A £5,000 donation by West Lancashire Freemasons to the charity Lifelites has allowed them to provide a package of interactive technology for patients at local children’s hospice Claire House in Liverpool

The grant to Lifelites was made during a national fund-raising event that saw the charity’s Chief Executive Simone Enefer-Doy call at Blackpool as part of a national tour.

Simone was joined on a recent visit to the hospice by Assistant Provincial Grand Master Derek Parkinson, Royal Arch Assistant to the Provincial Grand Principals’ Sam Robinson and local Liverpool Group Chairman Mark Matthews, who all had the opportunity to see the difference the technology is making in enhancing the lives of the children who are cared for at Claire House.

One of the technology packages they saw being used was the ‘Magic Carpet’, which is a fantastic sensory learning tool with the capacity to engage people of all ages and abilities. The system projects interactive games and images on to the floor that users can play with and control simply by moving on or over the projected image. 

After watching baby Phoenix interacting with the ‘Magic Carpet’, Derek Parkinson remarked: 'It’s very humbling to see the dedication of the staff here at the hospice and we can’t sufficiently express our gratitude for the incredible work that they do.'

'Giving aid and support to charities within the local and wider community is central to Freemasonry. It’s marvellous to see at first hand what the money we have donated is achieving and we thank both LifeLites and Claire House for this opportunity.'

It’s the journey  that matters

Via Rolls-Royce, camper van, horse and cart, speedboat and tandem bicycle, Lifelites chief executive Simone Enefer-Doy travelled 2,500 miles in two weeks to raise the profile of this hard-working charity

Providing life-changing assistive technology, Lifelites helps the 10,000 children and young people in hospices across the British Isles live their short lives to the full. On 25 May 2018, the charity’s chief executive, Simone Enefer-Doy, set off on an epic road, air and river trip to spread the word and raise funds.

The 2,500-mile challenge, called Lift for Lifelites, was to take in 47 famous landmarks in England and Wales in just 14 days. For each leg of the journey, Simone received a lift from Provincial supporters in an eclectic mix of transportation. After setting an initial target of raising £50,000 for Lifelites, the total now stands at over £104,000. Simone says she has been astounded at the support and generosity she encountered as she travelled around the country. 

‘Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that so many people would come out to meet me on my journey and support my challenge. We have received a terrific welcome wherever we have gone, and it really spurred me on to continue whenever I felt myself flagging. I would like to thank everyone – drivers, donors and venues – for helping to make Lift for Lifelites happen. We couldn’t have done it without you.’

If you’d like Lifelites to come to one of your Provincial meetings to make a presentation about Simone’s adventure and how the charity will use the money, please get in touch via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 0207 440 4200.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons have donated over £20,000 to 31 charities at a celebration evening at Farnborough Masonic Centre on 4th May

All the donations distributed to the charities had been raised from individual members of the area’s lodges. Of the many and varied methods of raising funds are raffles, special events and personal donations, all with the specific aim of distributing to local charities.

The evening was hosted by William Withers, the Assistant Provincial Grand Master of Hampshire and Isle of Wight. Dignitaries present included the local Aldershot Member of Parliament, Leo Docherty, together with the Mayor of Rushmoor, Sophia Choudhary, as well as Cllr Ken Muschamp, Cllr Charles Choudhary and Diane Bedford.

Representatives of the charities and other agencies gave interesting and inspirational talks about their own work and how donations are put to good use.

Amongst the 31 charities which received donations, were Phyllis Tuckwell, Lifelites, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Hampshire Air Ambulance, Stepping Stones, Limbcare, Henry Tyndale Community Special School and Veterans in Action.

William Withers said. 'This was a memorable and rewarding experience, with local and national charities coming together displaying such enthusiasm and in the process, making new friends. As Freemasons we believe in supporting our local communities in their functional activities and this event provided even more motivation for us to keep raising funds for such worthy causes.'

After the formal presentations had concluded, the attendees were invited to a buffet reception in the centre’s dining hall, where everyone had the opportunity to socialise and discuss many of the evening’s topics and recipients of the donations.

A Freemasons-funded project at a children’s hospice in Hampshire has been featured as part of a BBC show about disability and video games

Over the past year, the Province of Hampshire & Isle of Wight has provided significant funding to the charity Lifelites so it can provide life-changing assistive technology to children at a local hospice.

