ABOUT FREEMASONRY

ABOUT FREEMASONRY

Our members have come from all walks of life and each with their own unique story to tell for why they became a Freemason. Becoming a Freemason means you’ll be joining approximately 175,000 members throughout England and Wales, as well as Districts overseas.

Membership is open to any man over the age of 18 irrespective of their race or religion. In total, we have more than 7,000 Lodges nationwide, with students able to join one of 87 University Scheme Lodges. Women are invited to join one of two female-only Grand Lodges: The Order of Women Freemasons and Freemasonry for Women.

​Charity

There is no obligation to pay anything to charity at all and our members are mindful never to give more than they can afford.  However we do as an organisation raise a significant amount of money for masonic and non-masonic charities and on a typical night you can expect a couple of optional raffles and a collection to help members who require some short term assistance. To see some of our work please visit the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

​Visiting

One of the greatest joys of Freemasonry is visiting other Lodges to meet more Masons, visiting new buildings or as a nice evening off when working away from home.  Being a member means you can visit any Lodge in the country and barring any dining costs it is complete free to do!

What happens at a meeting?

A typical Lodge meeting commences with the arrival of the members in good time; often brethren will spend time socially in the bar before and after the business of the day. This comprises a ceremony conducted in our Lodge Room. The ceremonies are based on a number of plays, covering the installation of new master (chair of the Lodge) or the progressive advancement of brethren through illustrative depications of the virtues of being an upstanding citizen.  

After the ceremony we attend the evening dinner, otherwise known as the 'Festive Board' where we can socialise and enjoy a 3 course meal which includes toasts, speeches, communications and raffles.

Cost for membership

Cost for membership is broken down as below. Please note that these vary across our Lodges. They will however be explained in full prior to any commitment to joining. 

​Initial Joining Fee: The initial joining fee is made up of a small donation to charity, all of the books and literature required for your initiation.  Our dress code of a black or dark suit, white shirt and black tie will be required if not already owned. 

​Annual Subscription: Every year we pay subs to cover the cost of renting our meeting location, administration costs and our much smaller subscriptions to both the Province of Hampshire and Isle of Wight and the United Grand Lodge of England.  This can reasonably cost anywhere between £130-£200 per year. There are costs for regalia that might be required over the coming years, these start from about £30.00 for your first one and steps up if you chose to progress further (second hand regalia items are widely available).

Dining: After every meeting we have an optional 'festive board' (dinner).  Dining ranges from £17.00-£28.00 per meal for three courses.  Drinks are extra on top of this.  

Social Events

Lodges also regularly get together and have a busy social schedule, getting friends and families together regularly for events, dinners and other social events. Again these vary depending on the Lodge in terms of frequency or activity type. 

Ready to take the next step and speak to one of our team? Fill out an application.