The Lodge of Faith and Hope Supports Autism Charities

The Lodge has connections with autism and is keen to support charities that focus on the care and treatment of children who suffer from this condition. Charities recently supported are the Lisieux Trust and Autism West Midlands.

Lisieux Trust is based in Erdington and Autism West Midlands is based in Kings Norton. Donations are from Lodge collections that have been gift aided and rounded up from Lodge funds.

The donations were presented by Charity Steward Martin Walsh, with Worshipful Master Roger Chapman. Martin explains:

They didn’t have much knowledge of Freemasonry so I spent the first 15 minutes giving a basic overview of what we do to support Charitable causes. They listened intently and asked questions, there was a fourth lady there Chantelle who took pictures and video of the interview.

In return, they gave me an overview of their organisation which consists of the following: 'There are eight households and 3 residential homes. The Households are run on a communal basis with each member having their own bedroom. The residential homes are run with 24-hour assistance for more specific needs'.

My understanding is that all of the costs for this organisation are paid by the local authority, however, there is nothing left for niceties. Our money and other similar donations help towards day trips out to various destinations, which, to those fortunate enough to go are priceless (This applies to both Lisieux and Autism West Midlands). All were very grateful for the money passed across (£175).