we should play a more active role in local charities rather than just making donations. Volunteering  with the charity and making a positive contribution so that we are seen to be caring and giving Masons.

We should attend local shows such as County shows with a group of Lodges to further promote Freemasonry and advertise the things we enjoy doing, and hopefully attract new members.

2.         To attract at least two new members per year, each Lodge needs to set up  social media accounts to promote what we are doing and report on meetings and events to publicize how much fun being a Freemason is and how proud we are of our organisation.

Organise more joint social events and invite family and friends to attend, curry nights , racing evenings and watching the rugby are all ideas that have worked well in the past.

3.         Try and reduce the number of leavers by at least half by the Mentors and Membership Officers being more pro-active to involve new members in the running of the Lodge give them some responsibilities so that they feel wanted.

Identify patterns of attendance and have a follow up plan for non-attendees.

Use past officers to mentor new officers in that position, get them to sit next to the new officer and encourage them.

4.         We can improve the attendance of visitors by organising group visits using WhatsApp etc to get new Brethren to attend other Lodges with more experienced members, this will encourage return visits . The Lodge Mentor is the ideal candidate to arrange this. Start with local Lodges and then branch out once this is established.

5.         If it is noticed that a new member is not enjoying his Masonry or is having personal issues, we should review his mentoring programme, encourage his proposer and/or seconder to take him under their wing and discuss his problems and try and resolve these.

6.         To encourage members to progress and take an office, promote the LOI and use new members in these ceremony rehearsals.

Conduct unofficial ceremonies and allow the new members to take an office and use the book, these ceremonies could be planned for the summer break and involve more than one Lodge .

Engage with the Mackworth club for reginal seminars or LOI’s

Make the rehearsals a more social event, open the bar, and go for a pub meal after the event.

Make LOI and rehearsals more fun.

These are the main points that we have picked out that we think are achievable and we encourage ALL Lodges to take these points on board and actively put them into practice.

If Lodges require help with any of these points do not hesitate to contact the Province for advice,

Elfan Bell & Chris Harding