Plympton St Mary Church

On 30th May, Philip Smith, Treasurer of St Mary’s Church Plympton, attended the Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire Presentation Evening at the Mount Edgecumbe Masonic Hall in Plymouth, with David Farley as sponsor, to receive a generous cheque towards the Church’s Chime Appeal.

The money is raised through a fund which was set up by William Kneel, who was the head of Devonshire Freemasonry from 1970 to 1984. Many in the local area will know him as the owner of Kneel’s Laundry and Dry Cleaners, now Johnsons Dry Cleaning. The fund was formally formed and named after him as the William Alexander Kneel Endowment Fund, or WAKE Fund. The first round of donations was made in 2001, and since then we have donated over £1,000,000 to local organisations and charities.

During the evening, over 20 Charitable and community organisations received a share of the £30 000 charitable fund towards their work.

Representatives of schools, youth centres, museums, hospices, sporting organisations, community health, and welfare activities, spoke briefly to the meeting about their work and received a donation cheque. The stories of organisations really benefitting their communities in Devon were really inspiring: whether in isolated communities or in coastal towns, and explained how they were impacting on the lives of many people through organised community action.

Anthony Eldred, who was recently appointed as Assistant Head of Freemasonry in Devonshire, helped to run the evening in his other role as the charitable head of Devonshire Freemasonry. After welcoming all to the Mouth Edgcumbe Masonic Hall, just behind Plymouth Hoe, he introduced the head of Freemasonry in Devonshire, Nicholas Ball who stated: “This is the highlight of our Masonic calendar. To be able to support small local charities who do so much for our communities is very special. It is so moving to hear about their efforts and the fantastic work that they do. I feel extremely proud to support such worthy causes on behalf of the members of Devonshire Freemasonry.”

Philip Smith explained how the appeal to renovate the Clock and Chimes at the 13th Century St Mary’s Church had been progressing for a few years but that the donation would now mean that the Clock and Chimes , which had been renovated in part by last December could now have a realistic expectation to have the chimes reinstated by the end of 2025.

The community organisations join together to thank the Freemasons across Devon who have joined together to support them financially to grow their work.

Credit for the photographs is to John Smerdon , official photographer for the Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire.

Plympton St Mary Church

Devon Freemasons present a generous donation to St Mary’s Church Plympton