Our annual Christmas lunch was on Sunday 7th December 2025 at the Sports & Country Club Wishaw. It was a venue that White Ensign had been using for many years and sadly it was to be our last as the proprietors had decided to retire to Wales in the New Year.
Some 67-brave folk (brethren, families, friends and guests) would not be deterred by the rain to descend upon the venue for luncheon. The assembled throng sought out the required beverages before heading to their allotted tables and exchanged pleasantries with the other inhabitants at the tables. W.Bro. Ian Fothergill welcomed the masses to the Christmas lunch and greeted the new Worshipful Master and his Lady. Shortly thereafter, the first course was served by the staff. It being finished, one by one the diners at the tables were ushered to the servery to get the main course.
Bro. Matt Price volunteered to sell the raffle tickets and the sum of £435.00 was raised by the ticket sales. Some tables did considerably better than others when it came to the drawing of the raffle tickets it should be noted.
On completion of the dining, our new Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Paul Tuckley spoke a few words of thanks to the ensembled folk, in particular for W.Bro. Ian Fothergill as MC / Choir cheer leader, W.Bro. Les Leek for the table planning / printing and Bro. Matt Price for managing the raffle.
The lunch was concluded by coffee / tea and mince pies and a liberal helping of Christmas carols orchestrated by W.Bro. Ian Fothergill, the highlight being of course the ’12 days of Christmas’ where each table has one or more days to sing. Although ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ seemed a bit problematic this year for the singers to manage.
