The following news items demonstrate the range of assistance offered by Dorset Masonic Care to local Charitable causes. We are particularly keen to emphasise the close working relationship we have with the central Masonic Charitable Foundation and Dorset Provincial Chapter Charity through which the benefits of joint funding can be achieved.

November 2024 Harlequin Care

DMC has donated £1,400 to Harlequin Care which runs regular, free of charge, Carers’ days throughout Dorset. It is an opportunity to meet other Carers, and the Harlequin volunteers, and have a relaxed chat over refreshments.

Harlequin Care had a very successful Carers Day at Stoborough Village Hall where they were able to offer 30 carers some ‘me time’ . They had five therapists offering carers a massage, reflexology, facial and a counsellor was also available plus the opportunity to meet other carers over refreshments.

Carer feedback ”I can’t thank them enough, I would say I was almost at the point of packing up and running away from my problems. The care here is real , makes a difference to my day , my week!. I have never found another group like this, plus money is tight for me and I spend on my family not me . Even whilst having cake and tea I meet like-minded people who understand. Thank you”

August 2024 Defibrillator Renovations

In 2012 Dorset Masonic Care funded the supply and installation of 17 life saving Defibrillators on a number of Masonic Halls and other buildings across Dorset with full public access gained by a simple 999 call. Our Charity continues to fund maintenance of the units including replacement batteries and AED pads.

Committed to ensuring all units remain visible and readily available we are embarking on a programme of cabinet renovation. The very first to be completed is on the entrance to Blandford Masonic Hall and the remaining 16 units will be renovated over the next few weeks.

We know that the units we have supplied have already saved a number of lives and we will continue to do so in future.

March 2023 DMC Provides Experience For Young Carer

In November 2023 a member of Blackmore Vale Lodge who works at Luccombe Hub raised in his lodge the question of potential support for a young learner at the school who faced very challenging family circumstances.

Luccombe Hub is an independent specialist school based in Milton Abbas where the focus is on social, emotional and mental health needs. It provides a place for those unable to engage in traditional mainstream schooling an opportunity to access an alternative form of education with 1:1 support while still following alongside the national curriculum through project-based work as well as alternative qualification routes.

The parents of the young learner in question both faced health issues, in one case of the most serious and life limiting nature. The desire was to provide the whole family with some form of experience which would not only be an enjoyable day, but also be somewhat special and create long lasting memories which he could look back on in the future.

At the DMC General Meeting in November 2023 the Blackmore Vale charity steward raised this matter with a member of the DMC External Donations Committee.

A proposal was quickly put together and within just a few days the EDC had approved a grant of £500 to be paid to the Friends of Luccombe Hub, a registered charity which would use the funds to provide such an experience.

Ultimately this took the form of a Lion VIP experience for the family at Longleat Safari Park. The family had an amazing day which included not just lions but our learner getting very hands on with a snake.

Mum wrote to us afterwards and said “we just wanted to say a huge thank you for giving us the opportunity to go to Longleat for the VIP Lion Experience – it was totally amazing! We had a lovely guide taking us around and I couldn’t believe how close we were allowed to see the lions. Thank you again, for this very kind gift – it truly meant a lot to us.”

The DMC Trustees are delighted to have been able to support this young man on behalf of Dorset Freemasons.

November 2023 Amelia’s Rainbow

Dorset Masonic Care made a donation of £1,000 in July 2022 to help fund the work of the Amelia’s Rainbow projects. We have now received the following letter which is wonderful news.

“Since we last spoke we’ve had a busy but uplifting year. Amelia’s Retreat continues to be fully booked and thanks to Dorset Masonic Care’s donation of £1000 we were able to provide a clean, warm safe space for our families. 

Last year I briefly mentioned our goal of opening a second Wheelchair- Adapted Holiday Home. I know in your position you understand how difficult fundraising is but we are so proud to say thanks to hard work and determined fundraisers we have just purchased a chalet in Rockley in Poole. It needs some TLC and structural work but we are hoping to open in March 2024. This means we are now able to provide 80 free holidays next year and able to be fully inclusive to those with physical disabilities.

Fundraising to cover the costs often feels like a never ending mission so we are appreciative and touched that you championed our cause and I wanted to share our gratitude. I’ve attached a poster of thanks as it shows 2 lovely big families that needed a well deserved break.

If you ever wish to visit the facilities you are always welcome, please do keep in touch.

Kind Regards Farah Batchelor, Charity Manager”

August 2023 Scarlett Cromwell

Fourteen year old Scarlett Cromwell who suffers from a severe form of ataxia, a degenerative disease of the nervous system, is now able to join her friends cycling.

Dorset Masonic Care and the Mervyn Stewkesbury Charitable Foundation combined forces to fund a specialist electric tricycle which was presented to her on Friday 27^th August. Apart from the recreational benefit, the trike will provide her with independent mobility as her condition progresses.

Scarlett’s parents, Paul and Tracy, were joined by two of her friends, representatives of DMC and the Foundation, and Pat Green of  Northbourne Lodge whose daughter is one of her best friends. The photo shows a very happy Scarlett with her two friends.

December 2022 Poole Hospital Ladybird Unit – £1,400 Donated

Dorset Masonic Care has match funded an amount of £700 raised by Lodge of Unity 386. A cheque for £1400 has been presented to Janine Golding the Community Fundraiser of University Hospital Dorset NHS Charity in aid of The Ladybird Unit.

The Ladybird Unit, Poole had been Andy Orridge’s charity during his year as Worshipful Master of the Lodge of Unity, and was a grateful thank you to all the staff in the Ladybird Unit having successfully diagnosed and treated his wife’s breast cancer whilst under extreme pressure during the Covid Pandemic.

