The Wyggeston Lodge, No.3448 Leicester

‘Inside The Freemasons’ TV documentary features Wyggeston Lodge members

The new five-part observational documentary series on Sky 1 ‘Inside the Freemasons’, which starts on Monday 17th April at 8pm features several members from the Wyggeston Lodge No.3448 which meets in Leicester.

_DSC4402 - Version 2 (1) — Andy Green, Peter Kinder and Dipak Chauhan who feature in the ‘Inside The Freemasons’ Sky 1 TV Documentary

The highly-anticipated observational documentary, entitled ‘Inside The Freemasons’ promises to go beyond the myth and legend to explore the real people, practices and inner-workings of the well-known, but little-understood, ancient fraternal order with roots stretching back to the medieval stone masons. From the regalia to the grand ceremonies, ancient rituals and the unbreakable bonds of brotherhood, viewers will discover what it really means to be a modern-day Freemason.

Filmed across several months in 2016, the documentary follows individual Freemasons from Entered Apprentices to Rulers, exploring the history, symbolism and the modern relevance of the organisation, including its role as one of the biggest charitable contributors in the UK.

As part of the filming, several Freemasons from the Wyggeston Lodge are included in this groundbreaking documentary.

W.Bro. Andy Green features in the final episode which focuses on the future of Freemasonry. Andy became a Freemason 17 years ago at the age of 27 via a recommendation from a university friend.

Andy said: “Freemasonry has given me an enormous amount of pleasure and satisfaction and has also offered me confidence, transferable skills and so many genuine friends.”

Talking about his involvement in the documentary he said: “I’m incredibly passionate and enthusiastic about Masonry and have relished the opportunity to be part of a unique documentary series helping to dispel the myths that have surrounded Freemasonry for many years. I also very much care about the future of Freemasonry and helping to ensure that generations to come are able to enjoy it as much as I do.”

During his time as a Mason he has made close friends who have assisted him through tough times and poor health.

Other Wyggeston Lodge members featuring in the series talking about Freemasonry include W.Bro. Dipak Chauhan who joined in 2004 and was attracted with the ability to be involved with charitable work, help with developing personal skills and a fascination with how it translates across religions.

He said: “I hope the documentary will open up the mysticism and myths and to show that Freemasons do some seminal charitable work for good causes.”

V.W.Bro. Peter Kinder who is the Assistant Provincial Grand Master of Leicestershire and Rutland is an Honorary Member of the Wyggeston Lodge.

Peter, a local businessman, was initiated in 1973. He said: “Freemasonry is a wonderful organisation of like-minded men and has taught me the values of being a disciplined individual and a responsible member of society.”

Peter got involved with the TV Documentary after being invited to take part after he met the film crew on location: “I felt that the making of this documentary was a wonderful opportunity to ‘open our doors’ to the public.” He continued: “I hope it will show that our members are responsible, charitable and upstanding and that we contribute greatly to all aspects that community.”

Freemasonry opens its doors for first time with new observational documentary series – ‘Inside The Freemasons’ featuring Wyggeston Lodge members

The previously unseen world of Freemasonry will be revealed for the first time in an enlightening new five-part observational documentary series on Sky 1 – starting on Monday 17 April at 8pm. The series features several members from Wyggeston Lodge which meets in Leicester including Past Masters Andy Green and Dipak Chauhan.

Exclusive and unprecedented access was granted to film inside one of the world’s oldest and most intriguing membership organisations as part of its 300th anniversary in 2017.

Inside the Freemasons on Sky 1 - April 2017 (L-R) Jonathan Spence Peter Lowndes and Sir David Wootton (c) Sky (2) — Inside The Freemasons – Sky 1 documentary

The highly-anticipated observational documentary, entitled Inside The Freemasons promises to go beyond the myth and legend to explore the real people, practices and inner-workings of the well-known, but little-understood, ancient fraternal order with roots stretching back to the medieval stone masons. From the regalia to the grand ceremonies, ancient rituals and the unbreakable bonds of brotherhood, viewers will discover what it really means to be a modern-day Freemason.

