HRH The Prince of Wales meets
with Grahame Elliott at The Palace
of Holyroodhouse
Lord Northampton addresses
the General Meeting in the
Grand Temple at Freemasons’ Hall
| |
The Grand Charity marked 25 years of
charitable giving and the £72 million given
in grants over those years at the summer
General Meeting, chaired by Lord
Northampton and attended by hundreds
of people, including the Mayor of Camden
and ex-newscaster Martyn Lewis.
Since 1981, more than £30 million has
been given towards the work of hundreds
of national non-Masonic charities, with
individual grants as high as £1.25 million.
More than £1.5 million has been given
for emergency relief work and an additional
sum of nearly £1 million has been donated
to help the victims of the 2004 tsunami.
Underlining this tremendous commitment
to charitable giving, Freemasons attending
the General Meeting approved further non-
Masonic grants of over £1.4 million,
incorporating support for air ambulance
services and asthma research.
The Grand Charity also plays an
important role in assisting distressed
Freemasons and their dependants. During
its first 25 years more than 30,000 individuals
have benefited from the financial support
provided by Masonic relief grants, and over
£5 million was donated towards the work
of the other central Masonic charities.
At the meeting Andrew Stebbings, son
of the founding President, the late Sir John
Stebbings, and Past-Presidents Sir John
Welch and Raymond Lye, joined the new
President of the Grand Charity, Grahame
Elliott, to address the audience about the
work of the Charity. This was followed by
first-hand accounts from representatives of
beneficiary charities on the positive impact
of the Grand Charity’s programme of grants.
Firstly, Bruno Oudmayer of Plan
International captured the attention of the
audience with his passionate explanation of
how donations from the dedicated tsunami
relief chest are supporting work in India,
Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Plan’s aim is not only to rebuild these
shattered communities but also to ‘build
back better’, securing a long-term
sustainable future for the hundreds of
children affected by the devastation of the
2004 tsunami. The meeting then turned to
support for charities in England and Wales,
with Martyn Lewis of Help the Hospices
highlighting how nearly £6 million of
grants from the Grand Charity has helped
to deliver vital hospice care during the final
moments of life for patients in hundreds
of hospices.
Reflecting on the success of the evening,
Grahame Elliott expressed his gratitude
for the ongoing support given to the work
of the Grand Charity by Freemasons and
their families:
He said: “Over many years, it has been
the Grand Charity’s privilege to give over
£72 million to help many hundreds of
national charities and thousands of
individuals. This has only been possible
because of the generosity of Freemasons and
their families. I am delighted that so many
people were able to attend this Summer
General meeting to learn more about
Freemasonry, the charitable work we do and
the role of the Grand Charity in that work.”
The leaflet enclosed with this edition of
MQ includes further information on the
work of the Grand Charity over the past 25
years. For details of the grants approved at
the General Meeting and copies of the
addresses given at the meeting visit
www.grandcharity.org
Spreading the word
The Prince’s Trust recently celebrated its
30th birthday and the Grand Charity was
delighted to be represented at an event
hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales to
mark the occasion.
Grahame Elliott, President of The Grand
Charity, took the opportunity to update
HRH The Prince of Wales on the Charity’s
longstanding support for the work of
The Trust and the millions of pounds
of charitable donations given every year
by Freemasons.
Since 1994, The Grand Charity has given
£437,000 towards the work of The Trust,
including the most recent grant to support
the xl educational programme. With the
donation of £100,000, The Trust was able
to expand its school-based clubs to eight
new locations, support three established
groups and help an additional 152
disadvantaged young people to re-engage
with their education.
|
Next Page
