Shekinah receives £40,000 to help homeless women

Posted: 26th September 2017

Shekinah, a charity helping vulnerable people across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, has been awarded a grant of £40,000. This grant will help fund the role of a Specialist Women’s Homelessness Project Worker at their Plymouth Drop-In Centre.

Shekinah supports people experiencing a wide range of problems such as homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, offending and mental ill health. As well as providing food, clothing and showers; the charity helps people overcome their issues through advice, counselling, education and helping them get back into training or employment.

Skekinah are working to improve support for homeless women

Through their work, Shekinah have discovered a lack of services in Plymouth which are taylored to supporting homeless women; yet women in this vulnerable position often face even greater challenges than their male counterparts. Many of the women supported by Shekinah are fleeing abuse, or have disabilities, mental health problems or substance abuse issues. Other women are “hidden homeless” who remain in abusive relationships rather than face living on the streets. An estimated 30% of female rough sleepers have been sexually assaulted in the past year and 60% threatened with violence.

The project worker will directly support  homeless women and help them access Shekinah’s services. The worker will also help Shekinah and its partner organisations better understand how we can make services easier to access for some of the Plymouth’s most vulnerable women.

Laura Fraser-Crewes Head of Ops & Client Support of Shekinah said:

“We are very grateful to Devonshire Freemasons for their generous grant which will help us in our work with women who historically have not received the services they deserve”

Devonshire Freemason, Ian Kingsbury, visited the charity to find out more about their work:

“We are delighted to be able to help Shekinah who provide vital support for homeless & endangered women, an especially neglected group in our community.”

Watch this video to find out how this grant will impact homeless women in the Plymouth area

 




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Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance receives £4,000

Posted: 31st July 2017

Surrey Freemasons recently presented a grant of £4,000  to crew members of the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance.

A cheque presentation was held at the charity’s Redhill base, followed by a presentation from Director of Operations, Leigh Curtis, about how their continuing support has made such a difference. The life-saving charity operates throughout the South East covering an area of 3,500 square miles and a population of 4.5million people. So far this year, their crews have been called to more than 600 missions, helping the most critically ill and injured people in the region.

During 2017, Freemasons around the country will be presenting 20 regional air ambulance charities with grants totalling £180,000.

Lynne Harris, Director of Income Generation for the charity, said: “We are so grateful to Surrey Freemasons for their continuing generosity. Without support like this, we simply would not be able to continue our life-saving work.”

David Olliver, of Surrey Freemasons, said: “We are so pleased to continue supporting the great work of the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance. Supporting the work they carry out in our communities every day is something to be proud of.”

Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance relies almost entirely on public donations to raise in excess of £6.5million each year. To find out more, visit www.kssairambulance.org.uk




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Beanstalk charity receives £31,000 to help children with reading difficulties

Posted: 13th July 2017

Educational charity, Beanstalk, have been awarded a grant of £31,000 to help support children with reading difficulties across Greater Manchester and Sefton. This grant will support nearly 100 children with reading difficulties, offering them the one-to-one literacy support they need to succeed in school.

Beanstalk is a national charity which recruits, trains and supports volunteers to work in primary schools with children who have fallen behind with their reading.

Beanstalk-trained reading helpers will work one-to-one with the children to improve their reading ability and confidence. Together they will read, talk, and play educational games to ensure that they have the skills to reach their true potential.

Robert Wright from the West Lancashire Freemasons visited Christ Church CE Primary School in Bootle on Tuesday, meeting with teachers and Volunteer Reading Helpers to learn more about the vital support that Beanstalk volunteers are providing to children who are struggling with their reading.

The one-to-one support provided by Beanstalk trained reading helpers is proven to transform the literacy skills and confidence of children. Research shows that only 20 per cent of children supported by a Beanstalk reading helper were still unable to sound out new words correctly when reading new books, compared to almost 50 per cent prior to the intervention.

Robert Wright from West Lancashire Freemasons said:

“We are very pleased to be able to support Beanstalk’s excellent work in schools. If these children are not able to read and write properly they will fail to get much out of their education and their whole future will be put at risk.”

Ginny Lunn, CEO of Beanstalk said:

Beanstalk is extremely grateful to West Lancashire Freemasons for the generous grant towards our work with children in the North West. Thanks to your wonderful support we will support many children to develop the reading skills they need to reach their true potential. On behalf of all the children whose lives will be transformed, thank you so much.

