The recent fine weather witnessed W.Bro Gary Breach, Bro Collin Bowman and Bro Neil Eastern of Gavel Lodge No.8928, which meets at Cramlington Masonic Hall, taking on the gruelling 26 mile Northumberland Coastal Challenge Walk, from Budle Bay to Alnmouth, in aid of Cramlington Man Shed.
Set up in 2021, Cramlington Man Shed has the aim of providing a community workshop for the people in and around the community. It is entirely self funded and provides men with a great service, not only for their physical health but also mental health too.
Find out more about the essential services offered by Cramlington Man Shed at https://cramlingtonmanshed.org/
An early start saw Colin, Neil and Gary, laden with the mandatory safety equipment including spare footwear and changes of clothing, first aid kit, sustenance and hydration, torch and spare batteries, whistle, mobile telephone and route map, trek parts of the Northumberland Coastal Path (North Sea Trail) and St Oswald’s Way, navigating 5 checkpoints at Seahouses, High Newton, Craster, Boulder before finally finishing in Alnmouth in an impressive 9.5 hours.
Gary explained ‘Having just completed the Coastal Challenge walk organised by https://www.shepherdswalks.co.uk/ Collin, Neil and I, would like to say a huge thank you to all those who offered their support and encouragement in the build up and during this event. In particular to the Brethren of Cramlington Masonic Building for their generosity, which contributed a huge chunk of the £700+ we have raised so far. The charitable giving and messages of support on the day really motivated us to finish the walk despite the blisters!
Collin and I recently had a meeting with the Father and Son, Alan and Norman, who founded and continue to run Cramlington Man Shed and their story resonated with us both with their mission to bring together a community of local gents to help fight against loneliness. Their aim is to provide a safe place & home away from home for anyone who needs it.
We hope to form a strong link between our two organisations moving forward and hope that this money raised goes some way towards their current goal of attaining a bigger working premises so that they can increase their membership and assist more men in the community’
You can donate to Colin, Neil and Garys very worthy cause at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/G-CCoastalchallenge2022?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=G-CCoastalchallenge2022&utm_campaign=pfp-whatsapp&utm_term=768a8ef0689547639e287183b8e3817e
Many thanks to Colin Bowman and Gary Breach for the submission of this article.
If you have a story, event or news item you would like to have published on the Provincial website, or social media, please get in touch with our Communications Team at news@northumberlandmasons.org.uk