How can I Help?

How do I donate money to Festival 2011?

There are a variety of methods by which you can donate money to the Festival – these are outlined below:

1. Use a regular donation or single donation form specifically headed “Berkshire RMBI Festival 2011 Relief Chest Scheme”.
2. If your Lodge is collecting the RMBI donations via its own Relief Chest for onward transmission to the Festival account, use a regular donation or single donation form completed in the manner detailed below but addressed to your Lodge Relief Chest. Your Charity Steward will be able to advise its number.

• Use Grand Charity envelope which is preprinted “Berkshire RMBI Festival 2011 Relief Chest No. E0103”
• Use a standard (i.e. not pre-printed) regular donation or single donation form and ensure it is completed by you to direct the donation to the Berkshire RMBI Festival 2011 Relief Chest E0103
• Use a standard (i.e. not pre-printed) Grand Charity envelope and ensure it completed by you to direct the donation to The Berkshire RMBI Festival 2011 Relief Chest E0103
• By writing a cheque, to be made payable to “The Berkshire RMBI Festival 2011” and sent to David Keys c/o the Provincial Office at Sindlesham.
• By transfer from your Lodge Relief Chest to the Festival Relief Chest. Please use the appropriate Relief Chest form and direct the donation to The Berkshire RMBI Festival 2011 Relief Chest No. E0103
• By cash. Please telephone or email the Provincial Office to organise collection. Please do not send cash by post.

In all of the above cases, please make sure to include you lodge name and number to ensure that your donations are correctly attributed.

How do I complete the Donation Form

The form “Berkshire RMBI Festival 2011 Relief Chest Scheme”, which can either be downloaded from this site or obtained from your lodge Charity Steward, consists basically of two parts.

The first part is a Direct Debit Mandate (just like any otherDirect Debit form you may use for paying your domestic bills, etc). If you intend making a regular payment to the Berkshire RMBI Festival Relief Chest, this form gives your Bank authority to make the payment. It contains no mention of the amount that you intend to give. You will need to write the name of your Bank, its address and your account number (all obtained from your cheque book!) Do not detach this part of the form

The second part of the form is the Donations part, and asks for your personal details (like name, address, Lodge, etc) and is an instruction to the Relief Chest to ask your Bank for a payment of the amount you are proposing to give, at the intervals you have stated and for as long as you have stated. This is, in effect, similar to a Standing Order.

The form, with both parts still attached to each other, should be handed to your Charity Steward for onward transmission to the Relief Chest of the Grand Charity. Having completed the form, do not forget to sign both parts.

If you prefer to make a donation as a one-off lump sum, the Direct Debit Mandate does not apply and should not be completed. There is space on the form for you to specify the amount of this single donation. This form, together with your cheque or cash, should be handed either to your Charity Steward or to David Keys at the Provincial Office for onward transmission to the Grand Charity.

Remember – if you are a UK taxpayer then by Gift-Aiding your donation the RMBI can claim back an appropriate proportion of the tax you have paid. The money will be better applied from their coffers than the Treasury’s!

If you need any assistance please contact either your lodge Charity Steward or David Keys at the Provincial Office, whose email address is: asstpgsec@berkspgl.org.uk