We continue to help support disadvantaged communities and individuals in England, Wales and the Channel Islands, as well as overseas Districts — through our emergency grants.
All our work is fully-funded by Freemasons, their families and friends. Without their generosity, we would not be able to respond to need and tackle some of the most important issues by offering daily living, educational, health, care and wellbeing support for the most vulnerable members of society.
We provided 2,485 grants at a total cost of £7,607,612, to 1,741 families and individuals struggling with the cost of everyday living.
It got to a point where I didn’t know what to do, so I rang up the MCF in a state after reading about the help that was available in their Better Lives magazine. They were brilliant. The lady on the phone really calmed me down and the area representative, Denise was extremely helpful. They returned my call in two days as promised, and put me in touch with my local Provincial Grand Almoner who came over and offered me support. This made the process so much smoother as he went through the form with me, and we kept in touch after this. I cannot thank the MCF enough for what they did for my wife and I – we quickly received a grant to help us financially and the support has continued ever since. Each year we are assessed to see how we’re doing and how the MCF can support us. They also helped me to apply for an enhanced mobility benefit from the government, which I have been receiving ever since and it has been crucial. ”
Gordon
We provided 837 grants, amounting to £1,695,800, to 505 children and young people to ensure they had access to the same educational opportunities as their peers.
After my daughter, Amie was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), I reached out to my Provincial Grand Almoner for financial support as she had no income and we needed to help provide for her and her children who had moved in with us. The grant we were given helped us cover the cost of a laptop and printer for our grandson Giorgio who had to learn from home during the pandemic. The MCF also offered us support for covering the costs for transport which increased massively once the kids went back to their school and had to travel from our home. Amie is now in full remission from AML and has recently moved out with her two sons. Whilst life isn’t easy, the ongoing support from the MCF has helped her financially.”
Paul and Amie
We provided 1,580 grants to 1,035 people at a cost of £4,255,238 to help them live healthier and more independent lives.
Of these, 308 were people struggling with life’s challenges have accessed our free and confidential counselling service at a cost of £310,476.
Over the past year, Freemasonry and the MCF have worked together to increase and enhance support for local and national charities in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, to help tackle some of society’s biggest challenges.
We are proud that Freemasons, through our work, awarded 798 grants to over 726 charities totalling £5,866,981.
In the last year, we continued to support Age UK by funding their Later Life Goals programme, which delivers individually tailored support to older people going through major transitions in their lives, whether this is a serious health diagnosis, bereavement of a spouse, a partner going into care, or any other key event that will have a serious impact on their wellbeing. The £1 million grant has improved the circumstances and quality of life thousands of older people.
So far, 9,388 older people have been supported with information and advice and over £18m in unclaimed benefits were identified by the Age UK team. Ninety-eight per cent of the people supported said they are satisfied with the services received and 97 per cent found their help useful.
At Age UK we are incredibly grateful to the MCF for funding our Later Life Goals programme. We’ve provided these older people with in-depth advice, and where possible, we’ve done this in their own home. Our advisors have had the time during these visits to really listen and get to know the older person and all the problems they are facing. In addition to the advice provided, the programme has helped people to feel less lonely and isolated. We’ve helped people with health and care needs, with housing and form-filling, and many more things besides. This support has been life-changing for so many of these older people, who were facing seemingly impossible situations, and they’ve told us that without Age UK’s help they just don’t know how they would have coped.
With many of the older people we’ve supported, there’s been an element of financial help, and in total we’ve identified over £18million of unclaimed benefits. Older people tell us every day that they are worried about being able to pay the bills and buy the basic things they need. This extra money in people’s pockets has reduced anxiety and worry and might avoid them having to choose between heating and eating as we move into the colder winter months. Thank you to everyone at the MCF for your donation, which has made a huge difference to the lives of older people.”
Alison Ingram, Head of Wellbeing Services
In partnership with the United Grand Lodge of England, we have become a strategic partner of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) by funding a new national programme with a £300,000 grant to upskill its team and volunteers. The programme will also help enrol more schools and clubs, to ensure all young people have access to DofE.
The grant will enable the charity to reach at least 30,000 young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by 2024. The ambition is to increase the number of centres, such as schools and youth groups, offering DofE to young people with SEND and train hundreds of Leaders – trained individuals supporting groups of young people through their DofE journey.
By the end of 2026, as set out in our 5-year strategy, we want to give one million young people the chance to participate in a life-changing DofE programme. The grant from the MCF is contributing to this ambition by enabling us to make the Award more relevant and accessible for young people with additional needs.
We have made positive progress within the first year of this 3-year partnership. We have been able to support specialist centres start the DofE for the very first time and have been able to provide additional training to staff, as well as begin a Gold Award expedition pilot programme for young people with additional needs. This first year has been focused on developing strong foundations for our work in this area for the future.
The generosity of the MCF is making a huge difference to the way young people with additional needs view the world and themselves.”
Catherine Woods, Additional Needs UK Development Manager
We have responded to another big issue in society: domestic abuse. More than one in four women in England and Wales experiences it at some point in their lifetime and the national charity Refuge, help thousands of survivors to overcome the physical, emotional, financial and logistical impacts of abuse and rebuild their lives.
We provided £200,000 to fund a vital helpline, which is at the heart of a strategic and coordinated response to domestic abuse. The service is run 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Refuge and delivered by a team of specialist staff and trained volunteers.
The helpline offers a confidential and non-judgmental service, which supports women in both heterosexual and same sex relationships. They deliver emotional and practical help to women as they begin rebuilding their lives following abuse.
The MCF has provided essential running costs to Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline, helping us adapt to the huge rise in calls since the pandemic from women experiencing abuse, trauma, and fear. Many of these women are in crisis, with nowhere to turn and no one to speak to for help. At Refuge, we listen to survivors of abuse and believe them without judgement. We provide callers with information and advice so that they feel empowered to take the next steps towards rebuilding their lives after abuse.
This generous grant has also meant Refuge can help more women find safe accommodation in a refuge, provide extra support for women whose abusers have used technology to control, stalk, harass and threaten them and support the wellbeing of our Helpline staff and volunteers.
Thank you to the MCF for enabling us to be there on the end of the phone for thousands of women each year.”
Abigail Ampofo, Director of Service Delivery
