Freemasons carry out considerable charitable works, without much noise or fuss. At the national level, sums in the region of two million pounds per year are donated to non-Masonic charities, whilst equally considerable sums are used to support Freemasons and their families who have fallen on hard times. Each Province carries out their own charitable works, and Jersey (which is one of the smallest Provinces) has an enviable reputation for the sums raised for Masonic and non-Masonic charities, having raised over £1,000,000 during the last 46 years from a total membership of 600 Freemasons.
The Province of Jersey regularly collect for non-masonic charities, and provide a source of funding for charities that give excellent service to the community of Jersey
The charity for 1995/6 was the Jersey Hospice care. From the donation, they purchased this specialised bathing equipment for the use of the patients under their care.
In 1996/7 the donations totalled £35,000. Of this an amount of £17,000 was given to the Masonic Trust for Boys and Girls. Local charities who benefitted this year were: The Order of St.John - £5,500 was donated to supply specialised equipment for ambulances [neck collars, spinal boards, life support resuscitation items]; The Jersey Health Service - £6,750 was donated to purchase paramedic equipment used in front line ambulances, to measure oxygen status and other vital signs of critically ill patients; National Autistic Society - £3,100 to purchase a lightwriter machine to enable a seven year old boy to communicate; Motor Neurone Disease Association £3,100 to help puchase equipment for a Jersey family [mother of three young children, greatly handicapped by the disease]; and Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide £250 to assist with the costs of setting up a local branch.
In 1993 the charity was the Provincial
fund of benevolence. From that fund, a sum was made
available to purchase two minibuses, adapted to carry
wheelchairs. These were presented to the Health
Department of the States of Jersey Government, to
enable families to take wheelchair bound patients out
to the coast and countryside. These two minibuses are
in regular use at most times of the week, and provide
valuable assistance to people affected in this way.
The minibuses are quite anonymous. Painted in light
blue, there is a small sign on the driver's and the
passenger's door identifying the benefactor, with a
small square and compasses.
JERSEY EVENING POST 2ND DECEMBER 1993
The Jersey Masonic Charities Association have raised over £30,000 to buy two vehicles, modified for wheelchair use, for Public Health's Elderly Services - relatives will be able to use them to take elderly residents out into the community. Pictured at the handover are left, Committee President Jack Roche, and Provincial Grand Master Ben Wakeham.
At an informal meeting held at the Masonic Temple, Stopford Road, St.Helier, on the 30th October 1999, the Provincial Grand Master of Jersey, David Rosser presented cheques to three worthy local charities. Raised from the various charitable activities of all the Lodges in Jersey during the past year, the total collected was £43,000. Of this £33,000 was allocated to the central Masonic Charities in England, the remainder being reserved for local causes.
The Province has made regular donations of about £10,000 each year since 1999 to local charities.
The Province's charity for the year 1999/2000 was the Jersey Masonic Benevolent Fund, a fund operated by the Province for Masonic and non-Masonic charities. The collections exceeded of £30,000 and from this about £20,000 was allocated to provide a garden for the residents of Les Amis. Les Amis is a Jersey charity associated with Jersey Mencap, and its main objective is to offer care and support in residential settings to adults with learning difficulties. Below are pictures of the original site in St.Saviour, Jersey, a diagram of the proposed garden and a picture of the completed work. The garden was opened by Sir Philip Bailhache, Bailiff of Jersey on 27th October 2000.
The original site Plan of the new garden
Completed garden Plaque
2002 - Jersey Freemasons fund bereavement counsellor
The Jersey Community Bereavement Service is available to anyone in the community who has suffered bereavement, regardless of the nature of the loss. The Service is professionally led under the umbrella of the Jersey Hospice Care. The Bereavement Service is managed by Mrs Sheila Warren and provides counselling and support groups. There are twelve support workers who assist in a voluntary capacity.
The service is meeting an increasing need in the island with nearly 300 clients in 2001. To assist in managing this increase and with succession planning in mind, Mrs Joanne Humphrey was appointed as Deputy Manager in May 2001. Joanne had a nursing background and was one of the original Home Care Sisters at the Hospice. She has now embarked on a five year period of training, including counselling and supervisory skills. She will also be undertaking teaching qualifications at the same time.
The Provincial Grand Lodge of Jersey agreed to establish a bursary fund, in order to meet the costs of the five year training programme. Local Freemasons provided specialist bathroom equipment for the Hospice in 1996 and have regularly supported the Hospice by donations. Now they have decided to enter into a five year commitment to enable the Bereavement Service to continue its very necessary work to the community.
The first year's contribution of £7,000 was presented by the Provincial Grand Master, David Rosser, to representatives of Jersey Hospice at a Special Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge on Thursday 28th March 2002. Margaret McGovern of Jersey Hospice Care said "We at JerseyHospice Care are absolutely delighted to benefit from the Jersey Freemasons' generosity. It will make a tremendous difference to us knowing that all the efforts of the past which have gone into the creation of the JHC Bereavement Support Service are well assured for the immediate future. It is a valuable part of our hospice service to the community and it is comforting to know it will continue"
Provincial appeal for 2002/3
It has been said many times that most people know of someone whose life has been touched, directly or indirectly, by Cancer. Great strides have been made in recent years in diagnosis and treatment and research continues with charitable aid both from public and private organisations. The Grand Charity has been a long term supporter of such research.