The ability to play video games can be beneficial for young people with disabilities. As many have very limited movement and are often unable to control anything for themselves, the technology Lifelites donates can help them to regain this ability. It can also help them to communicate with friends, encouraging social development and relieving isolation, as well as create the opportunity to play and have fun.

Lifelites Chief Executive Simone Enefer-Doy has left Freemasons' Hall to kick-start her 2,500 mile journey to 47 famous landmarks to raise awareness of Lifelites and £50,000 for the charity

Dubbed 'A Lift for Lifelites', Simone will see Freemasons in nearly every Province in England and Wales and will be stopping at landmarks such as Hadrian’s Wall, Angel of the North and Bletchley Park in vehicles including a classic Rolls Royce, a camper van, a four seater plane, an E Type Jaguar and even a zip wire.

Simone said: 'With the help of Freemasons and their vehicles around the country, I’m on a mission to raise the profile of our work and raise more funds to reach more children whose lives could be transformed by the technology we can provide.'

We'll be updating this page regularly, including images, as Simone continues on her epic quest.

Day 14 – Thursday 7 June

That's a wrap! Simone completed her 14 day challenge and finished in style on ThamesJet speedboat with guests including United Grand Lodge of England Chief Executive Dr David Staples. Her fundraising currently stands at over £103,000.

Day 13 – Wednesday 6 June

It's the penultimate day, starting with a trip to Bedfordshire at the Shuttleworth Collection. The next stop was Silverstone racetrack in Northamptonshire, which included completing a lap in a Jaguar, before driving this to Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire. The last trip was to the home, studios and gardens of former artist Henry Moore in Hertfordshire.

Day 12 – Tuesday 5 June

Day 12 took in journeys across Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The first stop was Gordon Boswell Romany Museum in Lincolnshire before using two vehicles, a Hudson Straight Six Touring Sedan and a Range Rover, to Bressington Steam and Gardens in Norfolk. There was still time to grab lunch at Bury St Edmunds Abbey in Suffolk before a BMW took Simone to her final stop in Cambridgeshire, which included a punt on the River Cam.

Day 11 – Monday 4 June

Simone crammed in four locations to start the week, with a wide variety of vehicles used. The day started in Yorkshire Sculpture Park before driving a 1977 Bentley to the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire. It was from here that Simone then picked up a DeLorean to take her to Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire before completing the day by driving a gold Rolls-Royce to Victoria Park in Leicestershire.

Day 10 – Sunday 3 June

The week concludes with trips to Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire and East Riding, as well as the news that Simone had already hit her £50,000 target. Trips included the Millennium Bridge in Northumberland, the Angel of the North and a scenic drive across the Yorkshire Moors to Bolton Castle.

Day 9 – Saturday 2 June

Day nine saw visits to the Provinces of West Lancashire and Cumberland and Westmorland, with landmarks including Hadrian’s Wall in Cumbria and transport provided by a horse and cart.

Day 8 – Friday 1 June

Two Rolls-Royces helped provide the transport on day nine, with Simone starting at the Avoncroft Museum in Worcestershire, driving down to New Place in Warwickshire and then to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. There was still time to conclude the day by visiting Manchester Cathedral in East Lancashire.

Day 7 – Thursday 31 May

At the halfway point, Simone made trips to Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire – starting out at the Georgian Hall Dunham Massey, then heading to the RAF Museum Cosford in a custom built Rewaco Bike and finally, to Arthur’s Stone.

Day 6 – Wednesday 30 May

Day six was solely focused in North Wales where Simone took on the challenge of the fastest zip wire in the world. This was then followed by making the journey to Chester in a six month old blue McLaren Spider and flanked by the Widows’ Sons motorcyclists and Blood Bike volunteers.

Day 5 – Tuesday 29 May

Day five was a journey across the borders for Simone as she ventured to Oxfordshire before heading west to Monmouthshire and continued to South Wales and West Wales. Landmarks included Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, Caerleon Amphitheatre in Newport, the Donald Gordon theatre in Cardiff and ending the day in the county town of Carmarthen to meet the Provincial Grand Lodge of West Wales.

Day 4 – Monday 28 May

Simone began day four by driving an Aston Martin DB9 to the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare with help from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Somerset. A 1928 MG Riley saloon then took Simone to her next port of call, Clifton Suspension Bridge where the Provincial Grand Lodge of Bristol had a 1966 Austin Mini Cooper waiting to take her to Caen Hill Locks. It was here that Simone met representatives from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Wiltshire, before the final stop of the day saw her clock up the miles to Shaw House in Berkshire to be greeted by members of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Berkshire.

