For charities in the village of Pangbourne, 2023 was a breath of new life after the struggles of COVID-19. The members of Pangbourne Lodge were keen to help out in the community and were tasked with finding charities in need of help.
The Friends of Pangbourne Primary School (FOPPS) were introduced to the Lodge in 2021 when they donated £1,000 to help purchase special books for the pupils. And this year, the Lodge was delighted to donate a further £500 towards the purchase of iPads for the children.
Attached to the school is Pangbourne Valley Playgroup for under fives, which was in need of funds to help with its gardening project. The Lodge came up trumps by donating from its Benevolent Account and the Relief Chest – a total of £1,333 that saw an outside tap fitted, as well as raised flower beds and gardening equipment designed for young children.
Relief was also at hand when the public toilets in the village centre were in need of modernisation. The Lodge donated £500 at the end of last year and a further £500 this year to the Action for Pangbourne Toilets Community Trust. The Berkshire Masonic Charity (BMC) match-funded that donation, raising a total of £2,000 for a very worthy project.
In July this year, the Lodge helped the organisers of the Pangbourne Village Fete – a major crowd-puller in the community calendar. Pangbourne Lodge was delighted to donate £1,000 towards the cost of installing electrics in the showground. The Pangbourne Masonic Centre also decided to take a stand at the fete to promote Freemasonry in the Community. It paid off handsomely, with the Lodge attracting two new Candidates.
Over the past 18 months, members of Pangbourne Lodge and the BMC have made charitable donations totalling £4,833 and have raised their profile among the community in the process.
