COVID-19 Newsletter One

Page 1

DURHAM FREEMASONS

COVID-19 NEWS

Any urgent need or help required contact enquiries@durhamfreemasons.org without delay.

Message from the Provincial Grand Masters & The Grand Superintendent Welcome to the first COVID-19 update for all Durham Freemasons During the last few weeks there have been many letters, bulletins and guidance given by various people from Government agencies, Health Authorities and all of the ‘Orders of Durham Freemasonry’. We have decided to produce a regular newsletter to inform, advise, encourage, and offer assistance and support for the Freemasons of Durham regardless of any specific Order. We hope this message finds you safe and well at this extraordinary period of our history and that you are following the official guidelines that have been issued to :-

Our aim is to help and support each other for the duration of this crisis and beyond. We are delighted and proud of the way our members are responding and actively looking for new ways to connect and volunteer in the massive task ahead of us all. Hopefully, this “unified response of appreciation” for all of those on the “Front line” will last for long after this pandemic is under control. The next few months will continue to be challenging for the country and you may know of individuals or local groups that may need to call on our many Charity committees as well as the Masonic Charitable Foundation for support. New ways to speed up release of funds are in place. There has never been a greater need for us to pull together, keep in touch with each other and go the extra mile. Thank you all for your understanding and the constant support that you give to our organisation. Due to the importance of this emergency we have posted this first newsletter to all craft members, future editions will be sent via email only. We both sincerely hope that you and your families get through this safely and we look forward to meeting again soon.

J Arthur & DK Wilson on behalf of all Durham Freemasons

£50,000

from the Durham Benevolence Relief Fund Durham Benevolence has now approved the 14 grants outstanding from the recently postponed meeting, a total of £9900 and approved the establishment of a £50,000 Relief Fund to be sourced from existing Charitable funds to support those individuals and charities who have been affected directly or indirectly by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The DBL Chairman Craig Steele welcomes the start of the fund and thanks the members of Durham Benevolence for their support. April 2020 | Issue 1 | Page 1 of 4


DURHAM FREEMASONS

COVID-19 NEWS

Any urgent need or help required contact enquiries@durhamfreemasons.org without delay.

What are you doing?

Can he print it? Andy McDowell, son of Mike McDowell of St Hilda Lodge read online about the serious shortage of P.P.E. and in particular, visors to protect our carers and frontline NHS in their battle against COVID-19. After hearing of the shortage via 3DCROWD UK, Andy downloaded a freely available design from 3D Verkstan in Sweden and set his 3D printer to work. His printer is currently running 18 hours a day and he has so far constructed and distributed over 300 visors to Care Home Workers and NHS Staff who contacted him after he reached out on Social Media. Well done Andy, keep up the good work.

If you’re helping those in distress, or supporting our key workers we want to hear about it, we would like to share good news stories and highlight the good work being done by the Freemasonry community. This edition of the newsletter has identified some but I’m sure we have many more.

Please send your story to: enquiries@durhamfreemasons.org

Can you help a Brother in time of need?

Knights to the Rescue Durham Knights Templars have given a wonderful donation of £2,500 to support Durham St John Ambulance helping them in their efforts of fighting COVID-19 and supporting the NHS. During these extraordinary times, St John Ambulance has ceased its normal activities of providing first aid cover and training to support the NHS in fighting this pandemic by providing a number of worthy services including all of their ambulances forming part of the regular Ambulance Service and all of their volunteers deployed to their local Emergency Departments.

We must remember that we all part of an extended family in Freemasonry and that, for some brethren, a friendly voice on the other end of the phone has never been so important and that, with the world being a very worrying and uncertain place it is vital that we ensure that all our members have access to their medicines and to food/necessity deliveries. We encourage all Freemasons to look after each other and we ask the younger and more active members please look towards those members in our lodges who may benefit from a friendly phone call just to check if they are ok.

Don’t Miss out The Provincial team is constantly updating the latest information which you will find on the Provincial website at www.durhamfreemasons.org and on the Provincial Team App, the Gazette and across our social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter. Also with regular communications with our Lodge secretaries. It is our intention to try and summarise this with a regular newsletter.

