“CLANG, CLANG, CLANG WENT THE TROLLEY” – Derbyshire Presents £1,000 to Lifelites.
With a mission to raise £50,000, Lifelite’s CEO, Simone Enefer-Doy, recently set out from Freemasons’ Hall, London on a 2,500-mile journey that will see her visit many of the Masonic provinces in England and Wales, including Derbyshire.
Lifelites is a Masonic charity especially devoted to providing life enhancing technology for terminally ill and disabled children. The technology gives educational and entertainment benefits to around 10,000 children throughout every baby and children’s hospice in the UK. It is typically provided in the form of portable electronic devices such as iPads but also includes specialised equipment particularly for disabled children.
A feature of Simone’s long journey is travel from province to province essentially by means of various marques of motor car. Her arrival in Derbyshire was by a Bentley Arnarge and where she was warmly greeted at the National Tramway Museum, Crich, by RW Bro Steven Varley, Provincial Grand Master for Derbyshire supported by a number of brethren from the Province, including W Bro Michael Hitchcock, Provincial Grand Charity Steward, W Bro Philip Bowler and W Bro Chris Parnham who was to take Simone on the next stage of her journey.
The main purpose of the visit was to receive a cheque for £1,000 from Steven Varley on behalf of the Derbyshire Provincial Grand Charity. With many hundreds of miles yet to complete, it was understandably a brief visit, but into the 30-minutes were packed various photo opportunities, including being at the controls of one of the trams.
Another feature of the Derbyshire visit was the appearance of a unique, Belfast-made right-hand drive DeLorean rally car belonging to Chris Parnham that was to take Simone on the next stage from Crich and on to Newstead Abbey in the neighbouring Province of Nottinghamshire.
The conclusion of Simone Enefer-Doy’s visit was, appropriately, to see a well preserved example of a Derby Corporation tram that formerly plied the city’s streets and last saw service as long ago as 1934 when Derby dispensed with the last of its tram tracks.
