£600,000 in grants to Hospices in England & Wales

Hospices across England and Wales are set for a funding boost as The Freemasons’ Grand Charity distributes £600,000 towards the operating costs of the widely respected services. Although children’s and adults Hospices have always been supported through the annual grant giving scheme, this year for the very first time a sum was set aside specifically to benefit the growing number of services dedicated to children.

The money from The Freemasons’ Grand Charity will be shared between 220 hospices, with over half of the children’s services receiving more than £3,000 and each adult service receiving an average of over £2,600. A full list of the individual grants may be viewed at
http://www.grandcharity.org/data/files/hospices/Hospice_grants_list_2007.pdf

The newly announced grants will take The Freemasons’ Grand Charity’s support for the sector to over £7 million since 1984. The Freemasons' Grand Charity is the principal Masonic Charity involved in donations to non-Masonic causes as well as providing assistance to needy Freemasons and their dependents.

This Province is currently heavily engaged in raising funds for the 2010 Festival in support of the Freemasons' Grand Charity. This donation is an example of the fine work done by that organisation and an illustration of why it is important that we all give our full support to the Festival.

£20,000 donation for Bangladesh Relief

Following the devastation of parts of Bangladesh by Tropical Storm Sidr, The Freemasons' Grand Charity is supporting the relief work of the Red Cross with an emergency grant of £20,000. Around 1 million people are believed to have been affected by the storm which hit the Southern Coast of Bangladesh on 15 November, destroying homes, crops and infrastructure and triggering a tidal surge that swamped three coastal villages.

The official death toll stands at over 3,100 people, but this is expected to rise as rescuers continue to recover bodies from amongst the debris. Some remote areas are still inaccessible and many survivors are without fresh water and food.

The emergency grant approved by the President of the Grand Charity will help to fund the work of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, providing for the needs of some of the most vulnerable people affected by the storm, including the provision of blankets, food, shelter, medical supplies and basic healthcare.

The Freemasons' Grand Charity is the principal Masonic Charity involved in donations to non-Masonic causes as well as providing assistance to needy Freemasons and their dependents.