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In year ended 30 November 2005, total
grants amounted to £4.7m. Masonic
Relief Grants to 1,816 individuals provided
nearly £2.6m for those Masons and their
dependants in financial need.
The experience, knowledge and support
of the Masonic Relief Grants Committee
helped an increasing number of applicants
to obtain the state benefits to which they are
entitled, reducing their level of dependency
on charitable support, while also benefiting
the Craft by reducing the average size of the
grant required.
The number of applications for assistance
increased by more than 20% from 2004,
underlining the continuing importance of
the Masonic Relief Grants available through
the Grand Charity.
During the year £2.1m was donated to
non-Masonic charities, including 217 hospice
services. Also, 68 charities, supporting
vulnerable people, youth opportunities and
medical research into diseases and medical
conditions, were awarded grants ranging
from £1,000 to £150,000.
Emergency grants of over £350,000 were
approved following tragic events including
the tsunami and the Asian earthquake,
further underlining the commitment of
Freemasons to helping those in need,
The Craft’s use of the Grand Charity’s
Relief Chest scheme rose significantly in
2005. With this background, the Grand
Charity is making a significant investment
to improve the efficiency and range of
services offered by the Relief Chest Scheme,
the costs of which are borne within the
general overheads.
A renewed commitment to raising the
awareness of the Craft about the work of,
and services provided by, the Grand Charity
has also contributed to an increase in
overhead expenditure, primarily relating
to the publication and distribution of the
Annual Review to every recipient of
MQ magazine.
As always, Freemasons contributed most
generously to the Grand Charity during
2005, with the Festival donation from the
Province of Wiltshire of £980,650, a most
magnificent Festival total for a Province
of only 44 Lodges.
Legacy income of £1.4 million helped
the Grand Charity to make a real difference
to the lives of thousands of people. The
operating deficit, when taken in conjunction
with gains on investments, showed a net
improvement in funds for the year of
£2.7 million.
The small operating deficit in the year is
acceptable in the context of the significant
variation in the level of Festival income
that the Charity receives from one year to
the next, dependent upon the size of the
Province in Festival. Given this variation,
the Grand Charity continues to plan its
financial activities to ensure that expenditure
and income will balance over the 11 years
of the Festival cycle. Financial results for
the year ending 30 November 2005 keep
the Grand Charity firmly on course to meet
this objective.
The audited annual report and accounts
for year ending 30 November 2005 are
available by visiting www.grandcharity.org
or calling 020 7395 9261. A copy of the
2005 Annual Review, which includes a
financial summary and further information
on grants, is enclosed with this edition of
MQ magazine.
Masonic grants
Masonic Province of Middlesex Charitable Trust:
Before the launch of Middlesex 98 in
December 1992, the Province had been
continuously fund-raising for Masonic
charity for 22 years and the Provincial
charity funds had long since been exhausted.
In recognition of this, the Council of
the Grand Charity at the time, agreed that,
as a special arrangement, a proportion of
the funds raised for the 1998 Appeal would
be given as a grant to that Province’s
charitable fund.
A further amount of £51,000 raised
for the Festival has now been received
and so a grant of £12,750 has been made
to the Masonic Province of Middlesex
Charitable Trust.
Since the last report, the Council has
ratified grants made by the Masonic Relief
Grants Committee to 839 applicants
totalling £1,193,430. These figures
include grants made under Rule 0311.
Non-Masonic grants
The following non-Masonic grants were
approved at the annual meeting:
Disability
The Children’s Trust: A grant of £52,000 to
fund a ceiling-mounted hoist and tracking
system in two residential units for severely
disabled children.
Vulnerable people
Home-Start UK: A grant of £105,000
payable in equal annual instalments over
three years to assist in setting up a regional
network in north-east England and new
schemes in Durham and Northumberland.
Friends of the Elderly: A grant of £30,000
payable in equal annual instalments over
two years to help support a day care centre
in Malvern for older people with dementia.
Counsel and Care: A grant of £30,000 payable
in equal annual instalments over two years
to help establish an independent advocacy
service for older people.
Grants to hospices 2006
A recommendation that £500,000 be placed
at its disposal for grants to hospice services
in 2006.
General Small Grants 2006
A recommendation that £100,000 be placed
at its disposal for general non-Masonic grants
of £5,000 or less, in 2006.
Match-funding grants
The Council had allocated funds from the
amount placed at its disposal in March 2005,
to match grants to national non-Masonic
charities made by Provincial Grand Lodges.
A recommendation that a further £30,000
should be placed at its disposal for similar
grants, in other areas during 2006, which
meet the guidelines of the Council and are
of £5,000 or less.
Disaster Relief Chests
Immediately following the Asian tsunami
disaster in December 2004, the Council, on
behalf of the Grand Charity, opened a Relief
Chest to receive donations from Freemasons
who wished to support the relief work.
At the AGM in March 2005, authority was
given for all money donated via the Relief
Chest to be placed at the disposal of the
Council for grants to charities caring for
children affected by the disaster.
Subsequently, additional chests have been
opened following Hurricane Katrina and the
South East Asia earthquake, for which the
Council was seeking retrospective approval.
The Council also recommended that it
should be given the authority to disburse,
at its own discretion, any funds placed in the
Disaster Relief Chests and to report details
of the grants at the next opportunity.
General Small Grants 2005
The Council had allocated the £100,000
placed at its disposal in March 2005 for
small grants to non-Masonic charities.
Grants to hospices 2005
The Council had allocated all of the
£500,000 placed at its disposal in March
2005 for grants to hospice services.
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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