| Dear Trustees, This is the final Trustee Briefing report before I retire and my last Board of Trustees is only a few weeks away. Consequently, I should like to start by taking this opportunity to express my enormous gratitude to all trustees and committee members for the fantastic support you have given me personally, and my SLT in general, over the last five years. I believe you have struck exactly the right balance between challenge and agreement, and I have always felt able to contact any of you about particular issues when necessary. Charity governance only works well if both trustees and staff really understand their respective roles, and I feel that we have got it exactly right in the MCF. This has been amply demonstrated by our outstanding response to the Covid-19 pandemic which I hope makes you all feel immensely proud. I thoroughly enjoyed my eight years with the RMBI, and the opportunity I was given to make a real difference to the lives of our residents and staff alike. Equally, it has been a tremendous privilege to oversee the consolidation of the four central Masonic charities and the creation of the MCF over the last five years. I consider myself extremely fortunate and can think of no better way to have spent the final years of my working life than by reinvesting my knowledge and experience in creating such an awesome charity. Sadly, when part of a charity with over 200 years of history and foundations secure enough to guarantee many more decades, a Chief Executive can only expect to hold the helm for a relatively short period of time. I am absolutely delighted that Les has been selected to guide the MCF over the next few years and I know the charity will be in safe hands. There is no doubt in my mind that life will be very different for all of us as we transition to whatever the ‘new normal’ will be. All aspects of charity life will be affected, from governance to fundraising to grant making. Freemasonry will also change, and there will be a huge amount for the Board of Trustees and the Executive team to consider in the months and years ahead. I am certain you will all rise to the challenge, and I wish each and every one of you the very best of luck! I had hoped that the September Board of Trustees might be held in Freemasons’ Hall so that I would have the opportunity to thank each of you personally. Sadly, that seems to be increasingly unlikely but I look forward to seeing you all virtually on 10 September. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer as much as you can. David Innes |
Dear Trustees, This is the final Trustee Briefing report before I retire and my last Board of Trustees is only a few weeks away. Consequently, I should like to start by taking this opportunity to express my enormous gratitude to all trustees and committee members for the fantastic support you have given me personally, and my SLT in general, over the last five years. I believe you have struck exactly the right balance between challenge and agreement, and I have always felt able to contact any of you about particular issues when necessary. Charity governance only works well if both trustees and staff really understand their respective roles, and I feel that we have got it exactly right in the MCF. This has been amply demonstrated by our outstanding response to the Covid-19 pandemic which I hope makes you all feel immensely proud. I thoroughly enjoyed my eight years with the RMBI, and the opportunity I was given to make a real difference to the lives of our residents and staff alike. Equally, it has been a tremendous privilege to oversee the consolidation of the four central Masonic charities and the creation of the MCF over the last five years. I consider myself extremely fortunate and can think of no better way to have spent the final years of my working life than by reinvesting my knowledge and experience in creating such an awesome charity. Sadly, when part of a charity with over 200 years of history and foundations secure enough to guarantee many more decades, a Chief Executive can only expect to hold the helm for a relatively short period of time. I am absolutely delighted that Les has been selected to guide the MCF over the next few years and I know the charity will be in safe hands. There is no doubt in my mind that life will be very different for all of us as we transition to whatever the ‘new normal’ will be. All aspects of charity life will be affected, from governance to fundraising to grant making. Freemasonry will also change, and there will be a huge amount for the Board of Trustees and the Executive team to consider in the months and years ahead. I am certain you will all rise to the challenge, and I wish each and every one of you the very best of luck! I had hoped that the September Board of Trustees might be held in Freemasons’ Hall so that I would have the opportunity to thank each of you personally. Sadly, that seems to be increasingly unlikely but I look forward to seeing you all virtually on 10 September. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer as much as you can. David Innes |
GeneralA virtual Charity Grants Committee was held on Thursday, 2 June 2020. The new Provincial feedback system was reported to be working well and positive feedback on the recommended grants were received from all 17 Provinces in this round. The Committee approved 11 Large Grants totalling £638,528 which included: - Bolton Lads & Girls Club – £40,000 over two years. The grant will part fund the salary of a mentoring coordinator who matches a volunteer mentor with a young person aged 8-18 years old. The young people are referred by Children's Services or from schools because they've been identified as having emotional and behavioural problems due to chaotic home lives. The mentor and young person will meet at least every two weeks for two hours at a time and take part in activities led by the child's interests.
- Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity – £60,000 over three years. Rainbow Trust Children's Charity supports families who have a child with a life-threatening illness including the sick child and their siblings. The grant will fund a family support worker who offers support from diagnosis, during treatment, and through bereavement.
- Northampton Hope Centre – £60,000 over three years. The Northampton Hope Centre is a day centre, offering activities for anyone including therapeutic groups for women, addictions, mental health; diversionary art, creative writing and gardening activity; training and confidence building courses to help people back into the workforce, or learn new skills; a sheltered tool repair workshop; and a gardening project. The projects will support people aged 55 and above, with a focus on those 60-75.
