Festival 25 - The Masonic Province of Dorset 2025 Charity FestivalIt is a tradition in England and Wales that each of the 44 Provinces is asked once in every 11 years to collect funds for the main Masonic Charity, the Masonic Charitable Foundation.
Having completed our last period of festival in 2014 the Province of Dorset will once again be in Festival mode from October 2019 culminating at the end of June 2025.
Built on the foundations of Masonic Charities operating since the early 18th Century and 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. They can also award grants to provide specific items or services.
A range of health and care needs, including medical and dental treatments, counselling and mobility aids or home adaptations are supported, with funding also available for respite, residential, nursing and dementia care.
Their 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 provided 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.
They 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.
Without the Festival system and the support it provides the Masonic Charitable Foundation would not be able to provide relief to those in need across our country and further afield.
Raising Funds for Festival 25 Although the 2025 Festival doesn't officially launch until October some events have already taken place raising money for Festival 25 alongside local charities with further events in the coming months. more...
Festival Briefings in Setember A big thank you to all the Lodge Charity Stewards, Lodge representatives and Visiting Officers who turned out for the Festival 25 Briefings on the 5th and 11th of September in Blandford and Dorchester. We hope that these briefings were both informative and useful. Hopefully these will become an annual event where Lodge charity stewards can network with ideas being exchanged. more...
Coming Soon Available for order in November more...
Blackmore Vale donate almost £400 to Festival 25! Blackmore Vale Lodge made a great start to the Festival 25 at their Installation with a donation of £394!
Their new Worshipful Master, Roger Jackson is pictured here with members of the Provincial team Very Worshipful Brother Chris Lill, Deputy ProvGM, Ted Aston, Mark Gibson and Adam Perkins, together with Blackmore Vale Senior and Junior Wardens Colin Sandall and Andy Conduit.
They had a very successful evening and a packed festive board at the St. Mary's Church Hall. more...
The MCF donates £4000 to the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance. As part of his official visit to our Provincial meeting in Sherborne on Thursday 24th October, Paul Crockett the Fundraising Support Officer for the MCF, presented a certificate to Carrie Cardale of the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, marking a donation from the MCF of £4,000 to the charity.
more...
Chapter donates £2000 to Festival 25 Following our Provincial Grand Master's address at the Sherbone Provincail meeting on October 24th The Deputy Grand Superintendent of Dorset, Mike Worne presented a Cheque for £2,000. This marks the start of support from the Provincial Grand Chapter of Dorset for Festival 25 and was received with grateful thanks. more...
Thank You! - DMC donates £25,000 to Festival 25 Our very own charity, Dorset Masonic Care has donated the magnificent sum of £25,000 towards Festival 25.
This along with the announcement of a matched funding scheme for Lodges supporting non-Masonic Charities during 2020 is very welcome indeed. Once again showing that Dorset really does care about making a difference.
more...
The 2019 Dorset Provincial Gala Ball raises over £2,750 for Festival 25 Just over 200 guests enjoyed a fantastic evening of entertainment at the Queens hotel in Bournemouth on Saturday 16th November raised over £2,750 for the Festival. A very enjoyable event raising money for a very good cause. more...
Masonic Face mask and Shopping trolley token in aid of Festival 25 Bridport based freemason, W. Bro. Duncan McGhee has started fundraising for Festival 25
Duncan, a joining member at St. Mary's Lodge 707, has designed square and compass face-masks that craft members may purchase, ideal for the return to masonic meetings or even a visit to the shops.
Priced at just £10.00 for the face mask and trolley token including post and packing.
To order your face mask and trolley token please e-mail Duncan at: more...
MCF Grant to Diverse Abilities - Coping with Chaos In august 2020, thanks to a £60,000 grant over three years by the Masonic Charitable Foundation to the Dorset based Charity, Diverse Abilities, hundreds of children in across the country with complex disabilities can enjoy holidays with their families.
Children with complex disabilities tend to be excluded from other holiday activities due to unwelcoming attitudes, parents' fear of being judged and clubs not being able to cater to the children's needs. more...
Nominate 20 Results On behalf of all the 50 plus charities nominated by Dorset Freemasons in 2020, the Province of Dorset and the Masonic Charitable Foundation thank all those who took part in Nominate 20 for their support - The three top nominated charities for 2020 are: more...
The Masonic Charitable Foundation - Supporting Dorset during lockdown through Matched Funding. Throughout the national lockdown the Masonic Charitable Foundation has been providing much needed support to charities across the county of Dorset with direct donations and through a number of ongoing the schemes.
