Solihull Lodge's 380th Regular Meeting

On Monday evening, 21 March 2022, the members and visitors of Solihull Lodge 8088 carried out their usual business once the clock hit 6 pm. When the gavel was put down by Worshipful Master Paul Draper, the lodge opened its doors to a very important speaker, former Police Superintendent, Derek Forrest OBE.

Derek Forest, who is not a Freemason, delivered an interesting presentation entitled 'Disaster Victims Identification'. Serving across the globe as a DVI commander, he gave paramount details about the whole process of identification, e.g., scene management, search and recovery, matching IDs, family liaison, repatriation and managing press. Among many disasters where he took on a leading role, the most important was the earthquake followed by a giant tsunami travelling at 1,000 km per hour in Indian Ocean in 2004. The energy released in the wake of the earthquake was equivalent to 23,000 atomic bombs. All of these resulted in 280,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands of injuries and millions of reports of missing people.

Derek Forrest OBE and WM Paul Draper

Working against the unknown and every possible barrier over 18 busy months in Thailand, travelling back and forth while racing against the clock, and engaging with stressful details surely are not easy tasks, let alone managing and dealing with forensics, administration andhumanitarian aspects of such crises. Derek Forrest, a true gentleman and an expert in his area, was welcomed and applauded by everyone in the room.

This news has initially been published by the website of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire.

Keith Reynold's '50 Years of Service' Certificate

On 9 March 2022, accompanied by the members of Linwood Lodge 9632, visitors and many Grand and Provincial officers, W Bro Keith Reynolds PJGD received a certificate highlighting his devoted service in the last 50 years.

AssistantProvincial Grand Master W Bro Nigel Hawkins and his senior and junior wardens, W Bro Trevor Siddall and W BroAndrew Lee respectively, kindly accepted to open the lodge which was followed by an enjoyable and interesting conversation that took place between Nigel Hawkins and Keith Reynolds in the middle of the room. The Brethren paid attention to every detail about Keith Reynold's successful journey in Freemasonry and admired his commendable achievements. In response, Keith Reynolds humbly accepted every fraternal greeting at the end of the meeting.

The Festive Board followed by the presentation of the certificate was full of laughter. Not everyone could have enjoyed that evening as much as Keith surely yet the smile on each face never stopped for a moment.

The peak of the evening was when it was announced that £475 was collected for the refugees in Ukraine in the wake of the humanitarian crisis. This amount will be doubled by Apple which means that a total of £1,425 will be sent for this purpose.

Warwickshire's Support for Ukrainian Refugees

The Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire has launched a massive campaign for those in need and affected following Russia's military operation in Ukraine. The campaign has a target of achieving £5,000.00.

The Province has shared this important message with its readers:

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees are finding themselves homeless, having fled their homeland. We are raising money to send aid to those who are displaced and need our help.

Thank you all in advance for your generosity and assure you that your recognition and kindness will mean a great deal to those families experiencing severe hardship, fear and trauma at this time.

If you want to contribute to this fundraising project, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/warwickshireukrainefund.