The Committee also approved 13 Small Grants totalling £174,300 including: - Basingstoke Neighbour Care – £12,000 over three years. Basingstoke Neighbour Care provides local support to around 500 older vulnerable people in Basingstoke. The charity's services include a door-to-door community transport service for older people who need to attend hospital visits or shopping, and this includes waiting with the beneficiary during their appointment and taking them home. They also offer a weekly befriending service to match volunteer befrienders with isolated older people.
- The Sleep Charity – £15,000 over three years. The Sleep Charity works to help disadvantaged and disabled children with sleep issues and their families. The charity provides one-to-one sleep clinics to develop a sleep programme for beneficiaries which in turn improves mental health and physical and emotional wellbeing. In addition to sleep clinics, the charity provides volunteer support in community settings to meet family needs and also provides training to other professionals such as family support workers.
- b:friend – £15,000 over three years. b:friend works in Doncaster and South Yorkshire to support isolated older people through one-to-one befriending and group social activities in their local community. Beneficiaries are matched with trained volunteer befrienders and are visited weekly. The charity also provides weekly two-hour social clubs to provide peer support, as well as a variety of activities based on the Five Ways to Wellbeing, including cha-cha workshops, crafts, and educational talks.
The new Matched Funding and Festival Grants programmes have also been launched and have proven to be popular with the Provinces. So far: 49 applications received of which 49 have been approved
22 Provinces have used the Fund
A total of £113,000 has been awarded
21 applications received of which 18 have been approved, two are pending and one withdrawn
Six Provinces have used the Fund
A total of £36,000 has been awarded so far.
Charity Grants Programmes Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Small and Large Grant programmes for Children and Young People and Later Life were briefly suspended. However, they have subsequently re-opened on 1July 2020. Hospice Grants Programmes The hospice grant programme is open and so far the MCF has received 112 applications. Provinces have been reminded to encourage local hospices in their areas that receive 60 per cent or less of their funding from NHS sources to submit an application. These applications will go to the Charity Grants Committee in October. MCF Response to COVID-19As mentioned in the last briefing paper, the MCF is responding to the current COVID-19 crisis by making additional funds available to support those most in need. - UGLE Initiative - £1M allocated to Regional Communications Groups
The MCF has provided an extra £100,000 to each RCG to enable it to respond to COVID-19 specific causes in its local communities. This funding is in partnership with UGLE. So far: 152 grants have been approved totalling £763,765.09 226 applications have been received in total. Grants have been made towards the provision of PPE for various local healthcare settings in the community; supporting of food banks, provision of meals for vulnerable and disadvantaged people and families; community projects such as supporting women’s refuges, tablets for hospices/hospitals for patients to keep in touch with family and friends, activity packs for young carers, etc.
- MCF Initiative - £500,000 allocated to all Provinces and Metropolitan Grand Lodge
An additional allocation of £10,000 for each Province/MetGL is available for requests. So far: 190 grants have been approved totalling £264,017 193 applications have been received 35 Provinces have used the fund.
- MCF Initiative – £250,000 allocated to Buttle UK to help disadvantaged young people
Buttle UK's Chances for Children Grants are designed to meet the practical needs of vulnerable children and young people by paying for household items, but also meet a child's longer-term educational and emotional needs.
- MCF Initiative – £250,000 allocated to Mind to help those with mental health issues
As the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, the impact on mental health is likely to increase. The charity has already seen a surge in the number of people seeking help and access to primary care is restricted and the charity’s clients are experiencing financial instability and health anxiety. To respond to this increase in demand, the charity has developed a rapid response package of support that was launched in April 2020. This includes: the expansion of Mind’s information services; supporting 120 local Mind branches across England and Wales to deliver 900 different services to 400,000 people; scaling up the befriending and peer support; support local Mind branches to create local emergency response hubs developing locally-tailored advice services.
- MCF Initiative – £250,000 allocated to Age UK to help local Age UK’s across the England and Wales
The funding is going towards providing emergency funding to local Age UK branches and to extend their services for older people within communities across England and Wales. This grant will help them provide advice, information and befriending services to fulfil the current increased demand.
Emergency GrantAn emergency grant of £15,000 has been approved by the Emergency Grants Panel to Plan International UK for relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh and India. |
GeneralA virtual Charity Grants Committee was held on Thursday, 2 June 2020. The new Provincial feedback system was reported to be working well and positive feedback on the recommended grants were received from all 17 Provinces in this round. The Committee approved 11 Large Grants totalling £638,528 which included: - Bolton Lads & Girls Club – £40,000 over two years. The grant will part fund the salary of a mentoring coordinator who matches a volunteer mentor with a young person aged 8-18 years old. The young people are referred by Children's Services or from schools because they've been identified as having emotional and behavioural problems due to chaotic home lives. The mentor and young person will meet at least every two weeks for two hours at a time and take part in activities led by the child's interests.
- Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity – £60,000 over three years. Rainbow Trust Children's Charity supports families who have a child with a life-threatening illness including the sick child and their siblings. The grant will fund a family support worker who offers support from diagnosis, during treatment, and through bereavement.
- Northampton Hope Centre – £60,000 over three years. The Northampton Hope Centre is a day centre, offering activities for anyone including therapeutic groups for women, addictions, mental health; diversionary art, creative writing and gardening activity; training and confidence building courses to help people back into the workforce, or learn new skills; a sheltered tool repair workshop; and a gardening project. The projects will support people aged 55 and above, with a focus on those 60-75.
The Committee also approved 13 Small Grants totalling £174,300 including: - Basingstoke Neighbour Care – £12,000 over three years. Basingstoke Neighbour Care provides local support to around 500 older vulnerable people in Basingstoke. The charity's services include a door-to-door community transport service for older people who need to attend hospital visits or shopping, and this includes waiting with the beneficiary during their appointment and taking them home. They also offer a weekly befriending service to match volunteer befrienders with isolated older people.
- The Sleep Charity – £15,000 over three years. The Sleep Charity works to help disadvantaged and disabled children with sleep issues and their families. The charity provides one-to-one sleep clinics to develop a sleep programme for beneficiaries which in turn improves mental health and physical and emotional wellbeing. In addition to sleep clinics, the charity provides volunteer support in community settings to meet family needs and also provides training to other professionals such as family support workers.
- b:friend – £15,000 over three years. b:friend works in Doncaster and South Yorkshire to support isolated older people through one-to-one befriending and group social activities in their local community. Beneficiaries are matched with trained volunteer befrienders and are visited weekly. The charity also provides weekly two-hour social clubs to provide peer support, as well as a variety of activities based on the Five Ways to Wellbeing, including cha-cha workshops, crafts, and educational talks.
The new Matched Funding and Festival Grants programmes have also been launched and have proven to be popular with the Provinces. So far: 49 applications received of which 49 have been approved
22 Provinces have used the Fund
A total of £113,000 has been awarded
21 applications received of which 18 have been approved, two are pending and one withdrawn
Six Provinces have used the Fund
A total of £36,000 has been awarded so far.
Charity Grants Programmes Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Small and Large Grant programmes for Children and Young People and Later Life were briefly suspended. However, they have subsequently re-opened on 1July 2020. Hospice Grants Programmes The hospice grant programme is open and so far the MCF has received 112 applications. Provinces have been reminded to encourage local hospices in their areas that receive 60 per cent or less of their funding from NHS sources to submit an application. These applications will go to the Charity Grants Committee in October. MCF Response to COVID-19As mentioned in the last briefing paper, the MCF is responding to the current COVID-19 crisis by making additional funds available to support those most in need. - UGLE Initiative - £1M allocated to Regional Communications Groups
The MCF has provided an extra £100,000 to each RCG to enable it to respond to COVID-19 specific causes in its local communities. This funding is in partnership with UGLE. So far: 152 grants have been approved totalling £763,765.09 226 applications have been received in total. Grants have been made towards the provision of PPE for various local healthcare settings in the community; supporting of food banks, provision of meals for vulnerable and disadvantaged people and families; community projects such as supporting women’s refuges, tablets for hospices/hospitals for patients to keep in touch with family and friends, activity packs for young carers, etc.
- MCF Initiative - £500,000 allocated to all Provinces and Metropolitan Grand Lodge
An additional allocation of £10,000 for each Province/MetGL is available for requests. So far: 190 grants have been approved totalling £264,017 193 applications have been received 35 Provinces have used the fund.
- MCF Initiative – £250,000 allocated to Buttle UK to help disadvantaged young people
Buttle UK's Chances for Children Grants are designed to meet the practical needs of vulnerable children and young people by paying for household items, but also meet a child's longer-term educational and emotional needs.
- MCF Initiative – £250,000 allocated to Mind to help those with mental health issues
As the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, the impact on mental health is likely to increase. The charity has already seen a surge in the number of people seeking help and access to primary care is restricted and the charity’s clients are experiencing financial instability and health anxiety. To respond to this increase in demand, the charity has developed a rapid response package of support that was launched in April 2020. This includes: the expansion of Mind’s information services; supporting 120 local Mind branches across England and Wales to deliver 900 different services to 400,000 people; scaling up the befriending and peer support; support local Mind branches to create local emergency response hubs developing locally-tailored advice services.
- MCF Initiative – £250,000 allocated to Age UK to help local Age UK’s across the England and Wales
The funding is going towards providing emergency funding to local Age UK branches and to extend their services for older people within communities across England and Wales. This grant will help them provide advice, information and befriending services to fulfil the current increased demand.
Emergency GrantAn emergency grant of £15,000 has been approved by the Emergency Grants Panel to Plan International UK for relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh and India. |
Corporate plan activities for 2020/21All activities for Q1 were achieved. One activity (HONE) was brought forward and an additional activity (IMPACT) was added, IT and systems security audit and assessment provider selected; see below: - HONorific Evaluation system (HONE) - Development work completed.
