What is the Relief Chest Scheme?
Every year Freemasons across the country help to donate around £10million to charity through the Masonic Charitable Foundation’s (MCF) Relief Chest Scheme.
MCF is the Freemasons’ charity, helping to support Freemasons in their charitable endeavours. One particular success is through the Relief Chest Scheme, a charitable account which is owned collectively by a group of Freemasons, such as a Lodge, Chapter or Province. Donations made by members of the group are collected and held securely in the Relief Chest until they decide to distribute them to a registered charity of their choice. Today, there are over 5,000 Relief Chests which hold funds totalling more than £21million.
Donations can be made into a Relief Chest online by card or direct debit as well as through Alms collections at meetings; this makes it easy for everyone to make a donation, whether they’re tech-savvy or not. It’s a common misconception that the Relief Chest Scheme is difficult to use and time-consuming when really, it saves time and makes the process of donating easier.
Benefits of using the Relief Chest Scheme
MCF Relief Chest Manager Dilhani Jayasinghe explained to the MCF communications team a little more about the Scheme and its benefits.
Dilhani said: 'The Relief Chest Scheme provides an efficient administrative service to the Freemasonry community. It aims to relieve the representative of the administration, legislative and compliance duties, and allows them to concentrate on the most important aspect of fundraising.'
'Overall and most importantly, the Scheme guarantees ease of donating to charity, which is the backbone of the MCF’s work and one of the main four values of Freemasonry.'
The Scheme allows you to donate money securely by providing a Gift Aid tax reclaim service, ensuring full compliance with HMRC, and following the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and General Data Protection regulations. A Chest is an incredibly reliable place to store and distribute donations as it can only make payments to registered charities or organisations recognised by HMRC and the Charity Commission as ‘Charitable’.
Who benefits from the Scheme?
In the second quarter of 2022, £4.67 million in donations were distributed from the Relief Chest Scheme to various registered charities, including the MCF.
Cancer Research UK has received a total of £442,311 in donations through the Relief Chest Scheme from groups of Freemasons across England and Wales, with the most recent donation given last month in July. This is just one of hundreds of charities that receive generous, regular donations from Freemasons through the Scheme.
How the Scheme works
Buckinghamshire Freemason Graham Dearing explained to the MCF communications team how the Relief Chest Scheme works and why it was a “no-brainer”.
Graham said: 'Gift Aid is automatically reclaimed on all eligible donations, boosting every £1 donated by 25p, which makes an enormous difference to any amount donated. It also helps by encouraging members to give regular monthly payments. For me, opening a Relief Chest was a no-brainer.'
'Charitable funds in any organisation need to be managed professionally and within the charity’s rules and regulations, and using a Relief Chest ensures the Lodge or Chapter exactly that.'
Every Relief Chest must have a representative, and it is up to the Lodge or Chapter to decide which officer runs their Relief Chest – it is usually the Charity Steward or Treasurer. The representative is the only person in contact with the MCF Relief Chest Scheme office, and they are one of the two authorised signatories who can make a donation from the chest, request the balance of their account, and receives all correspondence regarding the Scheme.
Graham added: 'To have full transparency on all monies in and out is comforting. It’s easy to administer, and if funds are needed to be donated from the Relief Chest, it is a very quick process.'
'If you find yourself needing support or extra information, the Relief Chest team at the MCF are incredibly knowledgeable and keen to offer support where it’s needed.'
Overall, the Relief Chest Scheme is praised by users for its reliability, security, and ease. Its full range of services is provided completely free and no administration fee is charged, so it’s no surprise that so many groups of Freemasons choose to use the Scheme.
Graham said: 'I would recommend any Lodge or Chapter who wants to engage in charitable giving to make sure they have a Relief Chest. They owe it to their members and recipients of donations to ensure that any monies are safe and amounts are maximised using Gift Aid. Why would any Lodge, Chapter or Province want to try to do any of this themselves, when they can leave it to the MCF experts?'
Find out more about Freemasons’ charitable work and how you can help support the MCF.
