More than 1,000 Freemasons who gathered in Harrogate for their annual meeting handed out £100,000 to six Yorkshire charities.
One of the organisations to benefit from the donations from the Provincial Grand Master’s Fund Major Grants was Ripon Community Hospital, which received £15,000 towards refurbishing an existing area to be used as a day room, interview and quite room for patients and their families.
Ripon Community Hospital’s application was supported by Vale of Nidd Lodge, No 4984, which meets in Pateley Bridge, in memory of the late Worshipful Brother Harry Lupton and his wife, Molly, who spent many of the last weeks of her life in the hospital’s Trinity Ward.
The donation was presented to the pair’s daughter, Judith Hardaker and Terry Wise, at the Masonic Province of Yorkshire West Riding’s annual meeting, held in the Royal Hall.
Provincial Grand Master John Clayton said: “I am most grateful to the Brethren of the Province of Yorkshire West Riding for donating so generously, on a regular basis, to enable these grants to be made, and also for their work in putting forward worthy causes for us to consider.”
Mr Clayton added: “This is the fourth year in which we have made these major grants, totaling £100,000 each year from the Provincial Grand Master’s Fund.”
Other beneficiaries of this year’s fund were:
£20,000 to Nell Bank Outdoor Centre to assist with the cost of the provision of a new outdoor play area
£10,000 to Goole Gymnastics Club to purchase its own, new tumbling track
£10,000 to Denby Dale Centre to up-date the heating system at its ‘Hub’ centre
£20,000 to Dance United Yorkshire for the purchase of theatrical equipment to help rehabilitate young offenders through the discipline of dance
£25,000 to South Yorkshire Guide Association to extend the residential holiday home which acts as a facility offering access to people with disabilities
Information about Freemasonry in the region can be obtained by visiting the Province of Yorkshire West Riding website at www.wrprovince.co.uk