Filmed and produced by independent production company Emporium for Sky 1, this series is the first time such extensive access and filming has been permitted inside the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE). Viewers will be given never-before-seen insights into the world of Freemasons, their practices, values, history and modern lodge life.

While the vast majority of viewers are familiar with the concept of Freemasonry, few can describe who Freemasons are and what they do with any confidence or accuracy. What has motivated generations of men to join its ranks? Why is it important to form bonds that transcend religion, politics or social status? What does Freemasonry stand for? What do Freemasons do? What does the symbolism and allegory mean? How does public perception differ to reality? And what does Freemasonry have to offer society today?

Across the five episodes, we follow ordinary Masons from around the country, as they learn and rehearse their ritual and the moral lessons it contains, raise money for charity and enjoy the camaraderie they say comes with being a member of the Brotherhood, to paint a comprehensive, Masons-eye-view of life Inside The Freemasons.

UGLE2596 Inside the Freemasons on Sky 1 - April 2017 (L-R) Dean O'Conn... (2) — Inside The Freemasons – Sky 1 documentary

John Hamill, Director, Special Projects at the United Grand Lodge of England, said, “In our Tercentenary year it is fitting that we mark this favourable occasion by very openly sharing a look at who we are, what we do and what we stand for. We hope the programme will help inform, educate and even surprise, providing a genuine insight and understanding into Freemasonry and Freemasons today.”

Emma Read, Managing Director of Emporium Productions said, “We were delighted to have been given such unprecedented access to the hidden world of the Freemasons to make a documentary series. Most people are familiar with Freemasons as an organisation, but few actually know who they are, what ‘Lodge life’ is really like and why men join in the 21st Century.”

“Incredible evening” for our new Master Mason

At the meeting of the Wyggeston Lodge No.3448 on Friday 17th March 2017, Bro. Lehan Edirisinghe, who is a Management Studies student at the University of Leicester and from Sri Lanka, was raised to the degree of a Master Mason.

Bro. Lehan was initiated in the Wyggeston Lodge in December 2015 after enquiring about joining Freemasonry via the lodge website.

After the ceremony Bro. Lehan said: “This evening was incredible. This fantastic ancient society has improved my confidence and helped transfer knowledge, capabilities and experience from people of all walks of life, differing backgrounds and generations.”

Bro. Lehan Edirisinghe (left) and W.Bro. Andy Green (right)

W.Bro. Andy Green, Assistant Secretary, said: “The ceremony was performed extremely well by the Master and all those who assisted him and I’m so pleased that Bro. Lehan is now a Master Mason and he continues to enjoy his Freemasonry.”

Wyggeston Lodge gears up for 300 mile bike ride

The training is in full swing for members of Wyggeston Lodge who are participating in the Tercentenary Centre Ride in June. This is a 300 mile bike ride over 4 days (8th-11th June 2017) visiting all the masonic centres in Leicestershire & Rutland including riding down to Freemasons’ Hall in Great Queen Street, London as a celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Grand Lodge of England. The riders will also call at the site of the former inn, the Goose and Gridiron in St. Paul’s Churchyard where the Grand Lodge was formed in 1717.

The Centre Ride is looking to raise £20,000 split equally between the Masonic Charitable Foundation and Rainbows Children’s Hospice for Children and Young People.

As part of the training Bro. Richard Jennings suggested the Watt Bike “No Excuses” Sportive around Nottinghamshire on Sunday 5th March 2017. The “Epic” was 70miles with nearly 3000ft of ascent starting at Southwell race course heading out towards Sutton on Trent, Tuxford, Ravenshead, edge of Arnold, Lowdham, back to Southwell. Many “Sportives” are organised in the cycling community throughout the year. A Sportive is a medium to long distance organised cycling event along a pre-determined route, it is not a race, although they do have a cut off finish time.

