A FRATERNAL organisation has donated thousands of pounds to health facilities in Essex as part of its ongoing support programme.

The Essex Freemasons has now handed over just shy of £13,000 in 2021 to hospices throughout the county after awarding further grants.

St Helena Hospice in Colchester has received £1,450 in funding from the group, while Fair Havens Hospice, in Southend, has been given £1,750.

Farleigh Hospice, which operates in mid-Essex, has landed £1,470, and Benfleet’s Little Havens Children’s Hospice and the J’s Hospice have received £1,375 and £500.

The Freemasons’ generosity ahead of the Christmas season means the organisation has now donated more than £100,000 to charitable causes this year.

All funding, which means every hospice in Essex has received some level of help, has been donated through the Freemasons’ charity the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

Paul Tarrant, provincial grand master for Essex Freemasons said: “I’m very pleased we’ve been able to assist so many Hospices across the county.

“They do an outstanding job helping people with terminal or life limiting conditions, as well as supporting their families through very difficult times.”

Nationally, £600,000 has been donated to hospices across England and Wales this year by the Freemasons, whose foundation is also set to partner with Hospice UK.