Charitable Activities
At the end of March 2022 our Lodge hadd donated over £22,389 to the Berks 2023 Festival. We should be able to achieve Gold in the next year.
Our ME, Brother Alan Crawford, has an idea for an auction in October to raise more funds for the Berks 2023 Festival. We achieved silver status in October 2020 with £18,000 donated to the MCF. Despite the closure of the Lodge during the Covid crisis, our contribution through September 2021 is nearly £20,000. PLEASE USE THE QR CODE ABOVE TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE BERKSHIRE 2023 FESTIVAL. INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE FOUND IN THE 'STATUS' NOTE BELOW. YOU CAN BE AWARDED THE FESTIVAL JEWEL FOR A £600 CONTRIBUTION. CHARITY STATUS AS OF 31 March 2022 BERKS 2023 FESTIVAL
OTHER There have been no recent requests for support of local charitable causes. Please let your Charity Steward know if you see a need with which we might be able to help. However, through the BMC a special wheelchair for a brother's grandchild was purchased and a donation to Children Seen and Heard for over £5000 were granted. The Covid lockdown caused many difficulties and likely put pressure on you and your family. Please do not feel pressured to make a charitable donation. If, however, you wish to donate, you can do this in several ways:
Digital Donations QR CODE enables simple cashless donations to Relief Chests. Members can use their own smartphones or computers to make a donation direct to their Relief Chest as part of any Masonic and non-Masonic events. All Digital Donations are tracked to the Relief Chest where they are raised and gift aid can be collected. How it works
Charitable contributions 2019 In 2019 we continued to support the Masonic Charitable Foundation through the Berkshire 2023 Festival and donated over £11,000. We celebrated our 500th Regular Meeting in December and held a White Table Event at which brethren, wives, partners and guests enjoyed the meal and entertainment. Generous donations of over £350 from all went to our charities, and a special collection for the entertainers' charities raised £150. Our June BBQ was a brilliant success thanks to WB Colin Gilbey, daughter Laura, and several St. Hilda members behind the bar. £600 was raised for charity, divided between the Berkshire 2023 Festival and Blood Bikers (supported by Mark Master Masons). We wish to thank the Cholsey Scouts for supplying their bouncy castle free of charge. which made the day fun for the kids. Charitable Contributions 2018 Our IPM, WB Nick McGregor, nominated three charities for support this year, and the funds have been given to these worthy organizations. Our WM reports as follows: “One of the founding principles of Freemasonry is ‘relief’ or charity. With this in mind, the Portcullis Lodge in Wallingford has made donations totalling £4500 to three local charities to support the work that they do in our community. Didcot Train supports youth work in Didcot and has seen demand for its services grow as the town has expanded. Portcullis’ donation will contribute to the provision of youth outreach staff to help the charity identify and assist vulnerable young people in the town. Music For Autism is the brainchild of John Lubbock who also founded the Orchestra of St Johns and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for his charitable work. The charity provides music therapy for autistic children and was started when a John observed the positive impact music had on his own autistic son’s levels of engagement. Portcullis’ donation will help fund sessions in a number of specialist schools in the Oxfordshire and Berkshire areas. Rosie’s Rainbow Fund provides bereavement support, massage therapy and music therapy for families in the John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital and throughout Berks, Bucks and Oxon. Portcullis’ donation will help fund this essential work that touches the lives of so many local families.” The charities have websites as follows:: Rosies Rainbow Fund www.rosiesrainbowfund.co.uk , Didcot Train Youth Project www.didcottrain.org.uk, and Music For Autism www.musicforautism.org.uk should you wish more information. Thanks to all of our brethren and visitors to our Lodge for their generosity in making these goals come true. Charitable Support We donated £200 to the 2018 British Legion Poppy Appeal. The Lodge is supporting the MCF through donations to the Berkshire 2023 Festival. Donations in this Masonic year thus far have exceeded £11,000 and we are well on our way to the Bronze level award. Our Lodge has supported several worthy charities in the past. Some of the more recent include Footsteps, Wallingford Museum, The Corn Exchange, The Legion, Talking Newspapers, SSNAP, Hope for Tomorrow, Scouts, and several others. We also contribute to the various Provincial and Grand Lodge charity programs. Photo below shows VW Peter Sands, Chairman of the 2023 Berkshire Festival, making a presentation to over 40 attendees on the Masonic Charitable Foundation and our Provincial support of this charity, 13 June 2019 in Wantage. 
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