WK News Summer 2023 - Magazine - Page 25
ISSUE NO.10 SUMMER 2023 | WEST KENT NEWS 25
PROVINCIAL GRAND DIRECTOR OF
CEREMONIES: DANIEL UNTHANK
As announced at the Provincial Grand Honours
Ceremony on 9th June, I will be endeavouring to
run 1000 miles in the next year to raise funds for
the 2026 Festival.
To put this into perspective, it is roughly the same
distance as running from Oakley House to Naples
in Italy. But you have a whole year I hear you cry!
Well, I’ll admit I had the same thought, and after
a couple of pints it sounded simple. Then the
sensible person in my house, namely my wife,
pointed out to me that I’m 49, a smoker, don’t
mind a drink and my knees and back sound like
popping candy when I get out of bed in the
morning. This was a slightly better reaction than
that of my two sons who just laughed. Out came
calculators and I was gleefully informed that I’d
need to run 2.75 miles EVERY DAY, or 19.25 miles
EVERY WEEK, or 83.5 miles EVERY MONTH. This
plus family time, walking the dog, a normal
working day, Masonic meetings and all the other
activities I’m involved in. Then came the dreaded
question: ‘can we call it the Forrest Gump
Challenge and have t-shirts made?’. After rapidly
putting an end to that line of questioning and the
snickering, there was a brief few seconds of
silence and I was then asked ‘why are you going
to run 1000 miles in a year’? It’s a good question
and one that I suddenly found myself asking.
Brethren, you all know that we are in Festival and
have been challenged to raise £2,502,026 to
assist the Masonic Charitable Foundation with
their charity work. Charity has always been a core
principle of Freemasonry, and the work the MCF
does is nothing short of life changing. Funded
entirely by Freemasons, they provide support for
Freemasons and their families when life takes an
unexpected turn for the worse. The MCF offer a
wide range of grants and support services for
financial, health, family and care-related needs
along with support for local and national
charities, funding medical research and disaster
relief appeals.
Whether we are aware of it or not, we all know
someone who has benefitted from the work the
MCF do. West Kent Masons, have received
assistance from the MCF before, during and
after the pandemic and will undoubtedly long
continue to do so. The Festival is our way of
giving back and saying thank you. From the start
we have seen members of our Province take up
challenges to raise monies and support our
2026 Festival. Nethinim Lodge completed a
virtual run/walk from Lands End to John
O’Groats, Craig Reeves-Tibbs of North Kent
Lodge hiked 50km across 10 Tors in Dartmoor,
Andrew and James Waddington walked the
Pilgrims Way in 6 days and Bipin Patel is playing
72 holes of golf in one day! These are just a few
of the events Brethren have taken on so that
West Kent can support the MCF.
Brethren, my 1000 mile run is going to be tough
(although hopefully not as laughable as my sons
thought), but it’s for an exceptionally good
cause. I will be providing regular updates
throughout the year so you can see how things
are going. Any donation you can give would be
greatly appreciated and will help enormously on
the days when I would rather fall asleep on the
sofa than go for a run! Donations can be made
via tinyurl.com/1000MilesMCF or use the QR
code below:
Me after the first 6.5 mile run on Sat 10th Jun.
Trust me Brethren, it’s not a smile on my face!