Provincial Grand Master’s Fund Covid-19 Emergency Grants update

The Provincial Grand Master’s Fund continues to support local organisations during the pandemic and below are details of the latest grants. 

The Athersley Community Association and Football Club - based at Sheerien Park, on Ollerton Road, it has two full-size football pitches and five junior football pitches. The grant will assist in the purchase of a portable set of aluminium goals. (£3.020); sponsored by Friendly Lodge No 1513.

Kirklees Visual Impairment Network - providing support to anyone struggling with their eyesight, the Network have drop-in centres in Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Batley. The grant will purchase IT and office equipment, to help expand their services. (£2,000); sponsored by St John’s Lodge No 827.

Weston Park Cancer Charity - caring for cancer patients and their families, the grant will help create CDs and Information cards which provide crucial information for patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. (£1,000); sponsored by Friendly Lodge No 1513.

TSX Martial Arts - Bradford - running from venues in Thornton and Wrose, the grant is to buy equipment for use in new premises, to provide increased and better training in Taekwondo and anti-bullying courses for young persons and schools. (£1,800); sponsored by Lodge of Connaught and Truth No 521. 

Halifax Sailing Club - situated on 90 acres of water above Calderdale, the Club provide dinghy racing, social sailing, windsurfing, training courses, canoeing and kayaking. The grant will be used to purchase safety and associated equipment, including buoyancy aids, waterproofs, helmets and training literature. (£1,000) sponsored by Concord Lodge No 4126.

Reach Performing Arts Academy - aiming to develop articulation and communication, whilst encouraging creativity and imagination in the young people of Huddersfield, the grant will fund the cost of uniforms / branded clothing for young members (£990); sponsored by Lodge of Connaught and Truth No 521.

Autism Angels - based just outside Harrogate, in the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside, the charity works with parents and professionals to improve the lives of children. The grant will be used to provide a covered area with two secure containers for safe keeping of valuable equine equipment. (£1,600); sponsored by Harrogate & Claro Lodge No 1001.

Little Crèche - a small self-funding community crèche, the grant will purchase a uniform range of polo shirts, hoodies and coats for staff and volunteers. (£350); sponsored by Faith, Hope & Charity Lodge No 4102.

The Partially Sighted Society - based in Doncaster, the Society will use the grant to purchase lanyards which state, ‘Visually impaired – I cannot see to socially distance’ and ‘I am medically exempt from wearing a mask’; a necessity for people with visual impairment during the pandemic. (£1,920); sponsored by St Nicholas Lodge No 2259.

Wentworth & Thorpe Hesley Youth Theatre - a South Yorkshire ‘producing’ company, creating original musicals and plays for performance in community venues.  The grant will be used to buy a wireless talk-back system and wireless systems for performers. (£1,068); sponsored by Britannia Lodge No 139.

In addition to these grants, possible only by the generosity of Freemasons and their families, in the Province of Yorkshire, West Riding, further grants of £1,000 have been made from the Covid-19 Fund of the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) to The Exodus Project, Barnsley and the Doncaster-based charity, Respect My Stuff. 

Leeds-based charity For Mobility Disability have received £1,000 from MCF Matched Funding.