Page 26 - Essex Mason (Issue 91)

Mark Masonry

Mark Masons in Essex

Donate £30,350 to Children’s Charity

CLOWNS IN THE SKY

On Friday the 18th of June, representatives of The Provincial
Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Essex attended
Broomfi eld Hospital to present two cheques to the children’s
charity Clowns in the Sky totalling £30,350.
The Charity provides mobile activity trolleys fi lled with craft goods,
puzzle books, stationary and the like to children’s wards in hospitals
throughout the U.K. for the benefi t and enjoyment of children in
hospital suffering from cancer related illnesses. The trolleys are
kept fully stocked by the Charity. The charity also provide funds
for children’s entertainers to visit the wards. The charities primary
aim is to raise money to aid Brain tumour research as well as
supporting families who have children in hospital suffering from
brain tumours and related illnesses.

Receiving the cheques on behalf of
Clowns in the Sky were the co-founders
and Trustees of the charity Lynn Weston
and Richard Chambers, who set up the
charity after losing their three year old
daughter to a brain tumour.

John Finlay, the Essex Mark Masons Deputy Provincial
Grand Master, presented a cheque for £750 on behalf of
the Essex Mark Welfare fund who were fi rst approached
by the charity for assistance, and Roy Kaye the Essex
Mark Provincial Grand Almoner, who presented a cheque
for £29,600 on behalf on the Mark Benevolent Fund who
agreed the additional funding after a successful bid to
them by the Province of Essex on behalf of the charity. The
money donated by Essex Mark Masons allowed the charity
to purchase a new activity table for the children’s cancer
ward at Broomfi eld hospital, it will also allow them to keep
it stocked for a whole year. The £29,600 donated by the
Mark Benevolent Fund enables the Charity to restock all
74 trolleys in 43 hospitals throughout the country, for the
whole of 2021.

Also in attendance was Donna Byrne the charity
Development Offi cer. Donna commented that after
needing to sit down when she heard the news of the MBF
grant, she was so overcome with emotion that she began
to tremble and cry, however when the trembling subsided,
the tears gave way to the biggest smile, Donna explained
how that day brought something that will stay with her for
a long time to come. Donna went on to say

“Just how many smiles this news will bring, who knows.
These two donations mean that every single hospital
ward that we support is now secure for their trolley stock
refi lls for a whole year. For me, I know it was the highlight
of the year and has defi nitely put a different spin on the
awful year of 2020, the year when Essex Mark Master
Masons fi rst made contact”.

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