- IMPACT – Review of the various components of the underlying APEX application with external stake holders has commenced, with completion expected in Q2 of the current financial year. The main aims will be to gather external user feedback and current levels of satisfaction. The feedback will then enable us to analyse and evaluate the system and take action for any areas of potential improvement or additional functionality.
- The MCF Governance programme – Prism Infosec was selected as provider of risk assessment on all the MCF IT and information assets. The audit will commence on 28 July 2020.
Projects- E- Voucher service: This is now fully deployed with access to all RC holders.
- Oracle Database and ADF development platform: As reported at the June 2020 Board meeting, UGLE ICT are planning to upgrade the Oracle database to the latest version (19c) and as a direct result will have to upgrade ADF – the platform that both Relief Chest – RC2 and Adelphi – AD2 have been developed to the latest version (12c). This activity is due to take place over the coming months culminating in a production deployment in w/c the 5 of October 2020.
- After careful consideration, we have decided not to migrate to ADF (12c), instead migrate those remaining components and features of RC2 that exist in current version of ADF to APEX. We hope to have the development completed by end July 2020, allowing RCS team to conduct full user acceptance testing in the month of August 2020.
- Online fundraising platform: We have been informed by Blackbaud, providers of Everydayhero® – the online fundraising platform used by RCS, festivals, Relief Chest holders etc. – will be discontinuing the Everydayhero® fundraising platform. This means all users of RCS will no longer be able to launch campaigns on or receive donations via the platform from this date. We are currently exploring and investigating alternatives. Despite the challenging situation, we hope to migrate to an alternative solution provided by either Blackbaud or another provider by 30 October 2020.
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Corporate plan activities for 2020/21All activities for Q1 were achieved. One activity (HONE) was brought forward and an additional activity (IMPACT) was added, IT and systems security audit and assessment provider selected; see below: - HONorific Evaluation system (HONE) - Development work completed.
- IMPACT – Review of the various components of the underlying APEX application with external stake holders has commenced, with completion expected in Q2 of the current financial year. The main aims will be to gather external user feedback and current levels of satisfaction. The feedback will then enable us to analyse and evaluate the system and take action for any areas of potential improvement or additional functionality.
- The MCF Governance programme – Prism Infosec was selected as provider of risk assessment on all the MCF IT and information assets. The audit will commence on 28 July 2020.
Projects- E- Voucher service: This is now fully deployed with access to all RC holders.
- Oracle Database and ADF development platform: As reported at the June 2020 Board meeting, UGLE ICT are planning to upgrade the Oracle database to the latest version (19c) and as a direct result will have to upgrade ADF – the platform that both Relief Chest – RC2 and Adelphi – AD2 have been developed to the latest version (12c). This activity is due to take place over the coming months culminating in a production deployment in w/c the 5 of October 2020.
- After careful consideration, we have decided not to migrate to ADF (12c), instead migrate those remaining components and features of RC2 that exist in current version of ADF to APEX. We hope to have the development completed by end July 2020, allowing RCS team to conduct full user acceptance testing in the month of August 2020.
- Online fundraising platform: We have been informed by Blackbaud, providers of Everydayhero® – the online fundraising platform used by RCS, festivals, Relief Chest holders etc. – will be discontinuing the Everydayhero® fundraising platform. This means all users of RCS will no longer be able to launch campaigns on or receive donations via the platform from this date. We are currently exploring and investigating alternatives. Despite the challenging situation, we hope to migrate to an alternative solution provided by either Blackbaud or another provider by 30 October 2020.
