#wearetheMCF – David

“I’m a Leicestershire lad, born and bred, and worked for many years as a member of the British Standards Institution.

My wife worked in Loughborough for an insurance company and we soon became friends with her boss, who was a Loughborough freemason. He spotted something in me and thought, ‘David would make a good freemason!’ I’ve recently become Provincial Grand Almoner and it’ll be my duty to look after the Visiting Volunteers that operate in Leicestershire.

So far we have four of them, including a lady mason. The Visiting Volunteer programme trains people to visit those who may need MCF support and ensures complete applications forms are returned, making it as easy as possible to receive a grant which will help them back onto their feet. I need to understand what is required of Visiting Volunteers and in order to do that, I need to carry out the role myself.

You need a lot of empathy for people; when you visit someone at home, they need feel confident in sharing some of their personal issues with you, which helps you understand their situation better. What I really enjoy is engaging with people, and particularly once they’ve opened up to me, for them to feel that I’ve been there to support and help at a time of personal struggle.”

David,

Loughborough