Masons hand out community cash
EIGHT local charities have benefited from a series of special Community Awards from The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) after an unprecedented 178,801 public votes cast by communities around England and Wales.
The Community Awards are a major part of Freemasonry’s 300th anniversary celebrations to mark the forming of the world’s first Grand Lodge at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House in St Paul’s Churchyard, London, on June 24, 1717.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation is distributing £3,000,000 to 300 charities around the country, with the public vote deciding the awards given, from £4,000 to £25,000.
The full list of community awards in the Province of West Lancashire are: St Helens Carers Centre £25,000. Wargrave House Limited £15,000. Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide £15,000. Sefton Childrens Trust £6,000. SWACA Sefton Women.s Children’s Aid £6,000.
Headway Blackpool Wyre Fylde £4,000. Salford Womens Aid £4,000. League of Welldoers £4,000.
The charities will be presented with their Awards at a special ceremony by Derek Parkinson Assistant Provincial Grand Master for West Lancashire and Mark Matthews both of whom are MCF trustees from the province, on September 22.
Kevin Poynton APrGM responsible for communications will also be in attendance.
The £3,000,000 fund is being administered by the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which obtains all of its funding from Freemasons, their families and friends.
It is estimated that nearly half of Freemasonry’s annual charitable expenditure of more than £33m goes to charities that help people in communities in England and Wales.
The Provincial Grand Master, Tony Harrison, said: “We are delighted to be able to celebrate 300 years of Freemasonry by helping eight excellent local charities.
“We’ve been active in charity work for all that time, but this is the first occasion we’ve asked the public to help us decide how to spend our money.
“We are very pleased that so many people from West Lancashire took part in the vote.”