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The first fully-virtual MCF Board meeting was held on 18 June via the Lifesize videoconferencing system. This was also the first fully-paperless MCF Board meeting with all papers uploaded to either Board Intelligence or Cleardox. The meeting was extremely successful with no technical issues noted. Annaliese has been at the forefront in assisting and training staff and Trustees to use the Lifesize platform. Staff appear to be more confident in using the platform with far fewer issues reported. The Admin team has been working hard over the last few months responding to requests for stationery and equipment to enable the MCF staff to work effectively from home. Gabriel has been supporting the Masonic Support department in processing application forms and Tenaya has been assisting the Enquiries team with processing over 100 laptop orders which have been donated to families in the last three months. |
The first fully-virtual MCF Board meeting was held on 18 June via the Lifesize videoconferencing system. This was also the first fully-paperless MCF Board meeting with all papers uploaded to either Board Intelligence or Cleardox. The meeting was extremely successful with no technical issues noted. Annaliese has been at the forefront in assisting and training staff and Trustees to use the Lifesize platform. Staff appear to be more confident in using the platform with far fewer issues reported. The Admin team has been working hard over the last few months responding to requests for stationery and equipment to enable the MCF staff to work effectively from home. Gabriel has been supporting the Masonic Support department in processing application forms and Tenaya has been assisting the Enquiries team with processing over 100 laptop orders which have been donated to families in the last three months. |
StaffingOur main focus since April 2020 has been in ensuring we can provide our usual service and support whilst working from our own homes. The main changes to staff are linked to the Senior Leadership Team and the recruitment process to appoint our next Chief Executive following David Innes’s announcement to retire in the autumn. Using virtual technology, the Nominations Committee successfully managed a recruitment and selection process and we are all delighted that Les Hutchinson has accepted the appointment and will commence this role on 19 September 2020. This has led Les to review the structure and to create an operations director role, which has led to an internal appointment, with John McCrohan being promoted into this position from 19 September 2020. Due to the impact of working from home and the challenges that COVID-19 has created within Freemasonry, some teams have seen some diminishing of workload. On 8 June, a total of seven staff were furloughed under the government’s job retention scheme, and individuals impacted in this way were from the Relief Chest and Administration Support teams. Employee EngagementSignificant efforts and creative thinking have led to many social events being held that both the MCF and RMBI Care Co. head office/national roles have participated in. These include Monday morning meditation; weekly coffee and chat; evening quizzes and bingo; MCF’s got talent; and various exercise classes and a weekly 'lockdown challenge' which includes capturing staff’s exercise regimes and step counts, as well as points for attending events and points for winning. The level of engagement across teams and both charities has increased and provided staff with a chance to see their colleagues and feel better connected. Learning and DevelopmentThe Operational Delivery Group (ODG) have attended three virtual training workshops facilitated by Naomi Thomas, Les Hutchinson and Louise Bateman on resilience management. A follow-up session is planned with Les and Louise to ensure the ODG can embed this learning but also contribute to our plans for a return to London. |
StaffingOur main focus since April 2020 has been in ensuring we can provide our usual service and support whilst working from our own homes. The main changes to staff are linked to the Senior Leadership Team and the recruitment process to appoint our next Chief Executive following David Innes’s announcement to retire in the autumn. Using virtual technology, the Nominations Committee successfully managed a recruitment and selection process and we are all delighted that Les Hutchinson has accepted the appointment and will commence this role on 19 September 2020. This has led Les to review the structure and to create an operations director role, which has led to an internal appointment, with John McCrohan being promoted into this position from 19 September 2020. Due to the impact of working from home and the challenges that COVID-19 has created within Freemasonry, some teams have seen some diminishing of workload. On 8 June, a total of seven staff were furloughed under the government’s job retention scheme, and individuals impacted in this way were from the Relief Chest and Administration Support teams. Employee EngagementSignificant efforts and creative thinking have led to many social events being held that both the MCF and RMBI Care Co. head office/national roles have participated in. These include Monday morning meditation; weekly coffee and chat; evening quizzes and bingo; MCF’s got talent; and various exercise classes and a weekly 'lockdown challenge' which includes capturing staff’s exercise regimes and step counts, as well as points for attending events and points for winning. The level of engagement across teams and both charities has increased and provided staff with a chance to see their colleagues and feel better connected. Learning and DevelopmentThe Operational Delivery Group (ODG) have attended three virtual training workshops facilitated by Naomi Thomas, Les Hutchinson and Louise Bateman on resilience management. A follow-up session is planned with Les and Louise to ensure the ODG can embed this learning but also contribute to our plans for a return to London. |
Fundraising CommitteeThere were no Committee recommendations to be approved by the MCF Board from the Fundraising Committee meeting held on 14 May 2020. Other matters to note from that meeting: - COVID-19 update: Both the Fundraising and Legacy teams are running a normal service. All calls are diverted and all enquiries are being answered as normal. Festival Committee meetings are being attended via conference calls or video link and contact is being maintained through regular Fundraising Updates, email correspondence and telephone calls.
- The Fundraising department has played a key role in the development of the UGLE/MCF COVID-19 Appeal Relief Chest guidance.
MCF BallReference was made to the recent postponement of the MCF Ball to 2021. The event would still be held by the Province of Surrey. The hotel has agreed to carry forward the bookings for the event and all entertainment has been re-booked for the new date, bar Status Quo whose availability would be reviewed next year. Charity Stewards Advisory GroupThe Group have started work on the recommendations made by the Charity Stewards Focus Group and have already delivered the draft content for a new Provincial Grand Charity Stewards’ guide to the Fundraising Committee. Work now starts on a Provincial Grand Charity Stewards induction process. Festival Forum 2020Currently scheduled for 13 November 2020 at Freemasons' Hall, the fundraising team is looking at ways to deliver this via a webinar or other virtual presentation media to respond to the measures that will be in place at Freemasons' Hall at that time. |
Fundraising CommitteeThere were no Committee recommendations to be approved by the MCF Board from the Fundraising Committee meeting held on 14 May 2020. Other matters to note from that meeting: - COVID-19 update: Both the Fundraising and Legacy teams are running a normal service. All calls are diverted and all enquiries are being answered as normal. Festival Committee meetings are being attended via conference calls or video link and contact is being maintained through regular Fundraising Updates, email correspondence and telephone calls.
- The Fundraising department has played a key role in the development of the UGLE/MCF COVID-19 Appeal Relief Chest guidance.