April 2020 | Issue 1 | Page 2 of 4


DURHAM FREEMASONS

COVID-19 NEWS

Any urgent need or help required contact enquiries@durhamfreemasons.org without delay. Jim would benefit from a phone call from a mate

A message from our Provincial Almoner Dear Brethren,

You Can’t keep a good Teddy down The suspension of Masonic activities due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the resulting government lockdown, with its necessary travel restrictions, presented TLC Durham with a logistical problem. However, after it was decided that these little bundles of happiness were indeed an ‘Essential Service’ permission was gained to continue our delivery of them as long as only one volunteer travelled, and social distancing was adhered to at all times. Just goes to show, you can’t keep a good Teddy down! Mark Davies on his latest trip to North Tees University Hospital.

As I’ve said before, there are many of our Brethren working away or alone at home unable to visit their families and are experiencing feelings of loneliness. Even those who do not live alone are adjusting to a new environment and are missing their usual social interactions. The MCF are delighted to share a short animation created by UGLE with us which reminds us all to make contact with friends and colleagues. View and download the video at: https://mcf.org.uk/wp-content/upl oads/2020/04/Call-a-mate-anima tion-UGLE.mp4 Please share it with others to remind them of the importance of keeping in contact at this difficult time. With very best wishes Paul Debenham (PG Almoner)

AAA Service Richard Tucker and his Team of Caring Caretakers, who in the main are all ex service personnel work across several of our major clients from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, LandMarc Solutions The Mandele Group covering everything from working on the Firing Ranges to helping to maintain Buildings and Offices at Catterick, Wathgill and Ripon along with Site and Office cleaning to name but a few of the roles we action. However, in recent weeks not only has our work with LandMarc changed to bringing forward deep cleans and other works, whilst Army Personnel are deployed one of our other major contractors, the Tees Esk & Valley NHS Trust has quadrupled in work over the last 3 weeks. The teams have been actively involved in the distribution of PPE and Oxygen from Lanchester Road Hospital in the North of Durham, to several hospitals in our Province and Yorks N & E. Equally, our cleaning teams, have deep cleaned and re-fitted a 2 storey 15 bed Hospital unit with treatment rooms, kitchens and assisted bathrooms in only two days during the first week of April and last week turned around a further Ward at one of our Hospitals. In the last two weeks Richard and his team have assembled, trained and deployed over 40 new staff, who are willing, ready and totally capable to help support the frontline NHS in carrying their vital role.

Meals on Wheels Worried that vulnerable neighbours and brethren in isolation may be “going without” Marine Engineer and member of St Hilda Lodge, Mohammad Al-Attar and his good lady Amina took to their kitchen to make sure everyone on their list received delicious food delivered to their doorstep. A completely selfless act of kindness and community spirit, the very essence of Freemasonry!

April 2020 | Issue 1 | Page 3 of 4


DURHAM FREEMASONS

COVID-19 NEWS

Any urgent need or help required contact enquiries@durhamfreemasons.org without delay.

COVID-19: Supporting you and your community The MCF is committed to providing the best possible support for the individuals and families that we help, as well as our charity partners who deliver vital services in local communities across England and Wales.

HELP FOR INDIVIDUALS A wide-range of help and support is available for Freemasons and their families with financial, health, family or care-related needs.

Daily living

Mental health

Children

If you’ve found yourself with an unexpected loss of income – whether you’re self-employed, an employee, or are simply struggling to collect your pension – we can provide support to cover daily living costs as well as emergency one-off grants.

If your mental health has been affected by social distancing, isolation, or stress, we can provide access to a free and confidential 24-hour counselling service, with trained professionals on hand to listen and give professional guidance.

If a reduced household income means your child or grandchild is struggling to stay in education, or is jeopardising their chance of furthering their education in the future, we can provide support to keep them in education or on a vocational course.

Do you need help? Use the contact info below: Switchboard: . . . . . . . . . .

020 3146 3333

Confidential enquiry line: . . . . . . 0800 035 60 90

Grants to Charities:

0203 146 3337

Email: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . info@mcf.org.uk

Coronavirus info page

. . . . . . . . . .

https://mcf.org.uk/coronavirus/

Donate to the Masonic COVID-19 Appeal at: https://everydayhero.co.uk/event/covid-19/

Any donations made to the new MCF COVID-19 Relief Chest will count towards your festival totals, either as a member or as a Lodge or Chapter. Every £1 you donate will be match funded by the MCF - Please support where you can. The festival team will be in touch with all Charity Stewards to explain how your lodge can support the new Relief chest.

April 2020 | Issue 1 | Page 4 of 4


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