The Croft Dinner, which brings together members of the Royal and Select Master, District Grand Council of Northumberland, and the Allied Masonic Degree, District Grand Council of Northumberland and Durham, returned with a bang at Tynemouth Golf Club, after a year away due to pandemic restrictions. Although numbers were lower than usual, due to the short notice of relaxation of lockdown restrictions, the annual dinner still managed to attract over 30 guests from both orders.
The dinner, which was the brain child of R.Ill.Companion John Harvey, the District Grand Master for Northumberland, Royal and Select Master, and R.W.Brother James Peter Croft, the then District Grand Prefect for Northumberland and Durham, Allied Masonic Degrees, premiered a few years ago and donates the proceeds of a bottle raffle to deserving causes. When Peter Croft dies the dinner was renamed the Croft Dinner as a mark of respect to him.
Over the years somewhere in the region of £10000 has been raised for various charities, and the Grand Masters of both orders have honoured the attendees with their attendance. On two previous occasions the donations have been made to the RNLI, and once to the hospital ward that M.Ill.Companion Keswick J Jones’ wife was being cared for, after suffering a severe stroke. On this particular occasion the magnificent sum of £1040 was raised in aid of the Tynemouth Golf Club Captains personal charity, The Bay Foodbank.
Alex Robinson, the current Tynemouth Golf Club Captain said of the donation, in his acceptance speech, “The Bay Food Bank is my chosen charity for the year and has been hit hard by the lockdown, however I’m delighted to accept the cheque which will help those most in need and less fortunate than ourselves.”
Find out more about the essential service provided by the Bay Food Bank at https://www.thebayfoodbank.org.uk/
Interested in finding out more about either the Royal and Select Master of the Allied Masonic Degrees here in Northumberland? Then head over to http://www.rsmnorthumberland.org.uk/index.html and https://northumberlandmasons.org.uk/freemasonry/other-masonic-orders/allied-masonic-degrees/