In the last 12 months Cheshire Freemason’s Charity has donated £132,000 to assist in the work of those charities and organisations; In addition, the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is our national charity based at our headquarters in London, has made donations of £576,000 to charities and organisations within the area of the Province. A staggering total of £708,000 demonstrating that Freemasonry within Cheshire is alive and kicking and is an integral part of the wider community.

An illustration of the community support given by Freemasons is the “Teddies for Loving Care Appeal (TLC)”. In Cheshire we donate 12,000 bears per year to Hospital A&E units to hand out to children in distress. The effect these have are best summed up by a Medical Sister who wrote to us saying

“I cannot remember how we used to cope with these sick children before the Teddies. I hope you continue to supply them for a long time”

Yes our charity helps those of our members and families who fall on hard times or are affected by tragic events. We have dedicated volunteers who give help, advice and comfort to those who are suffering. There are many cases like the aged member who was living without any means of cooking a hot meal because he was too proud to ask for help or the member whose heating boiler was broken, and he could not afford to replace it. Once these matters became known to us help was provided immediately. There was also the case of a freemason who died tragically leaving a wife and four children, he mother wrote to us saying

“the family could not have managed without the help and support of Freemasons upon his death”

I will now hand you over to our Charity Ambassador and Provincial Charity Steward who will introduce to you some of the Charities and community organisations we have helped so that they can continue to help our communities.