Freemasons donate £1,660 to Hospiscare’s Searl House in Exeter     

This year as part of their annual support for hospices throughout the country Ian Kingsbury (at a Socially distanced meeting) presented a certificate denoting the £1660 given on behalf of the Devonshire Freemasons and the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) to Carey Mackenzie, Hospiscare’s Grants and Appeals Officers.

The Masonic Charitable Foundation makes grants of £750,000 to the 203 hospices in England and Wales, including £10,350 to eight hospices here in Devon as part of the £14 million total given since 1984. This includes £300,000 which will be distributed between hospices that each receives less than 60% funding from the NHS. A further £450,000 will be provided to the national charity for hospice care, Hospice UK, in a partnership with the MCF to widen access and address barriers to local hospice services to ensure they are accessible to everyone. 

The Freemasons have been long term supporters of Hospiscare’s Searle House and along with individual donations made by many of the 131 Devon Lodges and the MCF together, have donated nearly £133,000 to Hospiscare.

 On receiving the certificate, Hospiscare’s Carey Mackenzie, said: “We want to thank the Freemasons for their wonderful donation.  This will go a long way in supporting our specialist end of life care for patients and their families.  We are reliant on 82% of our funding coming from the community and organisations such as the MCF, and could not deliver our care without this support.”

Hospiscare supports patients and their families living with a terminal illness throughout Exeter, Mid and East Devon. In addition to caring for patients on the specialist ward at Searle House, Hospiscare also provides invaluable care and support to patients and families in their own homes through its specialist Community Nursing Teams. 

Ian Kingsbury when presenting the certificate said: “For the Freemasons of both Devonshire and the MCF to be able to help in this way is very satisfying but when we come and meet the nurses and staff who dedicate their lives to helping people who find themselves in need of their help, it is also very humbling, we thank you for all you do.”