Holywood Charity Committee was established on 31st October 1934 in the Holywood Masonic Hall as a direct result of a solemn and searching appeal from R.W.Bro. Raymond F Brooke, Deputy Grand Master, sent to every Secretary in the Irish Constitution on 1st September 1934.  This letter implored the Brethren to increase their subscriptions to the three Benevolent Institutions - the Girl's School, Boy's School and Annuity Fund - after ten years of falling subscriptions.

          One of the suggestions to help with this aim was the appointment of a Charity Steward, "whose duty it would be to interest brethren in the work of the Institutions and to solicit subscriptions".

          In a follow up letter, also from the Deputy Grand Master, the sorry plight of the Benevolent Institutions at the time is revealed, together with the fact that only some 3% of the Brethren "associated themselves personally with the Institutions".  R.W.Bro. W Robinson, Provincial Deputy Grand Master of Down, summoned the Brethren of Holywood to the initial meeting on 31st October 1934, at which the officers were elected.

          According to the minutes of that meeting, it was "Proposed by R.W.Bro. Robinson, seconded by W.Bro. J Kyle Graham and passed unanimously that V.W.Bro. R Geddes be the first Chairman of the Committee" and "That W.Bro. W P Black be Treasurer".  It was further passed "That Bro. Allan Robin be Secretary".

          In a letter to all the bodies sitting in the Holywood Hall from these new Officers, it says of the inaugural meeting "The proceedings were most enthusiastic".  It also sets out the conditions (still in use today) for the make up of the Committee, namely that each body is entitled to send two representatives to form the General Committee. The letter concludes with an appeal for support, saying "...and we look for your hearty co-operation and goodwill in our efforts to place Holywood in an honourable position among the Charity Committees of the Province".

          In April 1935 the Committee distributed its first funds to the various Charities, namely

                         £25 to Down Masonic Widows Fund

                         £10 to Victoria Jubilee Annuity Fund

                         £10 to Masonic Orphan Boys' School

                         £5 to Masonic Female Orphan School

          October 1935 witnessed a dramatic change in the operation of the fledgling Committee, with the following proposal passed unanimously "That this meeting representing the Lodges, Chapters and Preceptory assembling in Holywood recommends that the Lodges, Chapters and Preceptory as above should join and subscribe to the Belfast Masonic Widows Fund and that no further subscriptions be sent to the Down Masonic Widows Fund".

The first of the Committee's many Church Services was held on Sunday 31st May 1936, when, according to the Belfast News Letter the next morning "The whole body of the Church was filled with members of the Order, the ordinary members of the congregation occupying the seats in the side aisle".  The report, along with that in the Northern Whig and the Belfast Telegraph, listed the senior members of the various branches of the Order present.

The Committee continued over the next number of years to provide leadership and advice, including this decision, taken on 28th April 1938 - "A discussion took place regarding Lodges and Chapters allocating all their subscriptions to the various charities, and it was decided that each representative would, at a favourable opportunity, request their Lodge or Chapter to leave a portion of their subscriptions to be allocated by this Committee". 

Further Church Services were held on a regular basis, with special permission being required from the Royal Ulster Constabulary during the Second World War -

The Committee organised many other events over the years, a number of fund raising concerts among them, and as the Minutes from 28th October 1947 show, prudence was ever the watchword, and a lack of support for the event an ever present difficulty - "The Treasurer reported that the proceeds of the concert held on 31st March was £20.  Members expressed the opinion that the expenses of artists were excessive and the concert was not well attended by members of the order."

Annuitants continued to be recommended by the Lodges for inclusion in the various Funds, keeping the Committee active meeting after meeting.  In order to maintain the required level of interest in the Charities the Committee officers actively sought ways of keeping the Brethren up to date with any developments.  One solution was through visits to the Boys and Girls Schools in Dublin, which were always well attended.

The Committee Minutes of 29th January 1958 record the decision to - "open an account in the name of the Committee in the Northern Bank Ltd., Holywood, and that the Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary have power to sign on behalf of the Committee (or any two of them)."  The account has been maintained there ever since.

In 1959 the Committee sought advice and guidance from Brookvale Charity Committee on the use of Deeds of Covenant for the first time.  "It was decided to circularise each Lodge explaining the Covenant Scheme, and to enquire how many members would be willing to participate.  The Treasurer stated he would enquire of H.M.Inspector of Taxes if this Committee would be accepted as a charity board, within the meaning of the Act."  Following such enquiries it was established that the Committee did indeed meet the requirements of the Act, and the Minutes of 29th March 1960 record that a tax refund of £22 was received.  It was to rapidly transpire however that operating this scheme would soon require some considerable work by the Committee, as a revised constitution would be required in order to meet the legal requirements of the Act.  A suggested new constitution was submitted to the Committee in January 1962 for consideration, and with a few amendments, was duly approved before being passed to Provincial Grand Lodge.

A further milestone was reached in 1961 when, "For the first time since the Committee was formed, over £1000 was disbursed, as every Lodge except one had increased their givings, which amount, including £60 proceeds from the 1960 concert, was considered most satisfactory".

