Back in February 2020 one of the members of the Lodge of Dawn saw a news story in the Yorkshire Evening Post about a group of fed-up parents who had just launch an appeal to improve children’s playground. Under half a mile from our home at Castle Grove, Meanwood Park playground’s appeal sounded like the perfect cause for the lodge to get behind and support.
The lodge reached out to offer to see if they could help, but were a little bit too early, as the group hadn’t yet registered as a charity nor even had a bank account to receive funds! And then the pandemic hit and everything went quiet.
Fast forward to January 2023 and the Meanwood Park Playground appeal group re-contacted The Lodge of Dawn. By now the group had a constitution, a partnership agreement, initial funding, plans and bank accounts. The group had received an initial funding grant of £75k from Veolia Environmental Trust, and £20k from Leeds City Council which had enabled the first phase of work to commence, but more funding was still needed.
The Lodge of Dawn took up the request and worked closely with the group to put forward an application to the Yorkshire West Riding Provincial Grand Master’s Fund which focuses on the ‘Freemasonry in the Community’ Initiative. On 3rd April both the lodge and the group were delighted to hear that a grant of £30,000 had been awarded to help support the on-going development of the Playground.
A spokesperson for The Lodge of Dawn said, “charitable giving is a key part of masonic life. We are delighted to see our funds being used for something that supports our local community, and moreso is right on our doorstep. And from our own point of view this is the largest major grant that we have ever secured so we are doubly delighted. I would also like to take this opportunity to put it out there that if anyone reading this works for, knows of or simply is connected to a charity based in the North Leeds area please get in touch and we would be pleased to consider your cause for financial grant.”
The Meanwood Playground Appeal team said, “Meanwood Park is at the core of our community, and the playground needs some serious work so we can create better play facilities for the children in and around Meanwood for years to come. We are absolutely delighted that The Lodge of Dawn proposed an application supporting us to West Riding Masonic Charities. The Leeds Freemasons have now granted us £30,000 to deliver some fantastic new, safer and accessible features to the playground. This will make a huge difference to the project to revive and renew the whole playground, and we are really thankful for this fantastic support!”
You can find out more about Meanwood Park playground, and donate, here.
Charitable giving is a key part of masonic life. You can read more about The Lodge of Dawn’s charitable activity here.
If you are a Leeds-based charity and are interested in applying for a grant, please see our simple guide here.
Joining The Lodge of Dawn
If you are not a Freemason and, having read the above, would like to find out more, read our Seven Reason to Join The Freemasons, our guide on ‘How to join The Freemasons‘ or our simple ‘What is Freemasonry?’ page.
And if you would like to join The Lodge of Dawn in Leeds, please feel free to get in touch via our ‘Contact Us’ page.