A Derbyshire foundation which supports 300 national charities is celebrating success with an awards ceremony where freemasons will be dishing out cash to a number of worthy causes.
The event, which will take place on Thursday, October 19, and champions the generosity of the Masonic Charitable Foundation will also commemorate 300 years of Freemasonry.
Among the six Derbyshire charities which will receive funds at the ceremony are Derbyshire Blood Bikes who will be presented with a whopping £25,000 which Steven Varley, provincial grand master for Derbyshire, said "will exceed their annual costs".
Mr Varley said: "We are delighted to be able to celebrate 300 years of Freemasonry by helping six excellent local charities. We have been active in charity work for all that time, but this is the first occasion we have asked the public to help us decide how to spend our money. We are very pleased that so many people from Derbyshire took part in the vote."
The fund is being administered by the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which obtains all of its funding from Freemasons, their families and friends. It is estimated that half of Freemasonry’s total charitable expenditure of more than £33m goes to charities which help people in communities across the country. The public vote was a great success with 177,000 votes cast.
This event will be held at the Derby Masonic Hall, in Littleover at 6.30pm.
