The global pandemic has affected many Cornish businesses, families, friends, and charities since the start of 2020 and due to the various restrictions over the past year charities have not been able to perform their regular fund-raising activities throughout the county.
Unfortunately, due to the global crisis The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall had to cancel its charities presentation day, usually held at King Arthur’s Hall in Tintagel. However, The Freemasons of Cornwall are delighted to announce that over the pandemic thus far £55,617 has been donated across 45 Cornish charities to help those in need and provide care for those less fortunate than ourselves. These charities include, but are not limited to:
RNLI: Port Isaac, Newquay, St Agnes, Looe, and Isles of Scilly. National Coastwatch Institution: St Agnes Head, St Ives, Stepper Point and Basspoint. McMillan Cancer support (Cove- Treliske), Cornwall Hospice Care, Children’s Hospice South West (Little Harbour), Lifelites, Cornwall Air Ambulance, Cornwall Blood Bikes, Merlin MS Centre, Oasis Centre Cornwall, and many more worthy charities that provide either service or equipment for those in need who live or visit the county of Cornwall.
Mike Pritchard, Provincial Grand Charity Steward for Cornwall had this to say:
“This tremendous amount of money donated through The Cornwall Masonic Charitable Foundation would not have been possible without the charitable efforts from our members across the 80 lodges within Cornwall. Along with our donations throughout the pandemic The Masonic Charitable Foundation, the national freemason’s charity for members in England, Wales and Overseas and one of the largest grant-making charities in the country kindly provided additional grants of £20,000 to be split between the various charities and boost our total to £55,617”.
Alice Merrett, Area Fundraiser at Little Harbour said:
“Children’s Hospice South West needs more than £3 million a year to run its Little Harbour hospice in St Austell. Over 140 children and their families are currently being supported by Little Harbour which is why the generosity of groups such as The Cornwall Masonic Charitable Foundation really does mean so much. When a child is diagnosed with a life limiting illness, we offer support to families in a variety of ways including visits to and stays at the hospice, home visits and virtual support – offering a listening ear 24 hours a day. Most importantly we help families make precious memories that they will treasure for a lifetime, but we couldn’t do it without the generosity of the local community so thank you.”
Debbie Henshaw, Senior Fundraising Manager at Cornwall Air Ambulance, said:
“Illness and injury don’t stop in a pandemic. The crew of Cornwall Air Ambulance has continued to work throughout, bringing critical care to people in need across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The charity relies on donations to provide this lifesaving service, so we are very grateful to have the support of The Cornwall Masonic Charitable Foundation.”
Andrew Bramwell, RNLI Community Manager for Cornwall said:
‘The RNLI relies on donations to be able to fund the training and equipment needed by our volunteer lifeboat crew in order to do their lifesaving work. Like many charities we were forced to cancel many of our fundraising events and close our shops due to the pandemic which means our ability to fundraise has been severely impacted over the last 15 months. So, this generous donation from The Cornwall Masonic Charitable Foundation is greatly appreciated and we thank them for their continued support.’