The Wyggeston “team” Bro. Richard Jennings, Bro. Chris Panteli, W.Bro. Simon Oldfield and his wife Toni, sporting the winter Leicestershire & Rutland Masonic Cycling Association jerseys met at Southwell at 7:30am ready for the off at 8am. The weather during the week had indicated that Saturday was going to be wet, windy and cold, and the Sunday forecast was to be dry, overcast and mild, all very pleasant. Needless to say Saturday was a lovely day, not a good omen for Sunday’s weather.

Simon recounts the day: “So off we went at around 8am, a happy band of 4, the weather initially being dry but very cold. That was not to last as by around 9:30 it started to rain, so it was now cold and wet and only 15 miles covered. But true to form we pressed on with many others, far fitter and faster than us. It started to become a tough day, the bad weather was very energy sapping, but in true Masonic spirit we supported and helped each other along. Thankfully the first 25 miles of the ride was relatively flat, and we were all surprised that we seemed to be getting along at a reasonable average speed. The tougher sections were ahead between 25-45 miles distance, we managed to cope with those without too much difficulty, but at around 50 miles the weather seemed wetter and colder and we were struggling with the elements. At around 55miles a couple of short steep hills really pushed our limits. Thankfully the last 10 miles was relatively flat, by which time we were totally soaked through. As we were approaching the finish at Southwell racecourse the sun was starting to break through. Clocking off our Garmin Cycle GPS’s we were surprised and pleased to see we had managed 70miles at an average moving speed of 13mph. The drive home was in glorious sunshine with the car heater on full blast. The medals we received were a nice reminder of the terrible weather.”

He continued: “The ride was excellent training, we all learnt that bad weather makes it much more difficult and saps your energy. The other lessons learned were that it’s vital to drink before you are thirsty and eat before you are hungry; the Garmin’s reckoned the men burnt off something in the region of 5000 calories. The other useful lesion was to carry an external battery pack for when the wet weather saps the charge on your Garmin.”

Apart from the weekly training rides they are all looking forward to the next sportive – the “Rutland Circle”, over a 1000 riders, taking in 79 miles around Rutland, and 3600ft ascent.

You can sponsor the team here or you can support one of our lodge members individually:

Wyggeston Lodge hosts successful Universities Scheme and Tercentenary celebration

Members of the Wyggeston Lodge No.3448, which is the Universities Scheme Lodge for the University of Leicester, together with its sister Scheme Lodges, Castle of Leicester Lodge No.7767 (De Montfort University) and Lodge of Science & Art No.8429 (Loughborough University), met together for a joint meeting to celebrate the success of the Universities Scheme in the Province of Leicestershire and Rutland together with the Tercentenary of the United Grand Lodge of England.

The meeting, held at Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester, was attended by over 90 Brethren who witnessed 3 ceremonies (an Initiation, Passing and Raising) with multiple candidates and conducted in turn by each of the lodges.

The Lodges were extremely honoured to welcome the Assistant Grand Master, R.W.Bro. Sir David Wootton, who is the Universities Scheme President along with the Scheme Chairman, W.Bro. Edward Lord. Also attending were the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, V.W.Bro. James Buckle, the Assistant Provincial Grand Master, V.W.Bro. Peter Kinder and brethren representing 10 additional Scheme Lodges along with other visitors.

After the Wyggeston Lodge Master, W.Bro. Yogesh Patel, opened the meeting at 2.30pm, the Master of Castle of Leicester Lodge, W.Bro. Daniel Hayward, along with members of the lodge conducted a triple Raising. After a short tea break it was the turn of the Lodge of Science and Art to conduct the Passing of Bro. Connagh McCormick. Lastly, after another tea break, the Wyggeston Lodge conducted an Initiation ceremony for three Candidates, Bros. Elvis, Craig and Jeremy two of whom are students at the University of Leicester.
The meeting was followed by a wonderful Festive Board at 8.00pm where the lodges enjoyed a hearty three course dinner and the company of the guests and visitors. A raffle held in aid of the Alderman Newton’s Educational Foundation, which is a local charity offering financial support to individuals and schools to help people access education or training opportunities in Leicestershire, raised £420. A collection for the Masonic Charitable Foundation 2022 Festival also raised £422 including Gift Aid.

