The East Ribble District Charity Steward Malcolm Roe, recently submitted an application for £3400 towards supporting a technology need at East Lancashire Hospice from the newly formed Regional Communications Groups. These Masonic Groups are leading the response to COVID-19 on behalf of United Grand Lodge of England and the Masonic Charitable Foundation.  The Provinces that are in the same RCG as East Lancashire are West Lancashire, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man. 

This grant is to provide two iPads, to be used by Hospice inpatients to communicate with their families during the lock down period, along with ten smartphones, to enable the Hospice Clinical support and counselling staff to remotely work and support patients at this time. 

East Lancashire Hospice Chief Executive Lyn Stevenson said,  “During this difficult time, we have had to change some of our services to ensure we are able to provide care to our most vulnerable patients. This has included restrictions on visiting our Inpatient Unit and basing some of our staff out in the community. We have had to close our retail shops and stop fundraising events in addition to most of our fundraising activities and not surprisingly we have seen a huge drop in income. With all this in mind, and as a charity that relies on voluntary income, we  are extremely grateful for the support of those who are able to provide it, so we are both grateful and delighted that East Ribble District Freemasons have submitted and had approved, a grant request to purchase new mobile phones for our community team and iPads for our patients to keep in touch with their families, which will help us to continue to provide our much needed service and support.’

‘I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the many East Ribble District Freemasons who have been big supporters of the hospice for many years, giving their time freely where and when we need it and making monetary donations on an ongoing basis and this is greatly appreciated by each and everyone at the hospice ”.

Article and images: East Ribble District Team