Charity is at the Heart of Freemasonry
The Three Great Principles by which we stand are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. Freemasons are taught to practice charity and to care, not only for their own, but also for the community as a whole, by charitable giving, and by voluntary efforts and works as individuals.
From its earliest days, Freemasonry has been concerned with the care of orphans, the sick and the aged. This work continues today. In addition, large sums are given to national and local charities.
Masonic charity is exercised at every level, individual Lodges make gifts and give aid to their own communities and every Province also gives large sums of money to regional causes. Nationally, our efforts are channeled through the following main charity organizations.
Freemasonry is one of the largest contributors in the country, with over £42m allocated to deserving causes in 2019 alone and some 18.5 m hours of volunteer work in 2018.
Worcestershire Festival 2022.
Each Province is asked once in every 11 years to collect funds for the Masonic Charitable foundation. The Festival System in English Freemasonry has been developed to rotate specific fund raising evenly around the Provinces. There are 44 Provinces in the system. Formerly each Province supported all of the previous four Masonic charities.
A Festival Appeal is designed to last for 5 years or so, and we have the advantage of knowing in advance when our Festival will end and which charity we will be supporting, which enables us to plan in advance. It is then up to the Provincial Grand Master to decide when we start and that has been decided as 2017, giving us a 5 year festival.
