Guest editorial - Mike Martin on the Grand Charity

A note from the editor: in a previous post to this blog, I stated that I would be starting a series of articles and guest editorials on the broad theme of "The 21st Century Mason". This is not part of that series. This article is written by Bro. Mike Martin of Mersey Lodge, no. 5434, and is adapted from a paper presented in lodge about the Grand Charity.

If I can beg your attention for a few minutes, I feel the need to share something with you that I’ve recently learned about Masonic charity. The learning curve started in July of 2008 when I applied for and was successful in securing a job with the Freemasons’ Grand Charity. This brief paper has been in part prompted by comments made recently, that in the present economic climate we should be looking after our own and partly because I don’t believe enough of us know that we already do.

In common with the other members of the UGLE, I have known about the Freemasons’ Grand Charity (GC) ever since I first became a Mason (in my case 1994). I also thought that I knew a good deal about what it does and where the money goes, based, mainly, on the press releases etc that are sent to us members and which I had been re-publishing on the Freemason discussion Forum. However, it wasn’t until taking up the post, as a Masonic Relief Grants (MRG) Officer that I really found out about what the GC really does.

I prided myself on knowing that each year the GC regularly made grants totalling in the millions of pounds to other non-Masonic Charities involved in certain specific types of work. The fields can generally be described as helping people, the old, the young or the “vulnerable”. Since the GC’s inception in 1981 it has granted, over £30 million to non-Masonic charities of all sizes This includes more than £7 million to hospice services as part of a programme that began in 1984, nearly £400,000 for air ambulances and £1.5 million for emergency relief work needed as a result of natural disasters. This is a laudable pursuit and it illustrates our philanthropic attitude towards the popular world that is not Masons.

I knew about the Relief Chest Scheme which enables Lodges to get a far better return (interest) on the money they have collected for charitable purposes. Although I admit that I did not know that Lodges do not have to use this money solely to donate to registered Charities. I only found out in October that this money can be used to render direct assistance to anyone (not just the members) that the Lodge may wish to help who is in need.

However and far less well known to me was the work of the Masonic Relief Grant Section and the Masonic Relief Grant Committee.

You’ll remember that I mentioned that the GC, since its inception, has distributed over £30 million to non-Masonic Charities However, I was surprised to learn that in that same time frame it has also expended more than £41 million to assist individual members (current and ex) of the UGLE and/or their widows or dependents. This huge sum of money has been spent purely through Masonic Relief to support our own members and their dependents in times of real crisis.

The MRG Section, is a small team within the Charity who, day in day out, deal with applications for assistance from Brethren, their widows or dependants who, most commonly due to ill-health, neglect, family bereavement or other extra-ordinary circumstances find themselves unable to pay their bills or who need help acquiring mobility equipment (such as stair-lifts, electric wheel chairs or mobility scooters) and just do not have the income or savings to keep going unaided. These are the applications for Masonic Relief that are considered by the MRG Committee. During 2008, through MRGs, the GC has distributed nearly £4 million in the form of financial assistance (managed by Lodge Almoners and PGAs) to assist with daily living expenses, grants to assist with a specific need (such as replacing a broken boiler or cooker) and also in the form of mobility equipment ranging from the most basic of electric self-propelled wheelchairs up to fully installed and maintained stairlifts.

The first requirement to apply is that the applicant is or was a member of a Lodge under the UGLE (this includes our District Grand Lodges) or the widow / dependant of same. It is not a requirement to still be an active member.

As part of our role we will also asses whether any of the other Masonic Charities (namely the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls & Boys, the Masonic Samaritan Fund or the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution) are able to assist in any of the applications that we receive for Relief.

We are also happy to act as liaison on behalf of Lodges that are not able to arrange Almoner visits to their widows and older members who may have moved away. Lodge Almoners can contact us and we can liaise with the relevant Provincial Grand Almoner to arrange visits so that these members of our Masonic family don’t feel neglected. This can even extend to ex-pats! We are in the special position of being allowed to directly contact Grand Lodges (recognised by the UGLE) when the above mentioned people no longer live in England and Wales. For example we have recently arranged visits from Almoners under the Grand Lodges of Ireland, Scotland and even British Columbia and Yukon to UGLE Lodge widows. If the circumstances require we can even try to enlist the services of ex-pat Freemasons who sometimes will volunteer to act as Visiting Brethren on behalf of these Lodges, most recently this has happened in France and Spain.

Although not officially part of our role, we will also advise Almoners of the State Benefits that their applicants should or could be claiming in order to improve their circumstances. Recently we have had several applicants who have actually asked for their applications to be stopped as they were so much better off after applying for the Benefits to which they were fully entitled, having worked and made their National Insurance payments for years. We will also advise of any other Charities that can assist, if we know of them. We had a recent success with a widow who got a new boiler and insulation for her loft through Warmfront.

Having now shared with you all, I would ask that you all remember that the second tenet of the Craft is that of RELIEF and due to this we should all remember our responsibility to our Brethren. Each of us is an Almoner not just the “Lodge” Almoner. Please make a promise to yourself that if you know of a Brother or widow having difficulties that you will ensure the Lodge Almoner is informed and also that you share this information with any members that you know and for the Visitors, most especially your Lodge Almoners.

More from the editor: firstly, thank you to Bro. Mike for allowing me to reproduce this here. I feel that it's very important to understand what the Grand Charity does and how it works. I would also recommend looking at the Grand Charity's Website for more information, and contact details.