Giving to Charity

From its formative days, Freemasons have been concerned with the provision of charity towards the care of orphans, the sick and the aged.

This practice continues today and also extends not only to their own but to the community as a whole where large sums are allocated to national and local charities. Freemasons are also among the first to donate financial support to help with worldwide disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

In recent years, Freemasonry has purchased lifeboats, air ambulances, medical response vehicles, specialist equipment to help locate and undertake difficult medical procedures and is currently involved in the purchase of two high-rise ladder appliances for the London Fire Brigade.  Freemasonry can often be misunderstood by members of the public, who are not always aware of the millions of pounds each year that they donate to good causes.  Financial support is also awarded by means of grants to numerous ‘local’ organisations to help with their good work.

Donations for charity are provided by individual Freemasons depending on how much they feel that they can provide (no upper or lower limits apply) from collections made at their Lodge Meetings, regular monthly direct debits and through local events such as barbeques, sponsored walks or more arduous initiatives such as trekking in the Himalayas. If mountain climbling isn't your thing, then there are other events such as the Lodge held ‘Ladies Night’ at the Royal Victoria Hotel in Hastings during October 2019 where money raised from a raffle was also donated to Charity.

It is true that Freemasonry does support its members in times of need and support through structured procedures overseen by Lodge Almoners and its Charity Administrators but, as described above, it is a total fallacy to say that relief is kept exclusively to itself.