• MCF AWARDS 2017
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Winners - Jersey Freemasons

They have a huge involvement in our most needy communities

NOMINATOR: Marteen McCloat

With their 550 members working tirelessly, the Jersey Freemasons have years of fundraising work under their belt. After their raising of millions for various Island charities, this award helps to recognise their enormous contributions.

What was it about the Jersey Freemasons that made you want to nominate them for a Pride of Jersey award?

The Freemasons have had an impact on our community for many years, something that our Islanders may not be aware of. These selfless individuals gain little or no recognition, or reward, for the things that they do and in my opinion need to be commended for the huge involvement they have in our island's most needy communities and projects.

In a time where charitable institutions struggle to raise funds, if the Freemasons can help in any way, they will.

It would be a way of acknowledging the work that they do and in turn it would raise their profile and in some way it would lift the veil of secrecy surrounding an organisation which simply strives to practise charity and care, not only for their themselves, but also for the community as a whole.

The time has come, in my mind that they get something back and a local award of this calibre would make them so proud, and in what better year than their tercentenary year, 2017!

What makes the Jersey Freemasons stand out compared to others in this category?

It's undoubtedly the way that they fundraise and help our community.

It's the frugal way that they organise their fundraising events, while making it all-inclusive and very sociable and family-orientated.

They tap into the skill-set of the individuals within the Masonic fraternity, ie project managers, architects, electricians, bankers and lawyers.

This is particularly evident in the Forest Project for Mont a l'Abbe School, in which they raised £120,000 to produce a garden for the disabled children, a project that they all got involved in on every level of the development - Yes, they actually got the tools out!

Can you tell us something that the Jersey Freemasons have done to make you feel very proud?

What they have done and continually do is approach life with a huge degree of stoicism.

Masons turn that into something positive like helping a part of their community.

This includes providing a £40,000 paediatric colonoscope for the General Hospital, in the hopes of increasing the numbers of prostate cancer screenings, something close to the Masons' hearts. Along with further donations of £40,000 for machines needed to speed up the detection of malignancies in tissues taken for biopsy at the hospital.

Plus, sponsorship, in part of the EYE-CAN vehicle (£6,000) which helped with transport for the increasing number of locals suffering with sight problems and being reliant on a wheelchair.

Many thousands of pounds raised for MacMillan Cancer Jersey.

£64,000 to help terminally ill children at Oakwell Children's Respite Centre in St Brelade

Just to mention just a few.

Can you give an example of how the persons you have nominated did something extraordinary for you or the rest of your family?

In the traditional sense the Freemasons have not done any one thing in particular for me or my family. But being married to a Freemason, in the broader sense their effect has impacted my whole outlook on my own moral obligations to my community, which has become life-changing.

I now can pass a collection box in the street without shame, in the knowledge that while I may not contribute to that individual charitable fundraising effort I do contribute to causes within the Island of Jersey and do so with a great sense of pride and do it in an enjoyable way, and that is something extraordinary. This philosophy, in turn, filters out to my own friends and family, passing the whole concept of giving on.

Can you tell us something about the persons you have nominated that not many other people will know?

It's not all about fundraising.

It's about family, work, social gathering, fun, energy, momentum, drive, focus and persistence, respect for tradition and each other.

All-inclusive, proud, upstanding members of our community with a moral compass and code of practice and learning that translates into how they can all benefit from kind acts of caring towards each other and the community they live in.

What would you say their best quality?

Best achievement would undoubtedly be the Forest Project at Mont a l'Abbe School.

Best quality: altruism.



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