LANGPORT'S Colin Thorpe won a four-and-a-half litre bottle of whisky just in time to celebrate Burns Night.

Colin scooped the prize in a raffle run over several months by Somerset Farmers' Lodge (SFL), of which he is the Tyler.

He was presented with the bottle at a lunch to remember the Lodge's Worshipful Master, Ilchester farmer David Burke, a Grand Officer and Past Provincial Director of Ceremonies for Somerset, who died last year during his term of office.

The lunch and are part of a year-long SFL drive to raise money for Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Mr Burke's chosen charity.

Money from the raffle and lunch at the Langport Arms has so far raised around £835 for CRUK and members hope to boost their overall total for the charity to £1,500.

Collectively, Somerset and other Lodges across the UK, together with the Masonic Charitable Fund, donate millions of pounds to help fund and support a wide variety of charities. Significant funding is also provided on a worldwide basis to disaster funds.

Richard Winter, an Assistant Provincial Grand Master in Somerset, presented the giant bottle of whisky to Colin.

He said: “The ethos within modern Freemasonry is respect, friendship and integrity, and wherever possible to support worthy causes in our own local communities, as well as national and international charities.

“These are difficult times, and for charities such as CRUK, funding is vital to enable them to continue their work.

"Within Freemasonry our aim is to continue to provide support and encouragement whenever we can.”

Founded in 1985, SFL meets six times a year at Langport's Hanging Chapel, Langport, at 6.30pm on the fourth Monday of the months of September to March, apart from December.

While membership were originally drawn from farming and agriculture, Lodge membership is now broadened and includes members from outside the farming sector.

New members are always welcome - for more information contact Alan Holton on 07979 248212.