Following the success of our Open Day in January 2023, we had, at that time, decided that we would host another such event in 2025.
Having been involved in other Open Days across the Province, we knew how the day should look, what makes a good interactive experience for the visitors, and how to promote Freemasonry in general and better engage with our local community. This said, the day still needed support from both our members and the public, and these are both very much a variable as opposed to a constant !!
We reached out to the various social and charitable groups within Freemasonry and were supported with wonderful displays (and attendance) from the East Kent Light Blues Brothers, the Masonic Golf Society, the Masonic Fishing Charity, and Teddies for Loving Care. We also enjoyed the company of members from the Order of Women’s Freemasonry who have willingly supported almost every Open Day that the Province has held to date.
Ready for the opening
A Watchful eye………
EKMGA’s stand
Busy checking in
Upon arrival our visitors were allotted guides to assist them through the various rooms in the Ramsgate centre, and having had the opportunity of chatting to the various exhibitors and viewing the excellent displays, they were duly offered a chance to sit down and enjoy a couple of short videos from the UGLE YouTube channel in the Ramsgate Masonic Centre “cinema”.
We then introduced our visitors to our wonderful Lodge Room. For those that have not had the opportunity to visit the Ramsgate centre (please do), our Lodge Room is a chapel privately built in the late 1800’s, and offered to the clergy as a place of worship. The clergy declined the opportunity to purchase the chapel due to the immediate area being well served by St Lukes Church, and Holy Trinity Church both just a few hundred yards away. The Chapel was later purchased by the Lewises Corporation and has been a Masonic meeting place ever since.
Inside the Lodge Room we had a number of “talking exhibits” in the form of collared Lodge officers, who explained their duty, their previous and future roles, and offered explanation of gavels, columns, and ashlars. Our visitors were then invited to take a seat in the East, and to give the Master’s gavel a knock, this was duly answered by the Wardens – to the delight of our guests.
It was an opportunity to demonstrate Friendship, Integrity, Respect, and Service, to publicise the difference that our charitable aims have made in our local community as well as the exceptional work that the Fishing Charity and TLC fulfil, not just in our Province but across the country.
We welcomed just short of 80 visitors to the Ramsgate Open Day, and an ad-hoc exit-poll suggested that all of our visitors left the building having enjoyed a positive experience.
Personal thanks must go to those who drove considerable distance, and gave up their day to be part of ours and to promote the various social and charitable groups within the Province. Likewise to members from Margate and Broadstairs centres who willingly lent a hand with the running of the day.
The Ramsgate Masonic Centre Open Day was a great success and was no doubt made so by the efforts of everyone involved, and similarly our wonderful visitors who chose to spend a Saturday with the Freemasons.
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