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W.Bro. Andy Green, Assistant Secretary, said: “It was a wonderful occasion getting the three lodges together to celebrate the Universities Scheme in the Province and to mark the Tercentenary of the Grand Lodge. It was great to see so many young members enjoying their Freemasonry which created a real buzz throughout the day.”

Sky 1 documentary series ‘Inside the Freemasons’ featuring Wyggeston Lodge members to start screening on Easter Monday

The long awaited first episode of the documentary series ‘Inside the Freemasons’ will be broadcast on Easter Monday, 17th April 2017, at 8pm on Sky 1.

Sky Television have commissioned and financed a 5 part documentary which has been produced by award-winning executive producer Emma Read and Emporium Productions. Emporium Productions are specialists in creative and original popular factual programming set up in 2015 by Emma Read and leading UK independent television production company, Hat Trick.

Viewers will be taken exclusively behind the scenes of Freemasonry which is one of the oldest social networking organisations in the world; a fraternal order that welcomes members regardless of their status, creed or political persuasion. While most of are familiar with the concept of Freemasons, few can describe who they are and what they do with any confidence or accuracy. What has motivated generations of men to join its ranks? What does the symbolism mean? How does public perception differ to reality? And what does Freemasonry have to offer men and society in the 21st Century?

With unique and unprecedented access to the Freemasons, ‘Inside The Freemasons’ asks who are Freemasons and what do they do? As the United Grand Lodge of England celebrates its tercentenary in 2017, it goes beyond the myth and legend to discover what it means to be a Freemason today through the words and lives of Freemasons themselves including W.Bro. Dr. Andy Green and several other members of the Wyggeston Lodge.

Andy Green of Wyggeston Lodge being interviewed for ‘Inside the Freemasons’ documentary

The one hour episodes will be broadcast on consecutive Mondays. Sky 1 may also be viewed by Now TV, Talk Talk and Virgin Media customers, and the series will be available on DVD after the full series has been broadcast.

Wyggeston Lodge members visit the Royal Yorkshire Lodge

On Tuesday 7th February 2017, eight members of the Wyggeston Lodge visited the Royal Yorkshire Lodge No. 265 on what has become an annual event. The members included those who had been before and a number of young masons who have visited very few lodges.

Bro. Peter Clarke, who is the Secretary of the Wyggeston Lodge, is also a member of the Royal Yorkshire Lodge which he joined after finishing university and relocated back to his home town. The Royal Yorkshire Lodge was formed in 1788 and has met in Keighley since its consecration. The business of the evening was to install Bro. Edgar as Master and to celebrate the festival of St John the Evangelist who is also the Patron Saint of Freemasonry.

The meeting was particularly well attended and Bro. Peter Clarke was appointed Organist once again. The Master Bro. Edgar said: “It was fantastic to see so many young masons visiting other lodges”. Bro. Ian Player from Wyggeston Lodge added: “It was great to visit another lodge particularly as the ceremony was very different”.

The meeting was concluded by an excellent festive board. Bro. Peter Clarke described it as “an excellent meeting” and looks forward to welcoming the members of the Wyggeston Lodge to a future meeting.

Wyggeston Lodge donates £1,000 to local breast cancer and disabilities charities

The Wyggeston Lodge No.3448, through the generosity of their members, have donated £1,000 shared equally between two local charities: Menphys and the Breast Care Centre, Glenfield Hospital at a special event held at Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester on Saturday 4th February 2017.

Past Master Paul Bodycot along with Laura Jeffs (Menphys, left) and Amanda Gibby (Breast Care Centre, right) outside Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester

During his year as Master, W.Bro. Paul Bodycot, wished to concentrate fundraising efforts on two charities that have supported his family.

The Breast Care Centre is a purpose built unit at the Glenfield Hospital which brings together the specialist staff needed to provide the majority of all breast care services for the people of Leicestershire.

It was opened in 1999 and has four mammography rooms, three film reading rooms, three processing rooms, three ultrasound rooms and five clinic suites. During the last year, 850 women in Leicestershire were diagnosed and treated by a dedicated multidisciplinary team of staff that specialise in breast disease at the Breast Care Centre

The Centre is also home to the static breast screening unit and acts as a base for the breast screening services. From here 150,000, 50 to 70 year old women from the whole of Leicestershire receive their breast screening invitations.