1962 saw the Committee devise an extremely novel method of fund raising - a Scottish Degree night in the Hall.  They agreed unanimously to engage the services of Bro.A G Forfar, a member of Lodge St.Andrew, Belfast, who would "be very happy to come to Holywood and exemplify a degree or degrees under Scottish Ritual for the benefit of our Masonic Charities".  The hope was that the Worshipful Masters of the following Lodges would act as "Officers" for the evening -

The proposed evening duly took place on 30th October 1962 in the presence of a large number of Brethren, including some Provincial Grand Officers (though not the Provincial Grand Master, who sent an apology), with Bro. Forfar exemplifying both the First and Second Degrees, Scottish-style, much to the pleasure of all present.  More importantly, some £40-16-00 was raised for the Charities - a not inconsiderable sum in 1962.

By the start of the 1970's alarm bells had begun ringing in many people's minds concerning the state of the Boys and Girls schools in Dublin.  Subscriptions had already been sent from Holywood towards the costs of replacing some of the beds, such was their poor state of repair.  Nevertheless, the Brethren were forward looking and optimistic when it came to the Charities, and this enthusiasm was displayed in some  abundance in 1974, on the 40th Anniversary of the formation of the District Charity Committees in the Province of Down, when a Thanksgiving Service was held in First Dromore Presbyterian Church.  Total contributions had increased from £5,500 in 1934 to £40,870 in 1972.

The severe restrictions on how charity subscriptions could be paid using Deeds of Covenant meant that the Committee and Stewards of Charities had a considerable amount of work to do every year, though the benefits were substantial, particularly during those years when Income Tax rates were high compared to today.  As always the Committee tried to provide as much information as possible to encourage the Brethren to avail of the Covenanting scheme.  The Minutes of 29th October 1981 record - "A special welcome was conveyed to Rt.Wor.Bro. Richard E Gray, Assistant Grand Master for the P.G.L. of Down and also to Wor.Bro. Kirk, both of whom had been invited to attend the meeting to furnish the Committee with information concerning principally the use of covenants and token dockets".  The Minutes continue "Rt.Wor.Bro. Gray gave a very informative and interesting report on the short history of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Benevolent Fund, perhaps better known as the 'Central Fund'.  He outlined the financial advantages in the use of Covenanted Subscriptions, and the recently introduced method by the advance purchase of books of tokens through covenants, which could be used in response to appeals at festive boards.  The procedure for accounting for same was also explained and also information for the completion of the Covenant Form and Income Tax Certificate".

The good solid work of the Committee continued through the 1980s, and into the 1990s, though not without some hardships along the way.  Maintaining support and attendances at the Committee meetings was proving difficult, and it became necessary for the officers to remain in their posts for longer than before.  This brought some unforeseen benefits however, in a more stable makeup of the Committee, and some longer term plans began to emerge.  An extremely successful service was held in the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in October 1993, when the collection in aid of Masonic Charities of some  £1,404 was matched by a similar amount donated by the Charity Committee.  A further service was held in 1999.

1994 saw the creation of the new Grand Lodge of Ireland Welfare Fund, the need for which was seriously questioned by the Committee when they next met.  The various funds already in existence were struggling to maintain their incomes from the Brethren in light of the request to support the Grand Master's Festival of Charity.  Many Brethren throughout the Order were of the opinion that the creation of a new fund would only lead to a further dissolution of monies being raised.  The Committee took the unanimous view that "a letter be sent to the Prov. Grand Secretary stating that the members of Holywood Masonic Charity Committee could not go back to their Lodges recommending that they support this proposed new fund".  Despite these views the Fund was constituted and remains in operation today.

By late 1996 the Committee had discussed and agreed that a more formal approach to covenanting was required in order to maximise the benefits that scheme could provide for Brethren donating to the Masonic Charities.  To that end Bro. Jim Kilpatrick of Lodge 829 was appointed as Covenanting Treasurer, to oversee the implementation of the scheme in Holywood, and to lead its growth as the Brethren were informed how it all worked.

As a mark of the immense respect in which he was held by the Brethren of Holywood, the Committee presented R.W.Bro. Jack Mawhinney (President) with a Vice President Certificate from the Belfast Masonic Widows Fund in May 1997, "in recognition of his long and outstanding service to Holywood Masonic Charity Committee".

The first of a series of Christmas Raffles was also run in 1997, with the proceeds going to the Masonic Charities. 

Throughout 1997 and 1998 a lot of hard work was undertaken to merge the aims and resources of the Victoria Jubilee Masonic Benevolent Fund (VJMBF), and the Belfast Masonic Widows and Charity Funds, not least by our Committee Chairman, W.Bro. Jim Kelly, who appraised the Brethren extensively at each Committee meeting of progress to date.  This agreement saw the annuities paid to those on the Belfast Funds raised significantly, thanks to subventions from the funds of the VJMBF. 

And so it can be seen that in the 70 years since it was created, the Committee has led the Brethren of Holywood through some difficult and trying times, as well as through some highly successful ones.  Many fine Masons have played their part over those years - too many to mention in this brief summary of our past.  Without their time, knowledge and enthusiasm the Charities would have been all the poorer.  They leave a grand legacy for those following to live up to.