- In November 2023 £800 (£500 from Walnut Tree Lodge and £300 raised at the Ladies Night) was donated to Wipe Away Those Tears which is a charity which aims to grant a wish and bring a sparkle into the lives of terminally or seriously ill children in Essex.
- In October 2023 Walnut Tree Lodge donated £50 to Blesma, the Limbless Veterans, an armed forces non profit charity supporting limbless ex-Service men and women who have suffered life-changing limbloss or the use of a limb.
- In April 2022 Walnut Tree Lodge donated £250 to support Hamilton court and in doing so become a full Parton for a block of 5 years. Chris Sampson said “Many thanks on behalf of the residents and the committee for your generous support.”
- On the 18th January £500 was donated by the Walnut Tree Lodge No. 5533 to Dottie Rees, a very worthy cause.
See her story and fund raising at https://www.gofundme.com/f/dotties-journey
- At the meeting on the 13th June, a cheque for £2,600 was presented to W. Bro Peter Banks for the 2022 Essex Festival.
From left to right: Colin Felton, Peter Banks, Ken Barnett, Alun Johnson and Micheal Prior.
Colin later stated in an email: ‘I was particularly grateful to receive your cheque for £2,600. When this is added to donations already made together with Regular Payments taken out tonight – one a commitment from your newest Fellowcraft – then I am delighted to say that Walnut Tree is now officially a Vice Patron of the Festival2022 and you can state this with pride on all future Lodge summonses.
I have no doubt that you will achieve Grand Patron over the next four years and I congratulate Mike your new charity steward for the enthusiasm he has brought to the job. He is an inspired appointment’.
W. M. Ricky Reeves receiving the Vice Patron Certificate from Asst Provincial Grand Master, Charles Elliott.
Essex is the fourth largest province in England and Wales with more than 300 Lodges and 11,600 members. In Essex there is a very special charity called ´Teddies for Loving Care´ which provides a constant supply of colourful Teddy Bears to all Accident and Emergency units throughout the county. This scheme was started in March 2001 and has now spread to 34 Masonic Provinces in England and Wales. To-date we have donated over 1 Million teddies to sick and injured children.
The four much loved Masonic Charities have been brought under the single umbrella known as the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF).
This has ensured greater efficiency, economies of scale and above all it has sped up help given to applicants.
The new charity is one of the largest in the UK with the amalgamation starting several years ago with the full cooperation of the 4 charity boards.
