Over thirty Manchester Lodge and Chapter members recently attended Manchester Hall for the first District Representatives Meeting since lockdown. Derby District Chairman, WBro Paul O’Carroll, chaired the meeting, and the Brethren and Companions were fully informed about the latest developments in Manchester Masonry and East Lancashire Freemasonry in general.
The District RADOS, Excellent Companion Bill Lister and Excellent Companion Andrew Greenhalgh, informed the attendees about Royal Arch matters in Manchester. They were followed by the Deputy Chairmen, WBro Ed Beaman and WBro Chris Armstrong, who discussed membership within the Manchester Area, they explained that many men had applied to become Manchester Masons during the lockdown period. The majority of whom had already been allocated to Lodges.

Bro Paul Mansell offered those in attendance a detailed report concerning the activities and plans of the Manchester Level Club(MLC). Paul invited all those present to encourage their newer members to join the MLC.
The final agenda item was an update regarding the 2026 Festival. WBro Stephen Thomson and WBro Tony Stephenson, the District Charity Stewards, gave a brief presentation about the Festival, officially launching at Provincial Grand Lodge on November the 18th. More importantly, they appealed to the Brethren and Companions to ask their Lodge and Chapter Charity Stewards and Worshipful Masters to attend the Festival Workshop, which will be held at Manchester Hall on November the 30th.

Once the meeting had concluded, WBro Paul O’Carroll invited WBro Chris Wildman to take to the floor. Chris is stepping down from his role as Sykes District Chairman to officially take up office as the Provincial Grand Secretary at the next Provincial Meeting at Blackburn. Paul explained that Chris had served over seven years on the Manchester Area Team; he thanked him for his exceptional dedication and diligent service to Manchester Masonry and told him that all would sorely miss him. Paul then presented Chris with a gift from the Manchester Area Team, a personally engraved Mont Blanc pen.

Chris thanked the team for his gift and explained that even though he is taking up a new role, he was keen to remain involved in Manchester Masonry as it is so close to his heart. He went on to tell the Brethren that he felt sure his replacement, WBro Chris Armstrong, will be an able replacement and that the future for Manchester Freemasonry looks exceptionally positive.
On behalf of all Manchester Masons, we would like to wish Chris the best of luck in his new role serving the Province as its Provincial Grand Secretary.