The donation to the Breast Care Centre from the Lodge was matched by the Leicestershire and Rutland Masonic Charity Association bringing the total to £1,000.

Amanda Gibby, Breast Imaging & Screening Programme Manager for Leicester’s Hospitals, said: “I would like to thank the Wyggeston Lodge for choosing the Breast Care Centre. We are currently looking to expand the Centre as its quite cramped. These funds will go to the Expansion Project.”

Menphys was founded in 1969 to support children and young people with disabilities and their families in Leicestershire.

It provides a range of services including supporting and enhancing the provision at specialist nurseries in Wigston and Burbage. The Menphys Special Outreach Service supports children and young people aged 0 – 19 and their families and the Buddy Scheme offers friendship and activities to children and young people whilst providing a short break for parents/carers. Finally, Menphys also provides Saturday clubs offering a wide range of sport and leisure activities in conjunction with Menphys Sport, Play and Leisure.

Laura Jeffs, Executive Headteacher at the Menphys Centre in Wigston, said: “This really generous donation from the Wyggeston Lodge is going towards our bathroom and changing room improvements. For our young children it is an essential life skill to become toilet trained and independent and develop all those self-help skills. It is a really important project for us and we appreciate the generosity of the Lodge.”

Wyggeston Lodge: A reflection of 5 years as the Universities Scheme Lodge for the University of Leicester

In 2010 the Wyggeston Lodge No.3348, which meets in Leicester, celebrated its Centenary; one hundred years of continuous Freemasonry enjoyed by countless members during that time. However, one startling figure at the time of the celebrations was the fact that the number of active members at 22 was actually lower than the number of Founders back in 1910.

Over a number of years we had seen a gradual decline in membership with little or no new members forthcoming, similar to many other lodges across the English Constitution. Many Lodge meetings in recent memory were either demonstrations, lectures or visiting other lodges due to the lack of candidates. Several discussions were held at whether we should lower the number of meetings per year to accommodate the changing demand for Freemasonry. It was also certainly mooted as to whether the lodge could survive long term or would eventually be forced to hand in its Warrant, something that none of its members obviously wanted to see.

At our Installation in November 2010 just four months after our Centenary celebrations a cord or lifeline was given to lodge when the Assistant Provincial Grand Master and Universities Scheme Representative for the Province of Leicestershire and Rutland, V.W.Bro Peter Kinder, posed the question as to whether Wyggeston could be the Universities Scheme Lodge in Leicester.

Past Master and academic, W.Bro. Andy Green, saw huge potential in this offer and immediately put the wheels into motion in finding out what being a Scheme Lodge entailed and whether there was an appetite for the Wyggeston Lodge to join the Universities Scheme.

Following discussions with the lodge it was unanimously agreed that the lodge should put forward an application to join the Scheme and by April 2011, the lodge received notice from the President R.W.Bro. David Williamson, Assistant Grand Master, that it had been accepted onto the Universities Scheme as the Scheme Lodge for Leicester.

And so our incredible journey started…

Without any previous association with the University of Leicester, its staff or students, a sub-committee was formed consisting of W.Bro. Andy Green, W.Bro. Kelvin Johnson and Bro. Jamie Mollart on putting a plan together on how to make it a success. These initially included launching a new website, adopting social media, including Facebook and Twitter, attending Freshers’ Fair and holding tours of Freemasons’ Hall, Leicester for student societies. Each of these has presented the lodge with candidates.

Members of the Lodge and the Assistant Provincial Grand Master at Freshers’ Fair

By December 2011, the lodge had initiated its first Scheme Initiate, Bro. Alex Pohl who was a 20 year old undergraduate law student at the University of Leicester. After graduating in 2014 and moving to Birmingham he continues to be a lodge member and is currently our Senior Deacon and looks set to become the first Scheme Initiate to be Master in a few years time.

