2017 marks the 300th anniversary of the Freemasons in this country. That makes Freemasonry older than the American Republic. George Washington, the first President of the USA, was a Freemason.

To coincide with the anniversary there was a five part documentary on Sky TV giving an insight into the ancient rituals and practices of the this band of brothers.

To mark the anniversary the three different Abingdon Freemasonary lodges joined together for an outreach event on the Market Place today. A lodge is the basic organisational unit, and the three Abingdon Lodges are:
* Abbey Lodge
* St Edmund Lodge
* St Swithun’s Lodge

They had a sign the read ‘Don’t wait to be asked’, and were there to tell people more about themselves, and why they had joined. They told me that they do a lot for charity, not collecting from the general public but raising money through their own events. One recent event was a charity horse racing night. One charity they currently support is the Abingdon Bridge who offer help for Abingdon young people living through difficult circumstance.

At the end of the day they had met eleven people who expressed an interest in finding out more, and met with a large number of people.

I was also asked  to mention an upcoming concert in aid of the Abingdon Bridge. It can be found at https://www.abingdon.org.uk/future_events on November 3rd. The Abingdon School Big Band will perform,  and be joined by Joe Stilgoe, an internationally acclaimed singer, pianist and song writer.

Thanks to Avril Williams – Group Scout Leader 30th Abingdon – for this report …

The 30th Abingdon Beavers based at Abingdon Baptist Church have recently visited Downing Street to share their project on Clean Water and Sanitation to MPs interested in social issues.

The Beavers worked hard taking part in “A Million Hands”, a Scout Association social action project which aims to get over 500,000 Scouts involved over a 4 year time period in social issues such as dementia, disability, mental well-being and clean water for all.

The whole of the 30th Abingdon Beavers were involved, after choosing which social issue to explore, the Beavers then decided to collect number 1s and 2s (pennies), to fund a new toilet in Kisima, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Beavers teamed up with the Abingdon School Science Partnership and visited Abingdon School science labs to carry out some experiments on water purification. The Beavers enjoyed a visit from Wateraid who helped the Beavers understand the importance of having access to clean water and toilets. Finally, as part of raising awareness, the Beavers made a story board and a video describing what they had learned, this helped the Beavers to learn about presenting their fund raising efforts to a wider audience.

During the visit to Downing Street the Beavers took it in turns to explain their work to several MPs. They also got the opportunity to try out a virtual reality headset of natural disasters and then, like true Beavers, proceeded to help everyone else use the headsets. It was a very long day for the Beavers and tired but successful, they headed home, after a few photo calls outside number 10 and 11.

To date, more than 96,512 hours have been volunteered nationally to help raise awareness and to support initiatives designed to improve the lives of those affected by the four social issues selected.

Adult Scouts volunteers work more than 364 million hours each year in their local communities, but they are looking for more volunteers to help support the young people hoping to join. Thames Ridge Scouts » Volunteer

At the Clubs and Societies event, the Mayor of Abingdon, Councillor Helen Pighills, and the Chair of the Vale of White Horse District Council, Councillor Mike Badcock, were there talking to stall holders.

The Abingdon Scottish Country Dancer Club say on their web site ‘So long as you are willing to have a good time, there is no restriction on age. The Abingdon club has members who won’t see seventy again and much younger dancers, all of whom enjoy Scottish country dancing in their own way.‘ All are welcome. You don’t even have to be Scottish. 

Another of the groups at the event were the CSMA club, the Civil Service Motoring Club. To join this club I believe you have to have served in the Civil Service, but they may one day change the rules to allow all public sector workers. They meet at Preston Road Comminity Centre in Abingdon and have done for many years.

The Abingdon Carbon Cutters, are helping to tackle climate change. We have been burning fossil fuels in larger and larger amounts for over 300 years, and Abingdon Carbon Cutters are trying to make a difference locally.