Chapter 2

The MCF,
our work,
our impact

What is impact?

To say ‘we have made an impact’ means that the MCF’s support has contributed to a tangible and positive difference to someone’s life.

Supporting individuals
and households

The support MCF provides to individuals and households usually takes the form of grants to assist with daily living costs, but grants can also be provided for specific items or services. A wide range of help and support is available for daily living costs; health, care and wellbeing; and education-related costs for children and young people. The MCF offers confidential, free mental health support for Freemasons and their family members, including children aged five years and over. In addition, a network of 17 care homes operated by the RMBI Care Co. across England and Wales provides high quality residential, nursing and dementia care.

Supporting charities and communities

Through the MCF, Freemasons tackle some of society’s most important issues by awarding grants to local and national charities, and by forming partnerships with leading organisations in the sector.

Each year the MCF supports charities that help people to live happy, fulfilling lives and participate actively in society. Funding is targeted where it is most needed, within causes that Freemasons care about passionately.

The current target areas are:

Reducing isolation in later life
Creating the best start in life for disadvantaged children and young people
Medical research into degenerative diseases
Funding care services in the hospice sector

The MCF also helps those affected by natural disasters or humanitarian crises as quickly as possible by contributing to major international aid appeals.

Our approach to measuring our impact

This year marked the beginning of a new approach to impact and evaluation at the MCF. This approach enhances an existing commitment to gather evidence which allows us to determine the extent to which we are having a positive impact on the individuals, families, and communities we support.

The evidence we gather will help us to understand exactly how the MCF is creating positive change in society on behalf of Freemasonry, and to help us challenge long-held assumptions about the difference we hope to make.

Through a systematic approach to measuring our impact, we can be more confident that the evidence we gather is helping us to continually evolve and improve our support.

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chapter 3

The MCF,our work,our impact