John Williams, the master of Dunelm Lodge who meet in Darlington, selected the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) as his charity to support during his term in office when he was installed in 2019. With the impact of Covid 19 on many organisations as well as Freemasonry it meant join would remain at the helm of Dunelm lodge for 3 years.
The charity is close to John’s heart as his grandson spent the majority of the first year of his life in the Freeman hospital, where the support from the charity to his parents was exceptional and helped them through what was a very tough period in their lives. His grandson is now a healthy 8-year-old.
The members of the lodge took it upon themselves to raise as much as they could over the course of John’s mastership and achieved a magnificent total of £3,320. This was beyond any expectations and thanks applies to each and every member who donated towards the total. Dunelm lodge then applied to Durham Benevolence for additional funding to increase the amount. Durham Benevolence also gave generously and added a further £1,680 to take the total donation to £5,000.
On the 8 th of November John and lodge Charity Steward, Mick Redpath, went along to the CHUF offices in Gateshead to find out more about the great work they do and to present Alicia Clovis-Mothalib (CHUF fundraising manager) with a certificate confirming the donation of £5,000. The donation will be used in part for the purchase of Christmas teddy bears and selection boxes for the 300 child patients treated this year who will attend the CHUF Christmas party and also towards the charity’s emergency nurse’s fund. The emergency nurse’s fund is to support parents on their initial, sometimes traumatised, arrival with sick children from locations far from home with practical measures associated with accommodation, cost of travel and parking. CHUF were extremely grateful for the support that was given by Dunelm Lodge, and the freemasons of the Province of Durham.
Photo 1 (L-R): John Williams, Alicia Clovis-Mothalib & Mick Redpath.
Photo 2 (L-R): John Williams & Mick Redpath.