£700 was raised by a variety of social events generously supported by of the brethren of the Lodge once they had started to meet again after Covid suspension and the funds raised were matched by Dorset Masonic Care to provide a total sum of £1,400.

October 2022 Hope Housing Training & Support – £1,875 Donated

Dorset Masonic Care on behalf of all Dorset Freemasons, together with the Masonic Charitable Foundation and Provincial

Grand Lodge of Hampshire & Isle of Wight recently teamed up to give ‘Hope’ to homeless and vulnerable people in Bournemouth.

All three together completely funded the much needed Support Hub for Hope Housing Training & Support, a charity providing supported accommodation for over 100 homeless and vulnerable people.

Crucial to helping the clients rebuild their lives and integrate back into society, this new Hub enables really important private 1-2-1 sessions with the charity’s support workers.

The photo is of Stuart one of the charity’s residents. Originally living in Poole Stuart became homeless and is grateful for the support sessions he now gets in the new Hub’s ‘quiet rooms’, saying “They are helping me get my head together and taking me towards independence”.

With an ambition of soon being able to rent his own flat in Poole, Stuart fittingly remarks “YOU HAVE TO HAVE HOPE!”

July 2022 Compass Learning Centre Appeal – £1,232 Donated

The Compass School in Weymouth is a school for children who have been excluded from mainstream education; providing a high quality, flexible route to learning, allowing these pupils equal opportunities through alternative provision arrangements. Many of these pupils have social, emotional and mental health difficulties, behavioural difficulties and find their home lives a contributing factor as a barrier to learning.

The School offers (subject to funding) a two week scheme during the summer period, providing activities that promote independence, healthy lifestyle choices, exercise and team work. This scheme has been proven to be of real benefit to the children participating.

Dorset Masonic Care has donated £1,232 which meets the cost of a staff member and six children for a 2 week period.

We have received the following letter of thanks from the Chair of Governors

“I am writing on behalf of the Compass Learning Centre to thank the Dorset Masonic Care charity for their very generous donation to support our summer school this year. Many of the students who attend Compass have real struggles during the summer holiday, and I know the young people attending will benefit a great deal from the programme of activities we are able to offer.”

JUNE 2022 Dorset Freemasons give £6,353 to fund a Flo-Jack lifting aid for a Dorset hospital charity.

Towards the end of 2021 our Provincial Grand Master was approached by the newly formed University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity with a request for assistance on several ongoing projects for 2022. One of these projects was to provide a number of modern Flo-Jack lifting aids to each of the three main hospitals covering east Dorset (Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch) at a cost of £6,353 each, supplementing and eventually replacing the existing lifting aids which were coming to the end of their usefulness.

In less than a week it was agreed that Dorset Freemasonry would step up to the request and fully fund one of the new Flo-Jack aids. To do this Dorset’s own Masonic charity, Dorset Masonic Care, would fund half of the cost and the central Masonic Charitable Foundation would provide the balance from its matched funding budget for Dorset. Both Masonic charities are directly financed by contributions from individual Freemasons.

With the funds in place a new lifting aid was purchased by the NHS Charity and is now one of seven devices in daily use at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, providing much needed aid and relief to patients who have fallen and who are unable to get up again without assistance.

May 2022 ACTS FAST

Dorset Masonic Care has awarded £5,000 to support victims of Child Sexual Abuse backed up by a further £1500 from the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

Dorset based charity, Acts Fast, provides emotional and practical support to parents, carers and family members whose child has been affected by childhood sexual abuse. The charity runs face to face emotional and practical counselling sessions in both group and individual settings.

Over the last few years the charity has seen demand for its services dramatically rise with a resulting strain on its resources. To help Acts Fast expand and to meet this increased demand Dorset’s own local Masonic charity , Dorset Masonic Care, has provided a grant of £5,000 to the charity’s general funds. Further to this and to help the charity streamline the contact process with its clients the Masonic Charitable Foundation has provided a further grant of £1,500 to fund their text and chat message system for the next 18 months, speeding up communications and allowing them to be more responsive to those who seek their help. 

James Druce , the acting CEO of Acts Fast said –

“We are changing lives, standing with the victims of crimes and helping those who need us most – and that is only possible with the special funding that has been made possible from Dorset Masonic Care and the Masonic Charitable Foundation via the generosity of the Freemasons of Dorset, so thank you for making this support possible!”

February 2022 – Zetland Court

In early 2021 we committed to fund the equipping of a Sensory Room in the Dementia Unit of Zetland Court in Westbourne but this project was put on hold as a result of the multiple Covid lockdowns experienced in the Care Sector.

The home were finally able to arrange installation of the various pieces of equipment and the Sensory Room is now in daily use with residents and visitors enjoying the full range of active visual and static tactile items.This has proven to be of major benefit to all the Dementia Unit residents.

April 2022 – Forest Holme Hospice

Dorset Masonic Care has matched funded a donation by the Lodge of St Cuthberga No. 622 to Forest Holme Hospice who gratefully received a total of £1,500.

Forest Holme Hospice offers specialist palliative care support to patients and their families/carers for patients with serious illnesses when complex needs require specialist advice and management. This support may take place within the Hospice itself (in designated clinic areas or in the inpatient unit) or at the patient’s home or whilst the person is an in-patient in the Hospital.

2020/21 Covid Lockdown Meals on Wheels

During lockdown Sophie Mears provided a free of charge meals on wheels service in the area surrounding Bridport, cooking up to 80 meals a day for those in need.

Dorset Masonic Care, in conjunction with the Masonic Charitable Foundation, was  delighted to be able to offer immediate support to this excellent service.