One of these schemes is the MCF's matched funding initiative managed by Dorset Freemasonry using funds raised through Festival 25 for the benefit of Dorset charities. more...
Matched Funding donations for Winchelsea School In 2020 the MCF matched a donation of £1842.00 made by Amphibious Lodge No. 9050 of Wimborne earlier in the year from collections made prior to the start of Festival 25 plus a further £750.00, made by Dorset Masonic Care as part of their Lodge Matched Funding scheme to:
The Friends of Winchelsea School
With an additional grant of :
£2,592.00
Making a grand total of:
£5184. more...
Matched Funding donations for Sherbourne Food Bank During the national lockdown of 2020 £1000.00 was donated by Sherborne Lodge, The Lodge of Benevolence No 1168 to Sherborne Food Bank. This was matched with £750.00 from Dorset Masonic Care as part of their Lodge Matched funding scheme.
These two donations were further matched by the Masonic Charitable Foundation with a Donation of:
£1750.00
Giving a total of £3,500 donated to the Foodbank in 2020 by the Freemasons of Dorset and the Masonic Charitable Foundation. more...
DMC & MCF donates £2058.00 to the Dorset Somerset Air Ambulance in 2021 Early in 2021 Dorset Masonic Care started the year with a Donation to the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance of:
£1400.00
This was topped up by the MCF from the remaining 2020 matched funding grant allocated to the Province of Dorset for use before April 2021 with a donation of:
£658.00
Making a total of £2058.00
Donated to the Air Ambulance by Dorset Masonic Care and the Masonic Charitable Foundation in the first part of 2021. more...
DMC & MCF Support Young People of Portland The external donations committee of Dorset Masonic Care received a request from the Drop-in Portland, an independent Youth Service supporting the young people of Portland, Situated in the PTC Community Hub. They were in desperate need for funds to help purchase new furniture for the use of the children in the community hub.
DMC donated £750 to this worthy cause.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation has matched this with a further £750. more...
MCF Supports MYTIME Young Carers On top of funding allocated for Covid response, Matched and Festival grants the MCF awards funds to Dorset charities directly, responding to their requests for financial support for specific projects that improve the lives of those in their care.
In the summer of 2020, The Masonic Charitable Foundation awarded the Dorset based MYTIME Young Carers charity £13,330 spread over the next three years. more...
Freemason's donations turn Disused Red Telephone Box into a lifesaver. Donations by Dorset Freemasons to the Masonic Charitable foundation, via Festival 25, and to Dorset Masonic Care have allowed a Portland community charity to repurpose their dilapidated village red phone box and provide a lifesaving public defibrillator. The project, led by Southwell Area Living Together (SALT) is an essential resource to the residents of Southwell village and to visiting tourists, meaning the difference between life and death in an emergency. more...
Young families in South East Dorset supported by Freemasonry The East Dorset based family charity Home Start received a grant of £14,400 over the next three years from the Masonic Charitable Foundation to help them support young families struggling as a direct result of the Pandemic.
Home Start offer a tailored support service to young families in South East Dorset, covering an area from Christchurch in the east to Wareham and the Purbecks in the west and Cranborne Chase in the North.
Helping young families to: more...
Bereaved Children in Dorset Supported by Freemasons Dorset based bereavement charity Mosaic have received a grant of £13,500 from the Masonic Charitable Foundation over the next three years, helping the charity to focus on children who have lost loved ones.
Their Mission is to create a child centred service which offers a pathway of support for bereaved children, young people and their families, providing support for those young people facing the death of a loved one. more...
Dorset young people's mental health charity helped by Freemasons Dorset branch of the mental health charity Mind received a grant of £25,000 from the Masonic Charitable Foundation for their project concentrating on young people's mental health in our area, directly related to the consequences of the Pandemic called 'Mind your Head' .
A survey conducted by Young Minds across the UK in June 2020 reported the following:
• 80% of under 18's agreed that the coronavirus pandemic had made their mental health worse. more...
Nominate 21 Results Throughout 2021 Dorset Masons from across the Province have been nominating their favourite local charities. From this list of worthy causes three charities have been drawn, with each charity receiving a grant from the MCF, using some of the funds we have helped raise through Festival 25. The names of the three charities were drawn at the Christmas regular meeting of the Lodge of Benevolence in Sherborne on Monday December 13th 2021.
The 1st drawn charity was: more...
Copyright © 2023 Provincial Grand Lodge of Dorset.
All rights reserved.
Check Out Our Social Media