Amity Crest
The Lodge of Amity and Rossendale Forest No.283
CHARITY
Well done Kevin Rawcliffe - Fund Raiser for the East Lancs Hospice.
Lodge Donations
Freemasonry is well known for it's Charitable giving. Our members are no exception, they make their own personal donations to Charity as well as collective donations from the Lodge. Here are a few of the Charities supported by our members and the Lodge during the year, January 2023 to January 2024:
"English Freemasons have a long and honourable history of charitable giving. The funds raised have improved the lives of many thousands of Freemasons and family members, as well as those in the wider community, who are in need.
The formation of the Masonic Charitable Foundation brings together the full range of centralised charitable support that has evolved over more than two centuries. By providing a single focal point for all fundraising and charitable support activities, the new charity will provide a robust and modern organisation that is fit for the future.
I consider it a great honour to be the Grand President of the Masonic Charitable Foundation, one of the largest charities in the country. I commend it to you and trust that you will join me in giving it the active support that it deserves".
HRH The Duke of Kent, KG
Grand Master
In April 2016 the Masonic Charitable Foundation brought together the four main Masonic Charities under one umbella.
Get your free copy of the Guide at www.mcf.org.uk/reliefchest
TLC Appeal - Teddies for Loving Care
Fund raising for the supply of Cuddly Toys to Hospital A & E units for Children in Severe Distress
Every year Freemasons help thousands of people in need.
~ How? ~
By donating millions of pounds to charitable causes.
The Lodge of Amity and Rossendale Forest No.283 supports Masonic and Non-Masonic Charities alike and is:
- Grand Patron Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys
- Patron New Samaritan Fund
- Grand Patron RMBI 2015 Festival
- Grand Patron East Lancashire Masonic Charity 2020/21
From its earliest days, Freemasonry has been concerned with the care of orphans, the sick and the aged. This work continues today. In addition, large sums are given to national and local charities.
Freemasons are taught to practise charity and to care - not only for their own
- but also for the community as a whole, both by charitable giving and by voluntary efforts and works as individuals.
Freemasons donate individually and collectively
to Masonic Charities and indeed to Non-Masonic Charities also.
Grants are frequently made from Masonic Charities to help:
- Local: such as Hospices, Air Ambulance etc.
- National: such as RNLI, Help for Heroes, Parkinson's UK, Medical Research etc., and
- International appeals: such as Earthquakes, Floods and Famine Relief etc.
The East Lancashire Masonic Charity (ELMC) is here to care for and to afford charitable assistance to needy Freemasons or their widows or to any of their dependent relatives, and to reach out to others in the communities in which we live who are deserving of our charitable support.
Support for those less fortunate than ourselves has long been a feature of our Masonic activity throughout the history of this Province. In the eighteenth century, charity was disbursed by individual Lodges on behalf of their members. In 1815, Grand Lodge ordained that a Province could establish a Local fund for charitable and other Masonic purposes, and then, in 1853, a meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge in Blackburn established a Fund of Benevolence (known as the East Lancashire Masonic Benevolence Institution [ELMBI], but now known as ELMC). Eventually a Committee was formed to promote the interests of charity.
This Committee included one representative from each Lodge in the Province. This was the origin of the Lodge Charity representative, now known as the Lodge Charity Steward.
Freemasonry in the Community
The Community Fund (East Lancahire) Supporting the Local Community.
Other Grants made from the Community Fund
Further information on these charities and the purpose they serve (many of which are for the benefit of non-Masonic Charities and organisations, such as the RNLI) can be obtained by using the above internet links.
East Lancashire
Masonic Charity (Vice Patron)
Grants to the Local Community.
Freemasonry is thought to have its origins in the guilds of the middle ages, which were set up to regulate standards of training and workmanship in the building trades, and to provide comfort and relief for those who were injured, or too old or ill to continue working. As such they were a form of 'benefit society' for the less fortunate members of the trade guild. Nowadays, with a modern welfare state, there is little need for such societies and much of the fund raising carried out by Freemasons now supports the Masonic Charitable Foundation, Provincial Masonic Charity and local Charities at District and Lodge level.
ELMC £50,000 donation funds Patient Information Zone in new Diabetes Centre at the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
The £50,000 donation will help make a difference to diabetes patients from across the North West of England. The donation in support of Manchester Royal Infirmary Charity's Diabetes Appeal will help the hospital to relocate its Diabetes Centre into a more vibrant and spacious patient-friendly building and continue to be a leading centre for Diabetes care. [ Read more ]
