On Saturday 1st March 2025, The SAM Fund hosted their annual Gala Event at the Mercure Brands Hatch Hotel. The Chairman of the Charity, W Bro Stephen Nottage BEM (Spirit of Friendship Lodge No 8061 and Chapter of Perseverance 1743 Scribe E) and his wife Theresa organise this annual event and it is set up for all to have fun!
These events always feature a theme to give them a little extra twist of excitement, and for 2025 the theme was ‘The Oscars’ which fell nicely in line with the real red carpet. At SAM’s Oscars, 180 were in attendance, made up of Masons, Non-Masons and their partners.
The charity was set up by Stephen and his wife as a result of their nephew, Sam, who passed away at the tender age of just 8 years having suffered throughout his short life with a terrible blood disease described as “between leukaemia and cancer”. During his life, Mum, Dad, Sam and their other sibling Lauren were treated to a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ holiday together where, for those 2 weeks, they were able to operate as a normal family.
As a result, the key objective of the charity is to send chronically sick children and their families on a ‘once-in-a-lifetime, all expenses paid, door to door service’ holiday, to enjoy some wonderful ‘Smiles And Memories’ (SAM) together as a family.
The Gala evening was a huge success and raised an amazing £12,000! All of these funds will go straight to beneficiaries as Stephen, his wife Theresa and the other seven trustees all work voluntarily. To date, the charity has raised £840,000 and organised 140 holidays. They are a very proud team!
In 2021, W Bro Steve was Invested, at Westminster Abbey, with the British Empire medal (BEM) for 'Meritorious work as the Chair of the S.A.M. Fund, providing voluntary and charitable services to Sick and Disabled Children'. W Bro Steve Nottage, PGStB is a Craft MAGI and a Royal Arch Visiting Officer.
This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 57 Spring 2025 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.
Read more articles in the Arena Issue 57 here.