Celebrating 30 Years of Acorns Children's Hospice
Saturday 8th September saw the Five of Nine Club return to Acorns Children’s Hospice, Selly Oak, Birmingham taking Freemasonry into the Community to support them at their summer fayre. This year however is quite a special one for this incredible charity, as they celebrate 30 years of helping children and their families.
Saturday 8th September saw the Five of Nine Club return to Acorns Children’s Hospice, Selly Oak, Birmingham taking Freemasonry into the Community to support them at their summer fayre. This year, however, is quite a special one for this incredible charity, as they celebrate 30 years of helping children and their families.
Our events secretary Bro Dan Norman had rallied the troops and been our contact for this annual fundraising day. We had arranged to assist Acorns with a number of roles to include stewarding and attending the car park. On arrival, our Chairman Bro Carey Burke was quick to get us involved, and within minutes we were building the stalls and attempting to erect a menagerie of gazebos so that the wonderful volunteers at the centre could get set up ready for the arrival of the local community who are always keen to offer their support.
Along with assisting Acorns in the running of the event our membership secretary Bro Warwick Wakefield who runs his own hog roasting business “Ready to Roast” volunteered his services to provide food for the day. Bro Warwick was joined by past club chairman WBro Dan Thomas on the hog roast and as soon as it arrived the air was filled with a mouth-watering aroma so much so it certainly made everyone’s stomachs rumble, to the point an eager queue had formed even before they started serving!
The stall next to the Hog Roast saw the first official outing of the Warwickshire Freemasons “Let’s Talk” team where a number of Warwickshire brethren were on hand to talk openly about Masonry and promote the great work that is done by us all.
We were joined by our Patron RWBro David Macey PGM and his wife Sandra who were quick to sample the food and joined in with the day’s activities. RWBro David was thrilled to see us all helping at Acorns, a charity that he has long supported and selected to be one of his “Famous Five” charities.
The day was a huge success for everyone. The hog roast sold out and 100% of profits were donated to Acorns Hospice, and thanks to a donation from the Warwickshire Masonic Charitable Association, who paid for the hog we were able to hand over a cheque for £668. This was gratefully received by Acorns Children’s Hospice.
“We’re extremely thankful not only for the donation but also for the kind assistance that the Five of Nine Club had given throughout the day, you’ve been a tremendous help...”
Our work here, however, was far from done, once the day had ended we stayed behind to help with the breakdown and clean up much to the delight of the Acorns regular volunteers!
We had a fantastic day supporting what can only be described as a one in a million charity that works so hard for children and their families when they need it most. The club is honoured to have been able to help Acorns and delighted to hear that they raised £668 during the day which will go on to help pay for care and support.
We are sure to be back at Acorns in the future and can’t wait to get involved again, if you have a local charity that could benefit from some help from the Five of Nine Club we would be pleased to hear from you, please email club secretary Bro Carl Foster at carl.foster@fiveofnineclub.org.uk with details.
Many Thanks to all the Club members who came along to help on the day and a huge thanks to Bro Warwick Wakefield of “Ready to Roast” and Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge for their support.
Five of Nine Club Victorious in Battle again!
Saturday 9th June 2018 saw our 2nd club Annual Paintball Event at NPF Bassets Pole, Birmingham. It saw our members, family and friends join together in order to take on our opponents for the day. Once registration was complete, we were issued our battle gear, our ammo and then came the most essential item - our weapon of choice.
Saturday 9th June 2018 saw our 2nd club Annual Paintball Event at NPF Bassets Pole, Birmingham.
It saw our members, family and friends join together in order to take on our opponents for the day. Once registration was complete, we were issued our battle gear, our ammo and then came the most essential item - our weapon of choice.
Some of the team choosing to upgrade weapons, purchase paintball grenades and flash-bangs we could see that our team meant business and were taking no prisoners! After being assigned to the Blue team, it was goggles on and straight into the battlefield.
The battle commenced, the blue team played very strategically, our members working together and on occasions being some of the last men standing. So it went on, battle after battle, the humid weather, the sweat pouring from us, and the sprints to the enemy base taking its toll.
Shots were taken to the head, back, torso, legs and arms throughout the day mounted with the bruises clearly visible on our team. Being hit from a distance was painful enough but being shot at point-blank range was an experience which we would never want to repeat in a hurry.
After a brief break in play for lunch, it was straight back on to the battlefield. Our weapons reloaded and our ammo topped up it was straight back into the action.
The final points game saw the blue team securing its position within the Wild West area, our team member being protected from the enemy fire within the centre of the play zone. The enemy quickly being taken out until our team was the last standing.
A resounding win from the blue team on the day with the red squad accepting final defeat.
The last game of the day was every team for themselves, joining with other groups from the day's paintball action.
With paintballs flying from every direction it was difficult to tell friend from foe. With smoke grenades filling the game zone and with a no-kill policy we advanced on our enemy releasing every last piece of ammunition.
Hit with the enemy and friendly fire the casualty rate had grown at the end of the match. The marshals too being casualties from both sides. Battered and bruised walking away we reflected on a fantastic day spent with great friends.
An experience for us all but most importantly meeting up with old friends and making new ones on the way. A brilliant day had by all and something which we hope to repeat for a future event.
Proudly launching our NEW Club Tie
Earlier this year The Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire set out to design the new Provincial tie. The Five of Nine Club has done the same and we are delighted to announce the launch of our new tie at the Provincial Grand Lodge meeting today.
Earlier this year the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire set out to design the new Provincial tie.
The Five of Nine Club has done the same, and we are delighted to announce the launch of our new tie at the Provincial Grand Lodge meeting today.
As with the new Provincial tie our brief was for one that members would be proud to wear both inside and outside of the lodge room. We believe we have created a modern tie, which achieves this. Made by Toye Kenning and Spencer the new Five of Nine Club tie is, like the Provincial tie of the highest quality.
The new Five of Nine Club tie is as previously in keeping with the provincial tie with our distinctive silver bears and logo clearly marking out to all Warwickshire Freemasons the wearer’s membership.
We are also following popular demand and proud to announce the launch of the Five of Nine Pocket Square/handkerchief. This is based on the same distinctive design and is again an accessory we hope our members can use both within and outside masonry.
As with all our merchandise both of these items are available to purchase via our website using our online payment system. We hope Five of Nine Club members like their new tie and look forward to seeing them around the province soon.