Day 3 – Sunday 27 May

Day three involved journeys to Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. It started with a visit to Lulworth Cove in Dorset to be met by members from the Provincial Grand Lodge in a yellow camper van and to receive a donation of £2,000. Simone then ventured to Buckfast Abbey to receive a donation of £5,000 from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire before departing in a classic Rover to head to Lanhydrock House and Garden in Cornwall, where she received another donation of £1,750.

Day 2 – Saturday 26 May

Simone took to the sky for day two, meeting a representative from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hampshire and Isle of Wight who drove her to Southampton to board a flight to Jersey, to meet members of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Guernsey and Alderney.

Day 1 – Friday 25 May

Simone has begun her challenge, leaving in a taxi escorted by a fleet of Widows Sons motorcyclists. This is the start of her 14 day road trip with a difference, using a variety of unusual and extraordinary forms of transport.

The next destination for Friday was Richmond Park where Simone was met by representatives from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex after arriving in a Porsche 550 Spyder. Further destinations included Guildford Cathedral, where Simone was met by a Noddy car, and Brighton Royal Pavilion, where the Provincial Grand Lodge of Sussex made a donation of £5,000.

Lifelites has a package of their magical technology at every children’s hospice across the British Isles and their work is entirely funded by donations. Through the journey they are seeking to raise £50,000 – that’s the cost of one of their projects for four years.

You can sponsor Simone by clicking here

Thanks to the generosity of Freemasons on the Isle of Man, Lifelites has been able to deliver innovative technology to Rebecca House Children’s Hospice on the island

The Province has pledged to cover the entire cost of the package, which includes accessible, cutting-edge technology, as well as training and technical support services.

The technology will transform the time children spend at the hospice, enabling them to play games, be creative with art and music, control something and communicate with others.

With the funding covering the next four years, this is the first time that children at the Isle of Man hospice have been able to use this type of technology.

The Province of West Lancashire was anxious to ensure that it celebrated the Tercentenary in style and with that in mind, two gala dinners took place within a few weeks of each other

At the main event, held at the Hilton Hotel, Blackpool, over 400 brethren and their partners gathered to attend the Provincial Tercentenary Gala Dinner. The evening began with the entrance of the Provincial Grand Master Tony Harrison and his wife Maureen, who were accompanied by the principal guest, Assistant Grand Master Sir David Hugh Wootton. Also joining them was the chairman of the West Lancashire Tercentenary committee, Assistant Provincial Grand Master Tony Bent and his wife Lynda.

Following the dinner, the entertainment began in dramatic style when a waiter dropped a large tray of cutlery, apparently accidentally on to the dance floor. This got everyone’s attention but rather than a mishap, this was the start of a performance in which several theatrical ‘waiters’ performed a set of popular operatic arias to the delight of the audience.

As the customary toasts were made, Tony Harrison proposed the toast to the ‘Premier Grand Lodge’ on the occasion of its Tercentenary and then, following a brief synopsis of Sir David’s professional and Masonic career, offered a toast to the Assistant Grand Master. To further mark Sir David’s visit, Tony presented him with a cheque for £5,000 from the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity to pass on to the Lifelites charity, of which he is a patron.

He was also presented with a ‘Rail Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland’ and a special bottle of Martell Cognac which commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Martell Distillery. Sir David thanked Tony for his kind words and very generous gifts.

The evening’s raffle, which raised £1,920 in favour of the West Lancashire 2021 Masonic Charitable Foundation Festival, saw the lucky winners claiming a variety of prizes, including a coach holiday in the UK, flying lessons and a widescreen television.

At another event, held earlier in the north of the Province, over 200 Masons and their partners gathered at the Cumbria Grand Hotel to celebrate what was billed as ‘A Spectacular Banquet and Ball’, organised jointly by the Furness and Lancaster Masonic Groups. Once again, the revellers were joined by Tony and Maureen Harrison at a wonderful event that combined great food, marvellous entertainment and a spectacular firework finale.

Speeches were kept to a minimum with the emphasis firmly on having a relaxed and fun filled evening. The speech and double toast given by Assistant Provincial Grand Master David Grainger was so uncharacteristically short that it earned him rapturous applause!

Everyone pronounced both evenings to be a great success and a fitting way to celebrate such a memorable Masonic milestone in true West Lancashire style.

