Read on to find out about grassroots charities and community groups recently helped by the Worcestershire Freemasons Charity (WFC) – and the difference made by WFC grants.

 

In the third quarter of the year WFC has made grants to a range of diverse causes across locally based small charities and not for profit organisations.

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Health              

Worcestershire MIND Charity  (£1000)        

The Mental Elf event will this year be held in Sanders’ Park Bromsgrove and the Worcestershire Freemasons Volunteers will also be involved in stewarding. It is hoped that the grant from WFC and the participation of WFV at the event will help make the event a success, and raise the profile of a charity which contributes so much to helping those in need of support when they are experiencing mental health issues.

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Youth and Education

Beyond Barriers Pathways CIC (£1000)

This charity is based in Redditch. It provides specialist support to young people aged 16-24 who are NEETS (Not in Education, Employment or Training). Through its “Partners in Possibility” initiative, it is building a network of local employers committed to creating real opportunities through work experience, supported internships, mentoring and employment pathways. It is looking for funding to equip a newly acquired centre with the technology and resources required to deliver high-quality learning and employability programmes. The WFC grant will go towards obtaining equipment such as refurbished laptops and desktop computers; an interactive teaching screen; printers, and learning resources.

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Community

Crowle Men’s Shed (£750)

Following WFC’s support of Pershore Men’s Shed, we have made a similar grant to a group in Crowle. Like Pershore, the primary aims are to reduce social isolation and to promote positive mental health in men, particularly those who have been affected by a “life shock” such as the loss of a loved one, redundancy and the challenges some face through retirement. Crowle however, is slightly different, in that it tries to bring about a sense of purpose by repairing and recycling items which, otherwise, would go to landfill. In doing so, the Shed helps others, including projects run by the local Parish Council. The grant will go towards acquiring a table saw and extractor, and 2 mobile workbenches.

St George’s Hall Community Café (Bewdley) (£650)

St George’s Hall is a registered charity and community facility in Bewdley which has about 80 thousand visitors and around 50 thousand café visits each year. It provides a home for community groups, cultural and entertainment events, meetings, celebrations and other activities which bring people together. It is undergoing a refurbishment and the grant will go towards providing a new acoustic safety floor, which will deaden noise levels in the building.

 Stourbridge “Fire Appeal” (£1000)

Following the devastating fires in Stourbridge the local Masonic Hall is raising funds to help those who have lost everything in the fires. WFC has pledged £1000 in addition to the funds raised locally by units meeting at the Hall.

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Royal Arch Fund

Fort Royal Primary School (£500)

This is a community primary school in Worcester catering for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan. The school has a low pupil to staff ratio and it works in conjunction with other professionals, such as speech therapists and physiotherapists, to cater for the special needs of children who attend the school.

Welcome Group Halesowen (£500)

This is a charity based in Halesowen which operates a drop-in centre each Monday.  Its aim is to alleviate social exclusion and financial hardship of immigrants in the area. The grant has been made to enable the provision of baby supplies over the next 12 months

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Proof of the pudding

Feedback from beneficiaries is a very good measure of the impact of WFC’s grants – here is what some have said:

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A Scout group where our grant (£1000) reduced the cost of a scout camp and so enabled children who would not otherwise have been able to attend, to go:

"Thank you so much for this opportunity, she loves coming to scouts and has thoroughly enjoyed the camp. We couldn't afford a holiday this year, so the fact she managed to have a camping weekend has meant the world to us. Thank you so much to everybody who has organised this and especially to those who have donated and made it possible for our daughter to attend".

“Being a single mum of two, I didn't think I'd be able to send them to the camp but with this reduction. It made it possible. Thank you to everyone". 

“Without your generous donation we wouldn't have had so many of our children attending this camp, on behalf of everyone at * Scouts & all our families thank you so much”.

 

A specialist school where our grant (£1000) helped to purchase a scooter for disabled pupils

“Thank you so much for your letter. I will make sure I share this personally with everyone involved at the thank you event. Please do come and visit us again at **, the support we receive from kind organisations like Freemasons makes a huge difference to the care and opportunities we can provide to our wonderful pupils”. [ The event was attended by 2 trustees].

 

A charity offering Home Nursing where our grant (£500) helped fund running costs of a community care charity

“On behalf of everyone at *** please accept our sincere thanks for the generous grant of £500 awarded by the Worcestershire Freemasons Charity……Thank you once again for your generosity … your grant will ensure that local people facing some of life’s most difficult circumstances can continue to receive compassionate care and support when they need it most”.