The Provincial Priory of Durham held its Annual Malta Meeting on Thursday 14th July to a full room at Gateshead Masonic Hall. In attendance was special guest E. Knight Jamie Ingham-Clark, Trustee of The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group.

After a full Malta ceremony installing a new candidate, the Provincial Prior for Durham, Rt E Knight Richard Scott addressed those present and gave an update on the 2025 fundraising appeal started in 2021, for the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, which had so far raised £19,000. This also coincides with the 50 th anniversary of the separation of the Northumberland and Durham provinces.

At the end of the address, the Provincial Prior presented a cheque for £20,000 to the special guest for the evening E. Knight Jamie Ingham-Clark. This together with the figure already raised in 2021, marks a total so far raised of £39,000 towards the target of £50,000.

It is hoped that the target will be exceeded by some margin.

Kt Jamie Ingham-Clark thanked the Provincial Prior for the magnificent cheque and proceeded to give a very informative talk detailing the work of the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital. Knights Templar has been funding the hospital for over 100 years and in that time, it has never been rescinded. Finally, he reported that the £20,000 would be enough to pay for 20 Retinal Repairs at a cost of £1,000 each or 28 Cataract operations for £700. In contrast to this in 2021, the hospital performed 6500 of these types of operations.

The festive board followed the meeting, and the food was enjoyed by all those present.

At the end of the evening, the Provincial Prior presented E. Knight Jamie Ingham-Clark with a fundraising appeal pin.

Together we are stronger