The Lodge continued to attract new members who were studying at the University and soon after the lodge was challenged with the idea of conducting multiple ceremonies to enable timely initiation and progression of Scheme Initiates within the time frame of their university courses. In 2012, for the first time in over 50 years, a double ceremony was performed in the lodge which has since become a standard fixture having built up experience and confidence in conducting large multiple ceremonies.

It also became quickly apparent through the unexpected demand that the lodge encountered that it should perhaps concentrate on being the Universities Scheme Lodge specifically for the University of Leicester and give another lodge the opportunity to be the Scheme Lodge for De Montfort University, subsequently to be Castle of Leicester Lodge No.7767.

In 2013, our Scheme Initiates made the front cover of Freemasonry Today along with a feature in the magazine about Wyggeston Lodge and why students were joining Freemasonry. In the same year, the Lodge was honoured to welcome the Scheme President, R.W. Bro. David Williamson and Scheme Chairman, W.Bro. Edward Lord to a double Initiation of Scheme Initiates. The lodge also joined the Association for Medical, University and Legal Lodges (AMULL) which has since very generously financially assisted one of our members to continue his postgraduate studies.

During 2014, the Lodge continued very much in the same vein with multiple Initiations, Passings and Raisings building on the previous years success. Our Lodge Secretary, W.Bro. Andy Green, was also invited to serve on the United Grand Lodge of England Universities Scheme Committee, a position which he continues to hold and was promoted to Vice-Chairman in 2015.

In 2015, the first joint meeting between the three Scheme Lodges in the Province was held where all three ceremonies were conducted with multiple candidates which was deemed a great success. The Lodge has also been able to ask other lodges in the Province to assist in progressing our members including Temperantia Lodge No.4088, St John’s Lodge No.279, Gartree Lodge No.7778, Derek Buswell Lodge of Provincial Grand Stewards No.9705, Saint Crispin Lodge No.7832, Granite Lodge No.2028, Wyvern Lodge No.6167, Lodge of Gratitude No.6514, and Enderby Lodge No.5061. Another Scheme Lodge, the University Lodge of Liverpool No.4274 have also kindly assisted in Raising one of our members and we sincerely thank them all for their help.

We were also proud to be the inaugural holders of the DKW Loving Cup, the Scheme’s Travelling Loving Cup which was based originally from an idea by W.Bro. Andy Green and donated to the Scheme by the outgoing President, R.W.Bro. David Williamson at the Scheme Conference held in Leicester in 2015. Since joining we have additionally welcomed many visitors from sister Scheme Lodges as well as members from other lodges who are currently students at the University of Leicester.

In 2016, we’ve had a relatively quieter year in terms of Scheme Initiates than the previous one which has given us time to consolidate the progression of our existing members. However, we are excited that a Masonic Society at the University of Leicester Students Union was formed by Scheme Initiates as it is seen as a primary source of engagement between the Lodge and students. One of our early Scheme Initiates, Bro. Peter Clarke was also invested as Secretary of the Lodge. We were also proud to make the Past President of the Scheme, R.W.Bro. David Williamson an Honorary member of the Lodge, along with the Provincial Liaison Officer for the Scheme, V.W.Bro. Peter Kinder both of whom have helped and assisted the lodge become a success.

In just over five years, we have initiated 32 University of Leicester students, staff and alumni. Our membership now stands at over 50 and which we have seen a dramatic drop in the average age of our members from 60 to 45. Retention of Scheme Initiates within the lodge is currently at 69%. Of the 10 Scheme Initiates who have moved on after graduation and have resigned from the Lodge, seven still remain active members of other Masonic lodges in Suffolk, Yorkshire and even Canada. Therefore overall retention of our Scheme Initiates in Freemasonry is 94%.

To date, being a Universities Scheme Lodge has required a great deal of hard work from all members of the lodge in making it a success. Not only has the Universities Scheme brought new enthusiastic young men into the Craft, it has reinvigorated our membership and posed many exciting challenges including multiple ceremonies and an opportunity to extend our Masonic network far and wide. We very much look forward to the next 5 years with eager anticipation of further success.

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