Our charitable giving has never been more relevant, useful and important as it is today. Following grants to hospital charities earlier this year, the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) has made further resources available to help local charities at the forefront of supporting communities during the pandemic. I am delighted to advise that a number of applications have now been approved, with more in the pipeline.
Lowland Search and Rescue (OxSAR)
£1,000 has been donated to support their operations which in turn support our emergency services. The money will be used to fund PPE for search volunteers to keep them, and their rescued people, Covid-safe. Funds will also be used to offer refreshments to volunteers on night searches.
Do follow these two links below from The Oxford Mail and the OxSAR Facebook page to see just how much our charitable giving is appreciated by the charities we help:
Oxford Mail Article on how the Freemasons have assisted Oxsar
Oxsar Facebook page acknowledging the help from the Oxfordshire Freemasons
Oxfordshire Welfare Rights & Barton Advice Centre
This group used its £1,000 grant to provide a dedicated debt enquiry telephone service for vulnerable people in the community, giving them the very best advice as to their options for work, benefits and other charitable offers.
http://oxfordshirewelfarerights.btck.co.uk/
The Police Rehabilitation Centre (Flint House)
Our emergency services don’t have the luxury of working from home and continue to protect us 24 hours a day. The Oxfordshire Masonic Charity (OMC) donated £2,500 which has now been matched by the MCF! This amazing sum of £5,000 will be used to fund specialist equipment to heal our dedicated officers and get them back on duty.
SeeSaw
We’ve worked with SeeSaw previously and they will now receive £4,000 to continue clinical support to young people coping with a bereavement in their family. Such a tragedy is never an easy event, but the lockdown has made this terrible situation worse. SeeSaw expects its income to fall by £150,000 this year due to being unable to hold many fundraising events so our donation has secured some respite for some of their team.
Witney Food Bank
Finally in this update, £2,000 has been given to Witney Food Bank to help them combat poverty and hunger for the people of West Oxfordshire.
https://witney.foodbank.org.uk
Many of the above approached us via our own members who have strong links to these charities and I will be delighted to hear more recommendations as there may be further funding available. Our ability to donate these sums is of course linked directly to the donations made by our members and lodges as part of our 2022 Festival Appeal, so please consider topping up our funds so we can continue to help the most vulnerable people in society today.
Andrew Keech
Provincial Charity Steward