Ed Baker shares this latest news on behalf of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons. Ed
Local charities have benefited from a series of special Community Awards from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) is distributing £3million to 300 charities 
across the country, as part of the Freemasons’ 300th anniversary celebrations.
An unprecedented public vote across England and Wales of 178,801 respondents decided on the range of awards from £4,000 to £25,000.
Across the Masonic province of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which includes Christchurch and Bournemouth, the following received donations totalling £79,000.
- The Rainbow Centre – £25,000
- Macmillan Caring Locally – £15,000
- The Elizabeth Foundation – £15,000
- Gift of Sight Appeal, University of Southampton – £6,000
- 1st East Cowes Sea Scout Group – £6,000
- Parity for Disability – £4,000
- Enham Trust – £4,000
- Flutterby Fund – £4,000
The charities will be presented with their Awards by the Provincial Grand Master for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Mike Wilks (pictured above), and other senior members of the province, in the near future.
The £3million fund is being administered by the MCF, which obtains its funding from Freemasons, their families and friends.
It is estimated that half of Freemasonry’s total charitable expenditure of more than £33m goes to charities that help people in communities across the country.
Mike Wilks said:
“We are delighted to be able to celebrate three hundred years of Freemasonry by helping eight excellent local charities.
“We’ve been active in charity work for all that time, but this is the first occasion we’ve asked the public to help us decide how to spend our money. We are very pleased that so many people from Hampshire and Isle of Wight took part in the vote.”
Image: bartfields under CC BY 2.0