If you think you could volunteer and help disadvantaged children in Greater Manchester and Sefton by becoming a Beanstalk reading helper visit their website >> www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk

 




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Norfolk Carers Support receives £10,000 to help Young Carers

Posted: 29th June 2017

Norfolk Carers Support has been awarded a £10,000 grant by the Masonic Charitable Foundation to help up to 100 young carers in Norfolk.

There are an estimated 10,000 Young Carers in Norfolk alone. These children have a range of caring responsibilities ranging from cooking, cleaning, emotional support, personal hygiene and medical or nursing care for a family member.

It can be a very lonely and confusing role for a child, and is often hidden as children do not wish to be seen as being different from their peers, or do not even recognize themselves as Young Carers. Young Carers miss many of the opportunities of a normal childhood and often struggle academically, which will inevitably impact on their future as adults.

This grant will allow the Norfolk Carers Support charity to continue with their Young Carers Project. This gives Young Carers regular free time away from their caring role and the chance to meet other young people in similar situations. As well as having fun, it is an opportunity to receive emotional support and a range of practical advice and assistance from specialist staff.

There are two age-related groups, aged 6-12 and 12-16, which meet for two hours every fortnight together with nine activity day trips and two residential trips every year.

Catherine Bibb from Norfolk Carers Support said:

 We are very grateful for this generous grant from Norfolk Freemasons. The grant will allow our Young Carers Project to continue making a positive impact on the lives of Young Carers in Norfolk, supporting them to develop healthy coping strategies, achieve their goals and reducing inappropriate or excessive caring.

Jack Jones from Norfolk Freemasons said:

“We are very pleased to be able to help Norfolk Carers Support. The work they do is hugely important and can make an enormous difference to the lives of these vulnerable children.”

 

 




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Music in Hospitals receives £60,000

Posted: 20th June 2017

Music in Hospitals has been awarded £60,000 to fund live music concerts for older people living in care homes.

Research shows that live music helps to lower levels of stress and can be of real benefit to people who are isolated by illness or disability. Music in Hospitals offers this fun, stimulating and social experience in hospitals or care homes throughout the UK.

The Alzheimer’s Society believes that 70 per cent of people in care homes have some form of dementia or memory loss. Research has shown that music from their youth can stimulate memories in people with dementia and improve their condition, so this this grant will be of great benefit to many of the residents in these care homes.

Over the next three years, this grant will fund 216 live concerts in care homes across the country.

The charity recently arranged concerts in Heathside care home in Warrington and  Walkden Manor care home in Worsley, which were joined respectively by West Lancashire Freemasons Kevin Poynton and David Walmsley.

This is a wonderful charity that has spent decades working hard in hospitals and care homes to bring the joy of live music to tens of thousands of people. We are proud to be supporting them.

Steve Rowland-Jones, CEO of Music in Hospitals England & Wales said: “We are very grateful to the Freemasons for their generous grant. This will help us to reach hundreds of elderly people in care homes across the country that would otherwise have been impossible.”

 




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Association of Chairs receives £463,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund

The three-year grant will enable the membership body to work with chairs to build their skills, knowledge and confidence, and to reduce their sense of isolation

The Association of Chairs has received a grant of £463,000 from the Big Lottery Fund to a support and development programme for chairs and vice-chairs of small charities in England

The association said that the three-year grant would enable it to work with chairs to build their skills, knowledge and confidence, and to reduce their sense of isolation and help them be more effective. 

The association said that under the programme it would consult with chairs and vice-chairs of charities with annual incomes of under £1m about the support they need. It would also run a series of workshops throughout England, offer webinars and online surgeries and open an online discussion forum.

The association said that it hoped to reach about 6,000 chairs and vice-chairs through the programme.

The association already receives funding from the Garfield Weston Foundation to support its work with medium-sized charities and said the latest grant would help it to reach many more charity chairs.

Ros Oakley, executive director at the AoC, said in a statement: “We are delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has not only recognised the key role of the chair and the need to support chairs to undertake the role effectively, but is also making a real investment in making it happen. From what we have learned in our three and half years working with chairs, we know we can make a difference to their confidence and approach to governance. This is a real endorsement of our progress to date.”

The association was founded in 2013 to help address the relatively little support chairs of charities receive.

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Homeless charity NOAH receives £45,000

Posted: 6th June 2017

NOAH, a charity that supports homeless and other vulnerable people in one of the most deprived areas of the country, has been awarded a grant of £45,000

NOAH Enterprise (New Opportunities and Horizons) runs an award winning Welfare Centre in Luton. The charity finds accommodation for those who are homeless, provides hot meals, health services, washing facilities and specialist advice on key topics such as immigration and finance.