MCF BallReference was made to the recent postponement of the MCF Ball to 2021. The event would still be held by the Province of Surrey. The hotel has agreed to carry forward the bookings for the event and all entertainment has been re-booked for the new date, bar Status Quo whose availability would be reviewed next year. Charity Stewards Advisory GroupThe Group have started work on the recommendations made by the Charity Stewards Focus Group and have already delivered the draft content for a new Provincial Grand Charity Stewards’ guide to the Fundraising Committee. Work now starts on a Provincial Grand Charity Stewards induction process. Festival Forum 2020Currently scheduled for 13 November 2020 at Freemasons' Hall, the fundraising team is looking at ways to deliver this via a webinar or other virtual presentation media to respond to the measures that will be in place at Freemasons' Hall at that time. |
In June 2020, legacy income reported stood at to £839,520. During 2019/20 a reported £3.5 million in legacies had been received, which was a significant increase to the £2.2 million which had been forecast. Currently the MCF has referred over 400 individuals to the Goodwill Partnership free will-writing service and over 300 individual wills have now been written. |
In June 2020, legacy income reported stood at to £839,520. During 2019/20 a reported £3.5 million in legacies had been received, which was a significant increase to the £2.2 million which had been forecast. Currently the MCF has referred over 400 individuals to the Goodwill Partnership free will-writing service and over 300 individual wills have now been written. |
GrantsIn the COVID-19 period so far, March to June inclusive, we have awarded nearly 2,000 grants to Freemasons and their families to a value of over £4 million. Existing beneficiaries have all had their support reviewed in the month it was due, ensuring continuity of our essential support for those families and individuals in need. Emergency payments59 emergency grants have been paid to those in crisis, totalling £60,000. Many more urgent applications have prioritised and processed within one to two weeks. IT equipment for children projectFollowing contact with all of our beneficiary families with children, we have awarded 174 individual grants to 105 families, totalling £70,000 to help children to learn at home and to stay in touch with their friends and families. Medical and mobility aidsSupport for these areas remains largely in abeyance, with grants considered on an urgent only basis for cardiac, cancer, ophthalmic and installations and repairs of mobility equipment. This is being kept under review as both sectors begin to open up. Visiting VolunteersFor safety reasons, all volunteer visits were suspended in March. We hope to restart visits by telephone in late summer/early autumn. We remain in regular contact with the volunteers and have just launched a new online VV portal giving them access to information, guidance and materials specifically designed for them. PGAsWe are holding monthly video sessions with all PGAs to discuss grant policies and processes. Advice & Support TeamThe team is conducting all visits by phone and has conducted over 1,100 virtual visits in the period since March. Safeguarding and special educational needsWe continue to offer safeguarding advice and referrals are on the rise as we emerge from lockdown. This has been a difficult period for some families and their children with special educational needs and we continue to look for ways that we can provide additional support to those beneficiaries. Mental healthWith the support of the Communications team, we are encouraging members of the Masonic community who are in need of support with their mental health to make use of our free to access counselling service. |
GrantsIn the COVID-19 period so far, March to June inclusive, we have awarded nearly 2,000 grants to Freemasons and their families to a value of over £4 million. Existing beneficiaries have all had their support reviewed in the month it was due, ensuring continuity of our essential support for those families and individuals in need. Emergency payments59 emergency grants have been paid to those in crisis, totalling £60,000. Many more urgent applications have prioritised and processed within one to two weeks. IT equipment for children projectFollowing contact with all of our beneficiary families with children, we have awarded 174 individual grants to 105 families, totalling £70,000 to help children to learn at home and to stay in touch with their friends and families. Medical and mobility aidsSupport for these areas remains largely in abeyance, with grants considered on an urgent only basis for cardiac, cancer, ophthalmic and installations and repairs of mobility equipment. This is being kept under review as both sectors begin to open up. Visiting VolunteersFor safety reasons, all volunteer visits were suspended in March. We hope to restart visits by telephone in late summer/early autumn. We remain in regular contact with the volunteers and have just launched a new online VV portal giving them access to information, guidance and materials specifically designed for them. PGAsWe are holding monthly video sessions with all PGAs to discuss grant policies and processes. Advice & Support TeamThe team is conducting all visits by phone and has conducted over 1,100 virtual visits in the period since March. Safeguarding and special educational needsWe continue to offer safeguarding advice and referrals are on the rise as we emerge from lockdown. This has been a difficult period for some families and their children with special educational needs and we continue to look for ways that we can provide additional support to those beneficiaries. Mental healthWith the support of the Communications team, we are encouraging members of the Masonic community who are in need of support with their mental health to make use of our free to access counselling service. |
Click here to view the infographics for June. - COVID-19 appeal collected £1,000,319.55 as at 28 July, having reached its target. The MCF will match funding up to £1 million
- New e-voucher system successfully implemented in April
- Payment runs increased from monthly to twice-monthly
- BACS (electronic) payments now being made to regular third party beneficiaries
- Quarterly newsletter implemented
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Click here to view the infographics for June. - COVID-19 appeal collected £1,000,319.55 as at 28 July, having reached its target. The MCF will match funding up to £1 million
- New e-voucher system successfully implemented in April
- Payment runs increased from monthly to twice-monthly
- BACS (electronic) payments now being made to regular third party beneficiaries
- Quarterly newsletter implemented
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Corporate plan (CP) activities for 2020/21: all activities for Q1 were achieved. COVID-19 Response- Continue to update the dedicated COVID-19 webpage (mcf.org.uk/coronavirus) and COVID-19 impact page (mcf.org.uk/covid19impact) with the most recent statistics
- Ongoing social media campaign to promote the COVID-19 Community Fund, the MCF response and the impact of our work
- Promoted the MCF counselling services via e-comms to all members
Supporting other functions- Promoted the pilot launch of the Relief Chest’s e-voucher service – messaging, website copy, launch email, user guide and instructional video
- Produced and sent the first quarterly Relief Chest e-newsletter
- A communication plan was developed for legacy pledgers
- We signed up to the RightMarket platform that will allow staff and external users (Provinces) to produce on-brand localised documents such as posters, leaflets that can be downloaded or printed on demand.
