Working in partnership
We built upon our close working relationship with Freemasons
across England and Wales to identify local projects and charities
in need of additional support through the pandemic.
We launched three new funding streams:
Provinces – masonic boundaries similar to old counties – in an intensive five-year fundraising period known as a festival appeal, are now allocated additional funds to support local charities.
festival grants awarded totaling
A Province making a donation locally can request for their donations to be matched-funded by the MCF, thereby doubling the total grant.
matched-funded grants awarded totaling
All 48 Provinces came together in nine regional groups to help streamline and deliver support to communities in need. As a result of this partnership:
grants were made totaling
of which
went to supporting foodbanks or providing meals to local communities
funded local domestic abuse support services
was spent on purchasing or making essential PPE and other COVID-19-related equipment
was allocated to buying IT equipment such as tablets for hospital and care home residents to stay in touch with loved ones
Last year, RMBI Care Co. was home to 860 residents of which
received additional financial support from the MCF.
In a year that saw an increased spotlight on care homes, we increased our annual funding to RMBI Care Co. by
taking our support to
helping to ensure the safety of staff, residents and visitors.
RMBI Care Co. built safe visiting booths to allow residents to continue safely seeing loved ones
Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) continued to operate throughout the country, providing teddies as a source of comfort to children in A&E units.
Although locally-led by Freemasons, we provide central support and guidance to the TLC programmes. After 20 successful years of operation, last year we worked on rebranding TLC, which helped drive interest and engagement in the programme and provided every Provincial TLC programme with new teddy bears, posters, flyers and logos to help promote the scheme.
TLC Buckinghamshire delivery teddies to a local A&E unit
CEO, Over the WallWe're very grateful to Hampshire Freemasons for their generous grant, which will help us to provide a wonderful virtual camp experience to 1,400 seriously ill children who would otherwise have missed out because of the pandemic. Our camps are great fun for the children and have very positive long term effects on their self-confidence and mental health.
CEO, Katharine House HospiceWe’re incredibly thankful to Staffordshire Freemasons for their funding, which will enable us to keep on providing our vital care services at a very difficult time. The hospice has been hit very hard, financially by the pandemic and this donation will help us continue to care for local people coping with the challenges of a terminal illness.
Director, Emmaus BurnleyThe funding and support from Freemasons will ensure we can work with and try to support in a variety of ways some of the most vulnerable people in society, without being tied to contracts or Local Authority boundaries. It will see volunteers, including local Freemasons, on the streets at night making a real impact across Lancashire. This role is pivotal in linking the most marginalised rough sleepers into external agencies, accommodation, and Emmaus where possible, helping them access the help and support they need.”
