•           More than 120,000 people have been helped by Freemasons with a variety of food donation initiatives across England and Wales;

•           Homeless people, women’s refuges and vulnerable people have been provided with 300,000 meals and 38 tonnes of food donated by                  Freemasons;

•           More than £560k has already been donated to provide meals and help numerous foodbanks during the pandemic.

With many families struggling to put food on the table Freemasons across England and Wales are currently working on hundreds of initiatives to help minimise the daily pressure on households across the UK. 

During this difficult time, the United Grand Lodge of England, the governing body for Freemasonry in England and Wales, formed the Covid-19 Response Group to support those in need. The group identified food banks and people in vulnerable situations in need of help and set about galvanizing its network to provide food donations, deliveries, cooking fresh meals; as well as opening up local Lodges’ kitchens to cook meals.

London Freemasons have provided over 55,000 meals to support more than 40,000 people from amongst some of the poorest and most vulnerable families in the capital including many older people who may live alone.  In many cases the meals are delivered to the door ensuring not only a proper meal at least once a day but also providing what maybe the only human contact through the day, something especially important during these times of lockdown and self-isolation.

Dr David Staples, the chief executive of the United Grand Lodge of England, said: “No one, in this day and age, should have to worry where there next meal is coming from. With foodbanks across the UK being used more than ever before the crisis has put untold pressure on this vital network.

“We are so glad that we are able to provide thousands of families across the UK with a hot meal or food donations to get them through this current crisis. Freemasons have achieved all of this in just a few months and have also given their time to produce and deliver food to the vulnerable. We will continue to raise money and donate our time until we are able to return to normality.”

“Freemasons stand behind our core values of Friendship, Integrity, Charity and Respect and are proud to help so many in their time of need”