WebsiteThe MCF new website was launched and the team continue to work on content update for internal departments. We are pleased with the many improvements over the past website version: - Better access to key resources for all of our stakeholders
- A greater range of information for and about Provinces, including maps and data
- Greater accessibility and readability, conforming to industry standards
- A simple festival overview page
- An action-focussed design
- Greater range and flexibility of on-brand page templates, future-proofing the site for new additions
- A more effective menu structure which can be more easily adapted to the addition of new content
- Purpose built to accommodate third party applications such as Salesforce and online donation platforms
- Easier access to ‘share this page’ functions
- An improved simpler back-end for the comms team
Internal Comms- Continue publishing weekly staff e-newsletter
- Continue promoting social media platform Cluster to allow staff to securely share images and messages
Social Media- Ongoing and active social media publications, including participation in awareness weeks, and engagement, interaction and conversation with stakeholders (Lodges profiles, charities, Freemasons etc.)
Other campaigns and promotion- The team has enhanced e-news by sending targeted communications and by discussing e-mail marketing automation processes with the fundraising and Relief Chest teams; if successful, this project could be extended to other functions.
- Promoted emergency grant to Plan International UK following the cyclone in India and Bangladesh
- New merchandise catalogue has been developed and products are now being produced and delivered
- The 2020-21 pocket diary is being finalised ahead of print and circulation is due to August
Press and media- 854 articles published since 15 May
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Corporate plan (CP) activities for 2020/21: all activities for Q1 were achieved. COVID-19 Response- Continue to update the dedicated COVID-19 webpage (mcf.org.uk/coronavirus) and COVID-19 impact page (mcf.org.uk/covid19impact) with the most recent statistics
- Ongoing social media campaign to promote the COVID-19 Community Fund, the MCF response and the impact of our work
- Promoted the MCF counselling services via e-comms to all members
Supporting other functions- Promoted the pilot launch of the Relief Chest’s e-voucher service – messaging, website copy, launch email, user guide and instructional video
- Produced and sent the first quarterly Relief Chest e-newsletter
- A communication plan was developed for legacy pledgers
- We signed up to the RightMarket platform that will allow staff and external users (Provinces) to produce on-brand localised documents such as posters, leaflets that can be downloaded or printed on demand.
WebsiteThe MCF new website was launched and the team continue to work on content update for internal departments. We are pleased with the many improvements over the past website version: - Better access to key resources for all of our stakeholders
- A greater range of information for and about Provinces, including maps and data
- Greater accessibility and readability, conforming to industry standards
- A simple festival overview page
- An action-focussed design
- Greater range and flexibility of on-brand page templates, future-proofing the site for new additions
- A more effective menu structure which can be more easily adapted to the addition of new content
- Purpose built to accommodate third party applications such as Salesforce and online donation platforms
- Easier access to ‘share this page’ functions
- An improved simpler back-end for the comms team
Internal Comms- Continue publishing weekly staff e-newsletter
- Continue promoting social media platform Cluster to allow staff to securely share images and messages
Social Media- Ongoing and active social media publications, including participation in awareness weeks, and engagement, interaction and conversation with stakeholders (Lodges profiles, charities, Freemasons etc.)
Other campaigns and promotion- The team has enhanced e-news by sending targeted communications and by discussing e-mail marketing automation processes with the fundraising and Relief Chest teams; if successful, this project could be extended to other functions.
