London's young masons raise £5000 for Rethink Mental Illness

London’s young masons raise £5000 for Rethink Mental Illness

Parachute
Regiment
Lodge
9315

WHAT IS FREEMASONRY?

One of the oldest secular social and charitable organisations in the world, modern Freemasonry’s roots lie in the traditions of the medieval stonemasons who built our castles and cathedrals…

The lodge has held several social events such as witnessing the Tower of London Keys ceremony a lady’s festival at a hotel usually outside of London that provides opportunity for our families to enjoy the company that these types of events provide. Importantly we maintain links with the regiment and serving soldiers.

EVENTS

Delve into the rich traditions of Freemasonry as we gather to celebrate our shared values and principles

WHERE WE MEET

Our meetings are held on the 1st Saturday of March, June, September and December, at 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ. they usually start at 11am thus providing members ample time to travel to London to join the meetings. The June meeting is the installation meeting.

ABOUT

The Parachute Regiment Lodge was consecrated on 5th June 1989. Though named for our Regiment the decision was taken not to restrict membership to serving or former members, though the majority do fit that criteria. Our membership is drawn from a wide range of military, security and civilian backgrounds who all adopt our ethos, to be the best in all that we do…

ARENA

Engage in enlightening discussions, partake in meaningful rituals, and forge lasting connections with fellow brethren

On the Saturday, 12^th March 2016, around fifty members of the Connaught Club, the club for Freemasons under the age of 35 in London, plus friends and family, came together on an uncharacteristically sunny afternoon at Fulham Reach Boat Club to cumulatively row the length of the Thames, on rowing machines, in aid of Rethink Mental Illness.

Rethink Mental Illness, in partnership with Mind, is behind the biggest campaign to end the stigma and discrimination that people with mental health problems still face in England.

The event was organised to raise funds for Rethink Mental Illness to help them continue their fantastic work in reducing the very damaging and spiteful stigma surrounding mental illness. So far, the Connaught Club has raised over £5,000 via donations from Lodges, Connaught Club members, friends and family members and from the sale of specially designed lapel pins. Over 300 of the Thames to Change lapel pins have been sold to freemasons across London, and further afield.

With one in four people suffering with a mental illness at some point in their life, the Connaught Club also wanted to highlight that we all do, or will, know someone who is unwell and in need of our help. They may be your partner; your mother; your father; your sibling; your friend; or you may have personal experience. No matter who’s suffering, one thing is guaranteed, at some point in your life, you will have to deal with the issue of mental illness – if you haven’t already.

The Connaught Club believes the more we discuss our experiences of mental illness, the sooner the metaphorical elephant in the room will be eliminated.

Not only were Connaught Club members out in force to take on the challenge, but they were also joined by Daniel and Kate, of Rethink Mental Illness, who helped knock off a very respectable amount of kilometers from their target distance!

With so many incredible people participating, it didn’t take long for them to reach their target in just under six hours.

The Connaught Club will continue to receive donations until June, when it will present a cheque to Rethink Mental Illness.