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Information for Lodge Almoners
The following information regarding the four main charities, has been put together in order to provide help and support for the Lodge Almoners.
1. Grand Charity
The main aim of the Grand Charity is to support Freemasons and their dependants who are experiencing hardship. (This includes past, present, lapsed, and excluded members of Lodges.)
Financial Qualification
The applicant’s savings and income levels will be taken into account in assessing the application. As a general guide, almost anyone who receives additional support from the state by the way of Pension Credits or other means-tested benefits is likely to be eligible.
Please see below a table showing the awards made to the Province from the Grand Charity over the last four years:
| Year |
Number of Applicants |
Amount Awarded |
| 2006 | 28 | £51,680 |
| 2007 | 24 | £50,930 |
| 2008 | 46 | £135,950 |
| 2009 | 41 | £88,130 |
| Combined Totals | 139 | £326,690 |
How to Apply
Anyone who thinks that he/she may be eligible for help and support should contact the Lodge Almoner, the Provincial Grand Almoner or the Freemason’s Grand Charity. Arrangement will then be made to visit the applicant at home and complete the application form.
All visits and applications are dealt with in the strictest confidence and privacy of the applicant at all times!
The aim of the Trust is ‘to continue to relieve poverty and provide an education and preparation for life for the children of the family of a Freemason and, where funds permit, for any children, as their fathers would have done, had they been able to do so’.
During the year 1st November 2007 to 31st October 2008, the Trust helped and supported a total of 28 young people in the Province of Northumberland (15 girls and 13 boys) to the total sum of £79,408 plus an additional grant was made to three others totalling £7,304 under the Trust Talent Aid Scheme.
For the year ending 30th September 2009, RMTGB gave a total of £72,906 to help 31 young persons (20 girls and 11 boys) in the Province.
How to Apply
Application should be made to the Provincial Office for a preliminary form for completion and returned to the Trust via the Provincial Office.
3. The Masonic Samaritan Fund
The Samaritan Fund aim is to provide financial assistance to those who are unable to obtain or have to wait for unacceptable long period for NHS treatment, and who cannot afford private treatment without suffering further hardship and stressful time.
Details of payments and approvals for the last three years within the Province:
| Year |
No of Approvals |
Amount |
| 2007 | 8 | £49,751 |
| 2008 | 10 | £45,966 |
| 2009 | 10 | £70,304 |
| Total | 28 | £166,021 |
Note. The difference in the amounts depends on the type of operations performed against the cost of each operation.
How to Apply
Application should be made directly to the Samaritan Fund.
4. The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution
The Institution has been caring for older Freemasons and their dependants for over 160 years. It operates 17 residential care homes across England and Wales offering a wide range of high quality care. Many of the homes are registered for both residential and nursing care and a number of them offering a specialist dementia care.Scarbrough Court in Cramlington (Northumberland) has recently been re-built with the latest ‘state of the art’ facilities to help improve the quality of life for all concerned. Currently over £67,000 is given to local masons or their dependants who are living in Scarbrough Court in 2008 by the Institution.
For the year ending 30th September 2009, RMBI gave £59,885 meeting some of the costs to support 23 masons and their dependants.
How to Apply
Please contact the Home of your choice in the first instance and then it will send you further information and application forms.
The above information has been provided by the Provincial Almoner, W. Bro. Norman West
For further information or enquiry, email:
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