St Thomas’ Church Kohimarama, Wednesday 18th March 2020, 6 – 7:30pm. For ticket information Click here
Category Archives: Highlights
Freemasons Foundation News Updates
Click here The Foundation continues to support a number of community initiatives. Read the two page article recently published in the March issue of the Freemasons NZ Magazine.
Freemasons Foundation News Updates
Freemasons Foundation News Updates
The Foundation has recently been assisting the APO, the Auckland Writers Festival, NZ Opera and more. Read the two page article just published in the September issue of the Freemasons NZ Magazine.
Genetic scientists from Harvard present latest Discoveries
Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences.
6.00 pm Tuesday 22 March 2016.
Tickets & info on eventbrite.co.nz.
Click here to view details.
Freemasons Foundation News Updates
Click here The Foundation has been active over the last three months. Read the two page article just published in the March issue of the Freemasons NZ Magazine.
Freemasons Foundation News Updates
Click here for our latest updates on a variety of activities which the Foundation supports, has just been published in the December issue of the Freemasons NZ Magazine.
Secondary students compete for ‘Best Brain’
The New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge encourages high school students to take an interest in the human brain and neuroscience and to continue with this subject into their university studies. With our close connection with the study of brain disease through the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research, the Foundation lends a helping hand, as one of many supporters, to this annual competition involving around 45 secondary schools and 1500 students.
The New Zealand 2015 Challenge of this international competition has just been completed and individual and team winners from the separate North and South Island rounds were:
SOUTH ISLAND
First place Second place Third place |
Kate Jenkins Marisol Hunter Prathe Chandru |
St Margaret’s College Rangi Ruru School St Margaret’s College |
Teams: 1st Rangi Ruru Girls School; 2nd Cashmere High School : 3rd St Margaret’s College
NORTH ISLAND
First place Second place Third place |
Matthew Fulton Jonathan Chan Daniel Chow |
Auckland Grammar Auckland Grammar Francis Douglas Memorial College |
Teams: 1st Mt Roskill Grammar; 2nd St Cuthberts College; 3rd ACG Parnell College
Our individual winners now travel to Sydney for an Australasian competition later this year. Representatives from both countries then proceed to a world final where the ‘top brains’ from 30 countries meet.
The Brain Bee competition was founded in the US in 1999 and has been conducted here annually since 2007 to help inspire New Zealand students to pursue neuroscience careers in order to help treat and find cures for neurological and psychological disorders. Year 11 students compete to determine who is the ‘best brain’ on such topics as intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep, addiction, Alzheimer’s and stroke.
The 2014 New Zealand winner was Nicholas Kondal, from Massey High School, Auckland who is yet to travel to his international event to be held in Cairns, Australia. 2013 winner was Thomas Chang from Auckland Grammar School who went to Washington DC (with his Dad) and achieved an outstanding third place – that’s in the world!
Students in North Island Brain Bee finals at University of Auckland
Daisy Player donation – with love
Just like all New Zealand Lodges, and every other Masonic charitable source in the country, the Foundation was asked to contribute towards the Freemasons New Zealand 125th Anniversary project for the Blind Foundation of New Zealand.
How could we refuse such a worthy cause. The target was the cost of 125 special digital disc players (‘Daisy’ Players) for blind and low-vision people wanting the life-changing faculty of using the Blind Foundation’s recorded book library. With the Blind Foundation sharing this historic milestone with us – both organisations formed in 1890 – we were only too happy to generously respond.
Pleasing to note was way in which many Lodges and Districts also answered to the call for their charity – in true Masonic spirit.
The cheque was presented at the celebration dinner in Christchurch in May by Grand Master MW Bro John Litton to a very thankful and appreciative recipient.
Write On!
The Auckland Writer’s Festival Schools Programme and Family Day has received a tremendous boost with its 2015 programme made possible due to a generous donation from The Freemasons Foundation.
Festival director Anne O’Brien says the partnership is a great fit. “I am delighted to welcome The Freemasons Foundation into our partnership stable. Their generous support demonstrates the organisation’s active and ongoing work for the benefit of young people,” says Ms O’Brien.
David Mace, Chairman of the Freemasons Foundation says The Freemasons are delighted to be partnering the Auckland Writers Festival Schools Programme and Family Day for 2015.
“The work of the Freemasons Foundation is focused wherever we can see a direct and lasting benefit to the community – from cutting edge Medical Research in association with the University of Auckland, the Emerging and Resident Artists of NZ Opera, and now to supporting young, emerging writing talent,” says Mr Mace.
Auckland Writers Festival associate director Eleanor Congreve developed this year’s schools programme and says she hopes it demonstrates the festival’s unswerving commitment to inspiring young writers and readers.
“The Festival is delighted to offer two exciting days of presentations, workshops and discussions by leading local and international youth writers. Encouraging a life-long love of reading by introducing writers to young readers is an important part of the Festival’s mission,” says Ms Congreve.
Globally-celebrated British author of Alex Rider fame, Anthony Horowitz, award-winning US young adult novelist Laurie Halse Anderson, best-selling Australian writer and national treasure Morris Gleitzman, internationally-acclaimed NZ singer/songwriter Hollie Fullbrook (aka TINY RUINS), multi-award winning NZ young adult author Bernard Beckett and leading light of local spoken word poetry Grace Taylor are among the stellar line-up of writers taking part in the Auckland Writers Festival Schools’ Programme, on May 13th and 14th this year at the Aotea Centre.
The Auckland Writers Festival Schools’ Programme is made possible with the generous support of its Gold Partner: The Freemasons Foundation, Grant Partners: ASB Community Trust and Creative New Zealand and Donor Partners: Penguin Random House New Zealand, Walker Books and Warwick.