At the start of the lockdown in March 2020, Florence Nightingale Hospice was put in a terrible position. Patients within the hospice were unable to have visitors. A time when their family and friends longed to be with them in the final days of life to offer support and comfort and also to say those hard goodbyes.
The Lodges in the Aylesbury area have always been close supporters of the charity and Buckinghamshire Freemasons generally is a true advocate of all they do.
A call-out to some of the local lodges to see if they could assist in raising money to enable a fast procurement of tablet computers to enable each patient to be allocated one for the term of their stay to have 24/7 contact with friends and family.
As you would expect, the lodges contacted stepped-up to the plate and monies raised quickly to enable 8 tablets and cases to be obtained. These are:
> Haddenham Lodge 8944
> Haddenham Mark Lodge 1629
> Vale Lodge 6632
> Ferdinand de Rothschild Lodge 2420
> Ferdinand de Rothschild Chapter 2420
> Entente Cordiale Lodge 9490
The hospice has waited for months to be able to invite a representative along to make the presentation and was only able to do so recently when restrictions lifted and they had changed their own guidelines for non relatives / friends to attend.
They are so very thankful for this initiative we assisted with so quickly and Buckinghamshire Freemasons for the continued support given to them.
Here is the Charity Steward of Haddenham Lodge presenting the Tablets (which had been quarantined purposely for this) to two of the staff:
> Tracey Batt - Day Hospice Team Leader
> Heather Wilkinson – Healthcare Assistant
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