The Coronavirus pandemic
Throughout the pandemic, Freemasons in Sussex were actively supporting Hospitals, Care Homes and Hospices.
Over 12,000 face visors were made available across East and West Sussex to a range of deaf societies, charities and care workers who make home visits, and 50 Samsung Galaxy Android Tablets provided to acute hospitals and hospices to enable bed-dependent hospital patients receiving treatment for COVID-19 to stay in touch with their families.
Through the Sussex Masonic Charitable Foundation CIO, Sussex Freemasons purchased mobile phones for hospital staff in Brighton and Haywards Heath, delivered hand sanitiser to Sussex Hospices, supported free vehicle sanitisation for front line workers in the Hastings area, funded medical equipment that will help staff to care for Covid-19 patients who suffer cardiac arrest at the Chichester and the Worthing Hospitals, and donated £30,000 to directly support NHS staff working in St Richards in Chichester, Worthing Hospital, the Royal Sussex County in Brighton, the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath, the Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in Hastings.
Local Lodges and members provided support ranging from 3D printing face visors and donating PPE, through providing hand cream for nurses, to buying and delivering bulk supplies of disposable bottles of water and straws to the Conquest Hospital A&E Department and the local Ambulance Station, making it easier for staff wearing PPE to take refreshment.
There are a number of specific charities in Sussex which Sussex Freemasons support, of which just two are detailed below.
Teddies for Loving Care – in 2001 a scheme was started by Essex Freemasons to supply Teddy Bears to hospital Accident and Emergency Units. This scheme has ben taken up by most masonic Provinces, and in 2005 Sussex Masonry started its own scheme to supply Teddy Bears to the Accident and Emergency Units and has recently extended this to include several Minor Injury Units in our local hospitals.
The Teddies are for hospital staff, at their discretion, to give to children to alleviate their distress whilst awaiting treatment. They are also used on occasions for staff to demonstrate to the children the treatment they are to receive. The Teddies are for the children to keep and take home. The scheme is much appreciated by children, their parents and hospital staff.
For more information and to donate, please visit the Teddies for Loving Care website
The Masonic Fishing Charity is a registered charity set up in 1999 and its sole purpose is to bring a countryside and fishing experience to disabled and disadvantaged people, particularly children. This is achieved by organising fishing events up and down the country, not just trout or salmon but coarse fishing as well; to which participants are invited from special needs schools and other similar institutions. Not only is it an interesting fishing experience but also provides a mentally stimulating occasion and an opportunity that could otherwise be denied to the participants. It is not just about fishing however, as the experiences are used extensively when the children return to school.
In 2009 we set up the Sussex branch of this wonderful activity and are pleased to report we have held events at Chalk Springs in Arundel and Cinder Hill Horsted Keynes. A total of 30 children were given the opportunity to participate from six special needs schools around the county.
For more details of the Masonic Fishing Charity look here.
For more details of what Freemasons do charitably throughout Sussex please visit our Provincial website here.