Due to the coronavirus pandemic, St. Wilfrid's Lodge No.8350 had to cancel their April 2020 regular meeting. The Brethren of St Wilfrid's Lodge, whilst disappointed, decided to rally around and gather support for the staff at the Masonic Hall who provide excellent catering services to the Lodges that meet there.
The St. Wilfrid's members suggested making a voluntary donation to the caterers, Rival Catering, to help them through this time of need and help them survive the current crisis in the catering industry, so that they may continue to serve once the pandemic is over. In this climate, they will have the majority, if not all of their bookings cancelled. While the majority of their staff are casual, hired on an hourly basis for specific events, and there will be no overheads for them in terms of buying supplies, the team who owns the business will have no income to support their families, and they will still have bills to pay for the upkeep of their business premises.
St. Wilfrid's were only too happy to support the team, as they have always received excellent service from all at Rival Catering.
It was suggested that the brethren make a voluntary donation of the April 2020 dining fee, £20.00, to the catering team. This was just a suggestion and any amount would be gratefully appreciated. The total sum donated was £660.
The catering team immediately responded "Its heartbreaking to work so hard for so long for it to just stop dead without warning and for reasons out of our control. At the moment our safety and everyone else's must be the priority. May we take this opportunity to thank you and all the Brethren for your continued support - it really does mean a lot and we genuinely appreciate it. We hope you are all keeping well and staying safe and we look forward to seeing you again soon."