Charity
Charity has always been a core principle of Freemasonry and we’re proud of our 300-year history of helping those in need. Our members make an important contribution at a local, national and global level every year by giving both their time and money to make a real difference to a number of organisations and communities.
Worshipful Masters’ Charity:
The Worshipful Master, WM Stefan Rochon has chosen the following organisation for his charity for the ensuing year.
The Honeypot Children’s Charity is the only charity in the UK that provides continuous support for young carers aged 5-12 and locally is based at Honeypot House, just outside Exbury in the New Forest. Our vision is to build brighter futures and create happy childhood memories for young carers.
Honeypot’s Wrap-Round service aims to alleviate social isolation, support young carers’ emotional wellbeing, and help them build the confidence and skills they need to succeed in education. Our services include respite breaks, learning breaks, creative virtual workshops, memorable days out and the Wellbeing Fund. As a charity, we support over 2000 young carers aged 5-12, including ~350 from across Hampshire.
Here are some videos of young carers that we support.
Tianna’s story (filmed this year – talks about her role as a young carer and what Honeypot did over lockdown for her): 5 mins https://youtu.be/AWfPoFAhbdw
Jaiden’s Story (filmed before Covid…shows his role at home and then him enjoying a respite break at Honeypot House): 3 mins The Honeypot Children’s Charity — It’s About Time – YouTube
We know that half term and school holidays can bring additional stress for young carers, because they feel more isolated with no interaction with friends and adults at school and spending more time at home in a caring role. So, we are busy every weekend and school holiday at Honeypot providing young carers with respite opportunities for them to look forward to and enjoy. This summer over 140 young carers aged 5-12 visited Honeypot House for their annual 3 day/2 night residential respite break and, as always, each break has been full of lots of activities, friendships and laughter. All the Honeypot bikes, go karts, trampolines, swings, swimming pool and zip wire have been well used and enjoyed.
The children have explored the lake, been pond dipping and built dens (checking their waterproofing by drizzling water on them of course!). Trips to Paultons Park were a first experience of a theme park for quite a few of the children and they managed to conquer their fears and go on a rollercoaster for the first time! We have baked cookies, created monster magnets and lots of other art & craft activities, played party games, eaten popcorn during movie nights and even had some spontaneous trips to the beach, paddled in the sea and built sandcastles! For some children this was their first ever trip to a beach.
The fun continues now during the Autumn term with respite breaks every weekend and half term, we don’t take the young carers out of school for their respite breaks as their education suffers enough due to their caring responsibilities. We have been running our SEAL (Social and Emotional Active Learning) breaks during the weekdays, in conjunction with local schools, to build children’s confidence, resilience, and self-belief that they can succeed in education. Our memorable days out started with a trip to the circus in Southampton a couple of weeks ago month and our online activities will be in full swing with activity workshops at weekends and Afterschool Swarm planned during the week. It’s always busy at Honeypot!
Catchment area:
South East Hampshire
Opening times:
Please note: I work part-time, usually Monday – Thursday.
Mobile: 07384 831 820
Website:
www.honeypot.org.uk
Masonic Charitable Foundation
For Freemasons, for families, for everyone:
Funded entirely through the generosity of Freemasons and their families, the Masonic Charitable Foundation is one of the largest grant-making charities in the country.
Most of the support provided by the Masonic Charitable Foundation takes the form of financial grants to individuals and families to assist with daily living costs. We can also award grants to provide specific items or services.
A range of health and care needs, including medical and dental treatments, counseling and mobility aids or home adaptations are supported, with funding also available for respite, residential, nursing and dementia care.
Our professional Advice and Support team offers confidential and practical guidance about the support available from the Masonic Charitable Foundation and many other organisations.
In addition to the support we provide to Freemasons and their families, the Masonic Charitable Foundation awards millions of pounds each year to local and national charities that help vulnerable people, advance medical research and provide opportunities for young people.
We also help to fund vital services such as hospices and air ambulances and regularly contribute to worldwide appeals for disaster relief. In total, our support helps to improve the lives of thousands of people every year in England, Wales and internationally.
The Foundation brings together the work of four national Charities which had been operating separately under various names since the early 18th Century.
Further information:
Please explore the MCF website for further information.
Website:
https://mcf.org.uk