- Promoted emergency grant to Plan International UK following the cyclone in India and Bangladesh
- New merchandise catalogue has been developed and products are now being produced and delivered
- The 2020-21 pocket diary is being finalised ahead of print and circulation is due to August
Press and media- 854 articles published since 15 May
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COVID-19Between 14 June to 3 July, the RMBI Care Co. remained COVID-19 free with no residents symptomatic or positive. From the 3 July 2020, one new case has been confirmed at Connaught Court but confirmation on the status of this case is pending. This highlights that whilst we are largely free of the virus it is not gone. This has been further compounded in early July with a return to a lockdown of Devonshire Court as part of the government's response to the spike in Leicester. Since March, 76 residents have tested positive and recovered, 33 regretfully passed away, and a further 22 whilst not confirmed were deemed to have had a positive status at their time of death. Testing for staff has seen 944 negative tests and 120 positive tests (as of the 3 July) out of a workforce of around 1,300. No staff remain at risk or in hospital. PPE supplies are secure with provision in place until Christmas 2020 with no plans to amend our current protocols and further supplies to be planned into 2021 in anticipation of a second spike of the virus. In June, innovative partitioned visiting rooms were quickly created allowing family and friends to make much-welcomed visits, after a three-month restriction. Key indicators within our care planning have been introduced to monitor wellbeing and general health with some return to normality is beginning to occur. Good newsLocal BBC Radio have interviewed our Home Managers at four Homes so far which is great publicity. A local MP at Hove has written into the Home Manager to praise our innovation. The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has approached the charity to include our work on partitioned rooms within their report on innovation and best practice in the sector. The charity has worked extremely efficiently and effectively embracing Zoom technology and will look to review future working arrangements to identify best practice for our national, regional, and head office roles. There will be no return to head office on any basis before September and recommendations on increased home working will be made in the autumn. FinancesThe crisis led to a recast budget on 20 May 2020 which has subsequently been approved and supported by the MCF Board. Fundamental to the revised budget has been the inclusion and acceptance of a £5m extraordinary grant from the MCF to be paid in monthly instalments between August and December 2020 to contribute to PPE costs, staff cover, and the loss in occupancy. In addition, the MCF Board has supported the RMBI Care Co. Board's decision to negotiate and put in place a £10m overdraft facility through our bankers Barclays. The term sheet has been agreed with Barclays Bank on 4 June 2020 following a virtual Board e-mail ratification. The terms are an unsecured overdraft facility for £10m with a fee of £50,000 paid in quarterly instalments at an interest rate of 2.35% plus Bank of England base rate. It remains the intention of the RMBI Care Co to hold these facilities for 12 months with the overdraft taken out before 31 July 2020 with only £2.5m projected to be used. The larger facility avoids the need to negotiate further charges and terms in the event the charity is faced with the impact of further COVID-19 outbreaks this winter. |
COVID-19Between 14 June to 3 July, the RMBI Care Co. remained COVID-19 free with no residents symptomatic or positive. From the 3 July 2020, one new case has been confirmed at Connaught Court but confirmation on the status of this case is pending. This highlights that whilst we are largely free of the virus it is not gone. This has been further compounded in early July with a return to a lockdown of Devonshire Court as part of the government's response to the spike in Leicester. Since March, 76 residents have tested positive and recovered, 33 regretfully passed away, and a further 22 whilst not confirmed were deemed to have had a positive status at their time of death. Testing for staff has seen 944 negative tests and 120 positive tests (as of the 3 July) out of a workforce of around 1,300. No staff remain at risk or in hospital. PPE supplies are secure with provision in place until Christmas 2020 with no plans to amend our current protocols and further supplies to be planned into 2021 in anticipation of a second spike of the virus. In June, innovative partitioned visiting rooms were quickly created allowing family and friends to make much-welcomed visits, after a three-month restriction. Key indicators within our care planning have been introduced to monitor wellbeing and general health with some return to normality is beginning to occur. Good newsLocal BBC Radio have interviewed our Home Managers at four Homes so far which is great publicity. A local MP at Hove has written into the Home Manager to praise our innovation. The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has approached the charity to include our work on partitioned rooms within their report on innovation and best practice in the sector. The charity has worked extremely efficiently and effectively embracing Zoom technology and will look to review future working arrangements to identify best practice for our national, regional, and head office roles. There will be no return to head office on any basis before September and recommendations on increased home working will be made in the autumn. FinancesThe crisis led to a recast budget on 20 May 2020 which has subsequently been approved and supported by the MCF Board. Fundamental to the revised budget has been the inclusion and acceptance of a £5m extraordinary grant from the MCF to be paid in monthly instalments between August and December 2020 to contribute to PPE costs, staff cover, and the loss in occupancy. In addition, the MCF Board has supported the RMBI Care Co. Board's decision to negotiate and put in place a £10m overdraft facility through our bankers Barclays. The term sheet has been agreed with Barclays Bank on 4 June 2020 following a virtual Board e-mail ratification. The terms are an unsecured overdraft facility for £10m with a fee of £50,000 paid in quarterly instalments at an interest rate of 2.35% plus Bank of England base rate. It remains the intention of the RMBI Care Co to hold these facilities for 12 months with the overdraft taken out before 31 July 2020 with only £2.5m projected to be used. The larger facility avoids the need to negotiate further charges and terms in the event the charity is faced with the impact of further COVID-19 outbreaks this winter. |
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