National Masonic Charities
There are four national Masonic Charities that operate throughout England and Wales and in some cases in the Masonic Districts overseas that are under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England.
The Freemasons' Grand
Charity (FGC) is a grant-making charity which supports people in need.
In 2006, it gave grants totalling over £4.6 million. The Charity
continues a commitment to charitable support that began nearly 300 years ago in
the earliest days of organised Freemasonry. All of the money distributed is
provided by Freemasons and their families, mainly through an annual
contribution made by individual Masons and fundraising 'Festivals' held each
year.
Grants fall into three main categories:
Masonic Grants: Assistance for Masons and their family who are experiencing hardship, including the provision of mobility equipment;
Non-Masonic Grants: Support for the important work of national charities of all sizes, concentrating on medical research, vulnerable people and opportunities for deprived young people, including a special programme of support for Hospices and disaster relief work worldwide; and
Other Masonic charities: When justifiable needs arise, the FGC will support the work of the other national Masonic charities.
FGC also operates The Freemasons' Grand Charity Relief Chest Scheme, which helps Lodges and other Masonic Organisations to maximise the value of the funds they collect for charitable activities.
Further information is obtainable from www.grandcharity.co.uk
The Royal Masonic Trust for Girls
and Boys helps children and young people in many ways through a variety
of different funds and projects.
The main work of the Trust is to assist Masonic families who have experienced a change in their circumstances that has led to financial hardship. This could be, for example, following the ill health or death of a parent. The main way the Trust helps is by providing ongoing financial support to relieve poverty and advance education. This commitment remains in place until either the young person has competed their education or until the financial circumstances have improved sufficiently.
The Trust also funds TalentAid for gifted young people from Masonic families whose parents may be having difficulty funding this exceptional talent, and Choral Bursaries for young choristers. There are many other smaller funds that can help in all sorts of situations.
A visit to www.rmtgb.org provides more detailed information.
The Masonic Samaritan Fund
is still a young Masonic charity. It was established in 1990 for the relief of
suffering and sickness in respect of Freemasons, their wives, children or
dependants, or the widows, children or dependants of deceased Freemasons. The
interests and needs of each applicant will be paramount in determining how and
where relief will be granted. The terms of the Trust Deed under which the Fund
is required to operate require that relief can only be provided to applicants
who demonstrate that the cost of private healthcare would be a financial burden
and who are otherwise unable to obtain treatment on the National Health Service
without undue delay. The NMSF will support a petitioner who needs general
surgery if the wait for NHS treatment is three months or more or will intervene
if the wait for cardiac surgery is two months or more.
By 2007, the Fund had supported treatment for over 7,000 individuals ranging in age from 6 months to 104 years. This involved allocating grants totalling over £30 million. Whilst many of the conditions funded via the NMSF may be associated with advancing years - hip and knee joint replacements, cataracts and prostate problems - funding can be available for everything from scans to major heart surgery. Although painful and often distressing, such complaints are not life threatening and often involve a long wait on the NHS. The Fund will not provide support in emergency or life threatening cases where the NHS will deal with it promptly and efficiently.
Applicants do not need to be financially destitute to qualify for assistance. In establishing the financial need NMSF will take account of both income and capital but will not include the value of your home. Allowances are made for certain items of expenditure and for reasonable savings.
Some applicants may be asked to make a contribution towards the overall cost of treatment. Once an application is accepted, the interests of the patient will be paramount and the required treatment will be obtained at whichever hospital is the most appropriate and, if possible, near to where the patient lives.
www.nmsf.org contains even more details of the operation of the Fund and how to apply for assistance.
The Royal Masonic Benevolent
Institution is a major provider of high quality services for older
people and over 1,000 Freemasons and their dependants live in their seventeen
Homes located throughout England and Wales, many of which are registered for
both residential and nursing care. All Homes can accommodate people who may be
becoming a little confused but where specialist care for people with mental
frailty is needed special house groups within a Home have been created. Over
3,000 people living in the community receive some form of pastoral care. The
Care Advice Team visit annuitants and recipients of Masonic Relief Grants at
least once and people with particular needs more frequently.
www.rmbi.org.uk is full of more information about the Charity.
Freemasons in England and Wales provide substantial financial assistance to all of the national Masonic Charities through the Festival system. Each year a Province will be 'in Festival' for one of the Charities, that is, each of the Charities will have a supporting Province, and these Festivals normally run for a period of five to seven years. Many millions of pounds are raised in this way.