The charity runs an Outreach Team, Resettlement Service, Emergency Winter Shelter, a Social Enterprise, and the Academy training centre, aiming to provide a truly holistic pathway to recovery for its growing number of clients, who have doubled in number in the last 12 months.

This grant will fund a Welfare Support Worker who will support more than 800 clients annually. The Centre, which is open 365 days a year, accepted 486 new referrals to its Welfare Support service last year alone.

The Worker will  help clients address the underlying problems in their lives, develop individual support plans to help find accommodation, manage money and deal with physical and mental health needs, including addiction.

Jim O’Connor MBE, Chief Executive of NOAH, said:

We are very grateful to Bedfordshire Freemasons for their generous grant which will help us to help hundreds of the most vulnerable people in the county. Our services have never been needed so much as they are right now

John Carter of Bedfordshire Freemasons, said:

“We are very pleased to be able to help NOAH, who do really excellent work with some of the most vulnerable people in the county.”

 

 




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CHICKS receives £43,000 to fund holidays for disadvantaged children

Posted: 5th June 2017

CHICKS children’s charity has been awarded a grant of £43,296 to help fund its respite breaks for disadvantaged children.

CHICKS provides five-day respite breaks to disadvantaged children from across the UK, at its retreats in Cornwall, Devon and Derbyshire. Over the next three years, this grant will pay for three holidays, allowing 48 children to benefit from CHICKS’ services. The first installment of this grant recently funded a  holiday in Tywardreath, Cornwall for sixteen children.

Helping children create happy memories

The children CHICKS supports come from a range of backgrounds; many are young carers or are living in poverty, while others are victims of bullying or abuse. The one thing they all have in common is the need for a break away from their circumstances. At CHICKS, they can try new activities and make happy childhood memories.

Annie Ashford-Barnden, trusts fundraising manager at CHICKS, said:

We’re incredibly grateful to the Freemasons of Cornwall for their generous support. We know that our breaks have a real impact on children’s lives, improving self-esteem, building confidence and encouraging better relationships with their peers.

Stephen Pearn, The Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Cornwall, said:

Our visit to CHICKS led us to understand the excellent work they do helping children who have not enjoyed the same opportunities as many others and for whom a welcome break like this can be such a magical and memorable experience. The Cornish Freemasons look forward to working together with this wonderful organisation in the future to support these special children.

About CHICKS

CHICKS aims to provide disadvantaged children from across the UK with free respite breaks. There are three retreats: one on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon; one on the south coast of Cornwall; and one near the Peak District in Derbyshire.

Many of the children cared for live in poverty, are victims of abuse or have been bereaved. Others live in care or are young carers, and are responsible for caring for sick or disabled relatives.

 




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Young Gloucestershire receives £10,000 to help young people get into work

Young Gloucestershire has received £10,000 to help young people from across the country to get into work.Gloucestershire Freemasons, Tim Henderson-Ross and Derek Gunningham, visited a group of young people undergoing a 12-week work-development programme.  The group of under-25’s, all currently not-in-work, were completing a community project in Quedgeley to transform a children’s play area, but downed tools to receive their visitors and explain how the project works.

The group discussed the skills they were developing through the programme and their hopes for the future with the Freemasons who were hosted by Young Gloucestershire’s youth-worker, Tristam Meyrick. Tristam has worked alongside the young people while arranging a series of two-week work placements.

Ben Kittner (aged 24) currently taking part in Young Gloucestershire’s programme, said:

The Freemasons were genuinely interested in what we were working on and were keen to hear our views and our hopes for the future.  I said that working with Young Gloucestershire has really built my confidence and this community project has helped me see that I do have skills an employer would be looking for.

Young Gloucestershire Fundraising Manager, Karl Gwilliam, said:

“This generous, and vital, support from the Freemasons will enable YG to continue its work-based training to disadvantaged young people.  This donation allows us to continue a successful mentoring programme, matching young people to volunteers from the business community who teach young people the skills only gained from being in work.”

Tim Henderson-Ross Head of Gloucestershire Freemasons, said: “We were very impressed with the determination of the young people we met to get into the workforce. Young Gloucestershire are doing an excellent job and we are very pleased to be able to help them.”

About Young Gloucestershire

Young Gloucestershire is a countywide charity that supports disadvantaged young people (aged 11-25) who are facing challenges in their lives.The charity provides training & development, practical support and community involvement to young people across Gloucestershire.

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