Tel: 01795 555669
Provincial Information Officer

The first Provincial Information Officer was appointed in 1999. The priority was to raise the public profile of Freemasonry and to establish a generally positive and sympathetic awareness. During the C19th and well into the C20th Freemasonry was very 'open'. Public processions, Church Parades and attendance at such occasions as foundation laying ceremonies, wearing Masonic regalia, were common, as were reports of special occasions in the local press. All this changed after the Second World War.

Freemasonry adheres to and promotes traditional values of virtue, to which extent it is an establishment organisation and as such it is anathema to non-democratic and authoritarian government. In Germany and when they invaded other countries (including the Channel Isles), the Nazis suppressed Freemasonry and sacked their premises.

Many leading members and Jewish brethren were sent to the Death Camps. Communist governments and Franco's Spain also suppressed Freemasonry. Not surprisingly, Freemasonry emerged from the War introspective and secretive. The policy was not to answer questions or to reply to criticism. However, secrecy breeds suspicion whilst suspicion leads to persecution.  

When Freemasonry and its members were discriminated against by government and in the work place, the policy of silence was abandoned. A positive policy of 'Openness' is now pursued. To raise our profile, Masonic related stories and photographs now appear in the local press: about one a week in this Province. To assist the Information Officer, a team of 10 Assistants has been appointed, with responsibility for specified Centres. Other initiatives are taken, such as Open Days for the Press in Centres and an annual stand at The Kent Show, organised jointly with the West Kent Province.