Orient Lodge Logo

Orient Lodge No 4085

Orient Lodge Logo

Charity

2024 Donations

TLC Donation Kitcheners

Orient Lodge donated £1000 to the charity Teddies For Loving Care. This charity gives teddies to A&E hospitals, up and down the country, for children who find themselves in a traumatized state, this helps them cope with stress of being in hospital. The donation makes the lodge a bronze patron.

For the Lodge Chaplains Challenge this year the Lodge supported The Lord Kitchener's Memorial Hotel. This charity gives discounted holidays for veterans and supports them in the local community with mental health advice and by providing Veteran, Blue Light breakfast clubs and functions. The team assisted with the Lowestoft Lifeguard Corps, in training a army swimming team to attempt a channel two way swim. The Lodge accumulated £1250 towards the overall sum. It was reported that they broke the record.

The lodge also pledged to support Cornwallis Court Care Home with a yearly donation of £100.

🌟 Festival 2029 Has Begun! 🌟

The Province has officially launched Festival 2029 — a five-year fundraising campaign in support of the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF). Every 11 years, each Province takes its turn, and from January 2024 to 2029, it's ours to lead the way.

💥 Festival Skydive
One of our exciting fundraising events was the Festival Skydive, where Bro. Sam Hill proudly represented our lodge. Funds were raised through the sale of exclusive Skydive Pin Badges – and more are still available!

💎 Festival Jewels
Supporters can also receive a Festival Jewel, available with a small monthly direct debit spread over the festival period — a simple way to show your ongoing support.

🎁 Donations Welcome
We’re always grateful for any donations, big or small. Every contribution helps us make a meaningful impact.

Freemasons help provide emergency aid to the survivors of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria in 2024.
They received vital emergency supplies thanks to a £60,000 grant from the Freemasons to the British Red Cross UK for UNHCR and UNICEF who lead the relief effort on the ground. More than 16,000 people are reported to have died at this time, with more yet to be reported, in the two quakes which have devastated large areas of south west Turkey and across the border in Syria. The death toll rose significantly as more bodies were found. Tens of thousands of survivors were sleeping in the open in temperatures which had fallen well below zero. Snow fell in some parts as the region which experienced colder than average winter weather that also hampered rescue efforts.

Freemasons collect money for charity from Lodge members or at Masonic events, we do not normally collect money from the general public, but will accept donations. All Lodge meetings include a Charity collection and most will also hold a raffle or similar event where all the profits are given to charity. As raffle prizes are usually donated, this can be 100% of the proceeds!.
The charitable work is not just for freemasons and their families, although they do offer advice and assistance and sometimes some financial support following a life changing event like medical or changing care needs also the death in the family or family breakdown. Orient Lodge has donated to many local charities and has recently purchased a kayak for the Lowestoft Lifeguards Corps who patrol the beach in Lowestoft.

Suffolk Provincial Grand Lodge Festival

All provinces run Festivals which run over a period of time maybe one year or until they reach their goal. Suffolk has been running one called Festival 2019 which ended in 2019. The festival is in aid of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution which runs care homes for freemasons with dementia and other debilitating illnesses and who cannot afford the care in the community.

The Worshipful Master for the year has the privilege to choose any charity for his year and all money raised, except certain small collections dictated by the lodge, go to this charity/charities. The Masters chosen charity for this year is The Lord Kitchener Memorial Guest House. This gives discounted holidays and with help and guidance for veterans with mental health issues through monthly breakfast clubs and meetings.

Our Charity Steward W.Bro Chris Warnes is always pleased to take any donations during the meetings, and Bro Don generally sits in the bar to accept any loose change which goes towards the lodge widows gift given at Christmas.
It is encouraged that members take out a covenant which goes towards the lodge charity fund, a monthly donation of either £2, £3, £5, or what ever you can give, which is gift aided can make a huge difference to the donations made to local charities.

Donate to the Orient Lodge Relief Chest Directly using the QR Code

QR Code

or: Go To: https://gtap.uk/l4085

(You can get government tax relief on the donations)

Some of the charities the Lodge have donated to are:

The Lowestoft Lifeguard Corps was presented with a craft to aid the volunteer lifeguards in rescuing people on the Lowestoft beach. The boy Ian was named after Ian Paterson a lodge member who was a volunteer lifeguard for many years. A kayak was specially ordered and painted in the Lodge colours.

Orient presents Life jackets to Sailability in November 2011, this charity gives disabled children the chance to sail on Oulton Broad.

Orient Lodge donated to Action Medical Research. This charity funds research into beating diseases that devastate the lives of children.

It has been stated that the Masons are the second biggest charity givers after the National Lottery.

Extracts From Freemasonry Today
The Freemasons Grand Charity

The Freemasons Grand Charity is a grant-making charity, which is funded by Freemasons and their families. In one year it gave grants totalling nearly £7 million to support people in need and fund the work of charities helping the wider community.

The Masonic Charities

The Masonic charities are briefly outlined below. Please click on the links for more information about each one.

The Grand Charity helps poor and distressed Freemasons and their dependants as well as being the primary interface to non-Masonic charities. It dates its origins from the Committee of Charity set up in 1725. The Charity also operates the Relief Chest Scheme, helping the Craft to donate to charity easily and tax-effectively.

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution assists older Freemasons and their dependants. It established its first home in 1850 and now runs 18 homes in all areas of England and Wales.