The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall have supported the small charity Lifelites with a £2,000 donation so that they can continue to donate assistive technology for life-limited and disabled children in Cornwall. These children are particularly isolated and vulnerable during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The life-changing technology donated by Lifelites enables children at Little Harbour Children’s Hospice to play with their brothers and sisters, communicate with their parents and control something themselves. Little Harbour Children’s Hospice service in Cornwall has been receiving assistive technology from Lifelites since it opened.
Lifelites and the Freemasons of Cornwall are particularly aware that the pandemic has led to many people feeling extremely isolated, losing touch with their communities and experiencing additional stress. Everyone has been getting a living insight into what it is like to be a life-limited and disabled child; unable to leave the house independently, speak to people and socialise naturally. Lifelites-donated assistive technology enables extremely vulnerable children to overcome isolation, communicate their wishes and fears in this extraordinarily stressful time, and connect with their loved ones.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) which is the national Freemason’s charity funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales match funded the generous £1,000 donation provided by The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall allowing £2,000 to be provided to Lifelites.
Simone Enefer-Doy, Chief Executive of Lifelites said: “We are incredibly grateful for this donation from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall and the Masonic Charitable Foundation for our work with Little Harbour Children’s Hospice in Cornwall. With our donated assistive technology, these life-limited and disabled children will have the opportunity to play, communicate, and control something themselves. For many of them, it is the first time that they will be able to play with their brothers and sisters and say, ‘I love you’ to their parents.”
“We are so grateful to have received the support of the Freemasons of Cornwall for many years now, their donations help us make the impossible, possible for life-limited and disabled children using hospice services in Cornwall.”
Hospice staff at Little Harbour said: “The Lifelites package of technology provides individuals with the opportunity to control certain aspects of their life by making choices and having a say; Individuals are able to develop social experiences through gaming, maintain links with their existing peers and with their family. The technology helps to maintain normality, when they may otherwise experience loneliness or isolation or lack of control.”
Sebastian Oakley, Provincial Communications Officer for The Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall said:
The Freemasons of Cornwall are extremely proud to be supporting Lifelites, it has been donating life-changing packages of technology for 21 years and supports every children’s hospice service across the British Isles. Their aim is to continue to provide new adaptive technology and ongoing support to ensure that disabled and life-limited children have a chance to escape the confines of their conditions and engage with the world around them and their families here in Cornwall.
