To celebrate the Tercentenary of English Freemasonry this special event saw the Freemasons of Derbyshire make awards to fourteen charities in the County. The awards totalled £25,000 Two hundred people were present at the awards ceremony including HM Lord Lieutenant for Derbyshire, Mr William Tucker, the High Sheriff, Mrs Annie Hall, the Deputy Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, RW Bro. Jonathan Spence and the Provincial Grand Master for Derbyshire, RW Bro. Steven Varley, together with civic leaders, charity workers and Freemasons from across the county.
These were community awards; the recipients were nominated by Derbyshire Masonic Lodges and selected by local authorities and Derbyshire Freemasons.
The Charities receiving awards were Stepping Stones (£2000) , The Drop Inn (£2000), Fairplay (£2000), The PLACE Project (£2000), Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre (£2000), Hardy Group (£2000), P3 Artemis House, Long Eaton and District Invalid and Handicapped Group (£1000), Chapel-en-le-Frith Mobile Physiotherapy Group (£1000), The Bureau – Glossop’s Voluntary and Community (£1000), Shoutout (£1000), Staunton Harold Sailability Trust (£2000) and Helen’s Trust (£2000). In addition and in honour of HM Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff, further awards were given to their Charities: Foundation Derbyshire and Marie Curie in the sum of £500 each.
The awards recognise the good work these Charities do for local people and the impact their work has on the community.
As well as a financial contribution, each charity was presented by a very nice crystal award engraved with the charity name and the Derbyshire Provincial Logo.