In Jersey we are fortunate to have the benefit of a fine hospital service where medical and nursing professionals work to a high standard in order to meet the ever increasing demands of the Island.
With the development of the blood test for prostrate specific antigen (PSA), which is raised in prostatic carcinoma, the number of prostatic biopsies received by the histology laboratory has increased in recent times. Personal awareness, together with the breast and cervical screening programme for women, has also added substantially to the burden.
Waiting for the results of biopsies can be very stressful and the knowledge that processing time will be reduced as a result of our donation will be most welcome to sufferers and their families.
The Provincial Grand Master, after much discussion with Consultants in the States of Jersey Pathology Department, decided to ask the Brethren to contribute their charitable donations for 2002/3 towards the purchase of two principal items of equipment - detailed below - at an approximate cost of £ 40,000. Although the Department has older models of both machines the new acquisitions will increase the capacity to process more stains than previously, thus enabling a substantially improved turnaround time for reporting results of biopsies.
The Provincial Grand Master with Senator Stewart Syvret (President of the Health Committee) at the official handover ceremony.
On the left is the Dako Auto-stainer which will be used to speed up and improve efficiency in detecting the presence of malignancy in tissue sections taken for biopsy. On the right is the Thermo Shandon Finesse ME Microtome which is a machine used for making tissue slices preparatory to making to making slides for analysis. The fully automated production process allows high quality specimens to be prepared with precision and in minimum time.
| Year | Charity | £ |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 2,601 |
| 1961 | Royal Masonic Hospital | 3,865 |
| 1962 | Royal Masonic Institute for Girls | 2,571 |
| 1963/4 | Royal Masonic Institutefor Boys | 4,123 |
| 1965 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 3,137 |
| 1966 | Royal Masonic Hospital | 3,878 |
| 1967 | Royal Masonic Institute for Girls | 3,704 |
| 1968 | Royal Masonic Institute for Boys | 3,231 |
| 1969 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 3,606 |
| 1970 | Royal Masonic Hospital | 5,609 |
| 1971 | Royal Masonic Institute for Girls | 4,565 |
| 1972 | Royal Masonic Institute for Boys | 4,662 |
| 1973 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 5,910 |
| 1974 | Royal Masonic Hospital | |
| 1975 | R&R | 11,681 |
| General | 2,722 | |
| 1976 | Royal Masonic Institute for Girls | 8,893 |
| 1977 | Royal Masonic Institute for Boys | 8,639 |
| 1978 | Royal Masonic Hospital | 21,701 |
| 1979 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 16,509 |
| 1980/1 | Royal Masonic Institute for Girls | 16,124 |
| Royal Masonic Hospital | 3,186 | |
| 1982 | Royal Masonic Hospital | 24,571 |
| 1984 | Royal Masonic Institute for Boys | 14,074 |
| Royal Masonic Hospital | 5,765 | |
| 1985 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 19,380 |
| 1986 | Royal Masonic Hospital Samaritan Fund | 26,000 |
| 1988 | Foundation for the Aged and Sick | 31,867 |
| Royal Masonic Hospital | 1,853 | |
| 1989 | Well Woman Clinic Royal Masonic Hospital | 62,636 |
| 1991 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 50,000 |
| Royal Masonic Hospital Samaritan Fund | 2,220 | |
| 1995 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 47,214 |
| 1996 | Masonic Trust for Boys and Girls | 17,000 |
| LOCAL APPEALS | ||
| 1983 | Temple Building Fund | 25,228 |
| 1987 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence | 27,915 |
| 1990 | Temple Building Fund | 17,800 |
| 1992 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence | 34,216 |
| 1993 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence | 43,000 |
| Grand Charity | 5,000 | |
| 1994 | Temple Building Fund | 31,000 |
| 1995/6 | Jersey Hospice Care | 32,515 |
| 1997 | Various local and national charities | 16,672 |
| 1998 | Temple Building Fund | 40,000 |
| 1999 | Grand Charity | 33,000 |
| 2000 | Local Charities | 44,167 |
| 2001 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 30,000 |
| 2002 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence Jersey Hospice Care Bursary Fund |
50,985 |
| 2003 | Histopathology appeal | 50,297 |
| 2004 | Multiple appeal | 48,475 |
| 2005 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence Jersey Hospice Care Education Appeal |
47,752 |
| Asia Relief | 8,211 | |
| 2006 | Grand Charity | 23,660 |
| Provincial Grand Lodge Building Fund | 23,659 | |
| 2007 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence Jersey Hospice Care Extension Project) |
60,744 |
| 2008 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence The John Lobb Memorial Fund |
|
| Provincial Grand Lodge Building Fund | ||
| 2009 | Provincial Grand Lodge Fund of Benevolence Jersey Cheshire Home - Hydro Pool Solar Heating |
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