Terminally ill and disabled children at the Demelza children’s hospice in south-east London have received a brand-new package of assistive technology worth £50,000, thanks to West Kent Freemasons’ support of specialist technology charity Lifelites

Lifelites has provided a range of specially adapted technology, including a Magic Carpet, which is a portable unit that projects interactive images onto a floor, bed or wheelchair tray, and equipment that enables children with limited mobility to make music or operate a computer using just their eyes.

Ann Fagg, care services lead at the hospice, said: ‘This very generous donation from Lifelites has made a world of difference to the children who use our facilities.’

Find out more: To learn more about the charity’s work, or to lend your support, visit www.lifelites.org

The United Grand Lodge of England’s Assistant Grand Master Sir David Wootton has lend his support and expertise to a new role as patron for Lifelites, the charity which donates and maintains inclusive technology for terminally ill and disabled children in hospices

Sir David was introduced to Lifelites through his role as Assistant Grand Master and as Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, a livery company for senior practitioners in the information technology industry. Since learning more about the charity’s work, he has decided to lend his name to help the organisation and the children it supports.

Sir David devotes much of his time to supporting charities and other non-profit organisations. He has previously worked with organisations such as The National Trust, The Institute of Cancer Research, The King’s Fund and Charles Dickens Museum, among others.

Lifelites – originally a Freemasons’ millennium project but now a registered charity in its own right – donates and maintains specialist packages of assistive and inclusive technology for the 10,000 terminally ill and disabled children at every children’s hospice across the British Isles.

The technology the charity provides helps these children to play, be creative, control something for themselves and communicate, for as long as it is possible. It gives them the opportunity to escape the confines of their disabilities and do the things which we take for granted, but which they never thought possible: paint a picture, make music, or play a game with their brothers and sisters.  

Sir David Wootton said: ‘I am delighted to be in two organisations that are big supporters of Lifelites and am therefore doubly keen to support them. I recently visited their office and was shown what the dedicated team do there by their terrific Chief Executive Simone Enefer-Doy.

‘They have a musical instrument you can play just by passing your hand through a beam of light, a screen you can paint on in different colours electronically just with a move of the eye and the amazing magic carpet which projects an image or game on to the floor that you can actually interact with. These are all products of great imagination which transform these children’s lives and give them the chance to do what we all take for granted.’

Chief Executive of Lifelites Simone Enefer-Doy commented: ‘We are bowled over that Sir David has agreed to become a patron and support the work of Lifelites. We have no doubt that his status in the City Community will be perfect to assist us in raising the profile of Lifelites among this important audience.’

To find out more about Lifelites, please visit the website here. 

LIFELITES is giving one lucky bookworm the chance to win The Ultimate Library of 100 signed books

The prize, which is a once in a lifetime opportunity, will be given away as part of an online raffle hosted on givergy.com, and tickets will cost just £5 each. That’s equivalent to just 5p per book, but to a book lover the prize will be priceless, as every single one is signed by the author or illustrator. Everyone who buys a ticket will also be helping to support the charity’s work providing and maintaining specialist technology to children in hospices across the British Isles.

The 100 signed books cover just about every genre including crime, romance, fantasy, historical, biographical, mystery, comedy, political, poetry, food, travel, and thriller.

Among the authors who have kindly donated are Jeffrey Archer, Julian Barnes, Alan Bennett, Tony Blair, Bernard Cornwell, Jonathan Dimbleby, Max Hastings, Douglas Hurd, P D James, John Le Carré, Michael Palin, Jeremy Paxman, Malcolm Rifkin, Stella Rimington and Ann Widecombe, among others.     

As well as the top prize of 100 signed books, there will also be a second prize. The list of books in each prize can be found on the Lifelites website: http://www.lifelites.org/get-involved/enter-one-of-our-raffles/ultimate-library-of-100-signed-books

Every penny raised will support Lifelites’ work to enhance the lives of terminally ill and disabled children in hospices through the power of technology. The charity donates and maintains cutting-edge, accessible equipment to give these children with limited lives unlimited possibilities. The equipment, staff training and ongoing support costs Lifelites over £1,000 a month per hospice but the charity donates this completely free of charge. 

Fundraising and PR manager Dominic Hourd said: 'Lifelites is so excited to be offering this prize. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are extremely grateful to every author who has kindly donated a signed book. Each one will help us raise money for all 10,000 terminally ill and disabled children in hospices across the British Isles.'

The raffle is live now and will end on February 10th. Visit the Givergy website to buy tickets: https://www.givergy.com/listing/lifelites/win-the-ultimate-library-of-100-signed-books