On Tuesday 19th December a grant of £4000 was presented to Prostate Cymru at the Cardiff Masonic Hall. Prostate Cymru’s Chairman Andy Thomas and Awareness Volunteer Ian Norton were presented with the certificate at the special luncheon.
The £4000 Community Award from the Masonic Charitable Foundation for Prostate Cymru was decided by an unprecedented public vote in 2017 as part of Freemasonry’s 300th anniversary celebrations. The vote was used by the Masonic Charitable Foundation to distribute three million pounds to three hundred charities across the country. 178,801 people took part in the public vote for charities across England and Wales.
Other charities and organisations in the South Wales region who were awarded grants include NSPCC Wales, Touch Trust, Alzheimers Society South Wales, Age Connect Cardiff & Vale, Thrive Cardiff, South East Wales Downs Syndrome Support Group and The Princes Trust.
Provincial Grand Master R.W.Bro. Gareth Jones OBE from South Wales Freemasons said: “We are delighted to be able to celebrate three hundred years of Freemasonry by helping 8 excellent local charities. We’ve been active in charity work for all that time, but this is the first occasion we’ve asked the public to help us decide how to spend our money. We are very pleased that so many people from South Wales took part in the vote.”
Tina Tew, Chief Executive at Prostate Cymru said: “The grant of £4000 which we have been awarded following the public vote is hugely important. We are grateful to every person who voted for us and supported the charity. We plan to use this community award to help develop online prostate education systems for GPs, medical students and the public.”