Charity is the mainstay of our organisation
Charity
Every Lodge has a Charity Steward, he is responsible for fundraising and charitable giving.
Charitable giving - June 2024
This year the Lodge has been focusing on getting donations out to local charities. So far this month the Charity Steward W. Bro. David H and the Worshipful Master Jeff B. have been out delivering cheques.
Firstly Jeff took a trip over to Wedmore where he met David and Tristan at the Wedmore Village Farm and handed over a donation from our Lodge. The Village Farm is a community project and as the name suggests they are a village farm. They are growing vegetables and they are encouraging the bird & insect life into the village. Their eventual goal is to grow enough local produce to be able to supply the pubs and restaurants in the village. If you have been to the Bluebird Cafe in Wedmore you may already have samples some of their goodies!
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The second trip out that day was to The Space in Cheddar. Again another donation to a very worthwhile charity. We met up with Steve Kite and Katharine Thompson who gave us the lowdown on the work they do, where it began, why is began and where they are looking to go forward... It was hard to believe that we were talking for almost an hour, there was just so much information to take on board. For those that haven't heard of them, or have heard of them but don't know what they do...they support local young people (age 4- 17 years) living or being educated in the Cheddar Valley are. experiencing low mental health & emotional resilience. There is so much more than that but their website will give you a better explanation than I ever can, please have a look. www.thespacesomerset.org.uk
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The following day W. Bro. David H was allowed out alone today. He met two ladies Louise & Angela at Wedmore Golf Club. These ladies are co-chairs of the charity - Help The Child
- https://www.helpthechild.org.uk/
The aim of the charity is to help children in Somerset with physical, mental and learning disabilities with the purchase of specialised equipment.
They link with social services, the NHS and other agencies who specialise in their aims.
All local, and volunteers, virtually no overheads, so all funds go directly towards the charity.
L to R – W. Bro Fred Body, Elaine Reynolds, Nigel Lakin, W. Bro. David Hayward & W. Bro Jeff Body
Cheddar Valley Foodbank
On Saturday 18th November 2023 a small delegation from Alfred & Guthrum Lodge consisting of W.Bro. Fred Body (former Charity Steward), W. Bro. David Hayward (Charity Steward) and W. Bro. Jeff Body (Worshipful Master) visited the Cheddar Foodbank to hand over our Christmas donation.
Working with two local butchers our former Charity Steward Worshipful Brother Fred Body organised 60 x £10 meat vouchers that will be given out by the Foodbank. 40 vouchers from Cobbs of Cheddar & 20 vouchers from Hectors of Wedmore, meaning that families can use them in their preferred shop.
While we were there, we had a chat with Elaine Reynolds and Nigel Lakin, two of the trustees. Cheddar Valley Foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust. They opened in 2013 and currently rent a small unit in the Wessex Business Centre opening on Monday and Saturday mornings from 10:30am-12:30pm. They rely on donations of both food, and money to help with operational costs. All the staff are volunteers but rent needs to be paid and they need to buy food for the parcels when donations aren't available.
It is hard to comprehend that even today families are going without food and other essentials like hygiene products. Each month this foodbank alone hands out up to 40 parcels to local families. If you want to help them, they welcome financial donations, food donations and volunteers. There are donation boxes in Sainsburys, Cheddar and Co-Op, Winscombe. They cannot store fresh food and therefore ask for long-life foods (cans, dried goods, jars etc), toiletries, and cleaning items as an example. Financial donations can be made on their website – www.cheddarvalleyfoodbank.org.uk
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