Suffolk Freemasons

Suffolk Masonic Charity Clay Shoot at Eriswell Lodge Shooting Ground

What a wonderful day it finally turned out to be on Saturday 4^th March 2023. The weather was a little cold with a crisp breeze but at least it stayed dry apart from a brief drizzle. The Suffolk Masonic Clay Shooting Society (SMaCSS) were pleased to host thirty six keen clay shooters comprised of Suffolk Masons, Masons of other provinces and shooting friends at the Eriswell Lodge Shooting Ground, Suffolk to shoot our winter 100 bird sporting competition. The event was kicked off by a plated English breakfast before SMaCSS Chairman Roger Nash opened the day with a Suffolk welcome, a safety briefing and an outline of CPSA rules for the day. With that said, all shooters readied themselves to head onto the shooting ground in their respective squads. The sporting layout for the day was comprised of twelve stands of eight or ten clays (affectionally known as birds) per stand with varied difficulty to suit the social and serious shooter. One particular stand of a pair of high crossing birds really did test the serious shooter and ruined plenty of scorecards of those who failed to find the flight line.

After three hours of shooting the results were collated and announced. In 1^stplace with 79/100 was Phil Ramsey (Suffolk Masons), 2^ndplace with 74/100 was Chris Ray (East Kent Masons) and in 3^rdplace with 73/100 was Keith Kilbourne (Norfolk Masons), another satisfying day for the Suffolk Masons.

We concluded the day with a raffle and totalled the money raised for charity for which we are delighted to report was £700.

To learn more about The Suffolk Masonic Clay Shooting Society visit: https://smacss.org

RMBI Care Co. announces plans to create new-build care home in Bury St Edmunds

RMBI Care Co. has announced its proposed plans to construct a new care home, which can support up to 64 people, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The new- care home will be built in phases, on the site of the existing home, Cornwallis Court. Cornwallis Court was originally a maternity hospital and then converted to a care home for older people in the 1980s. It has supported many older people with residential care, nursing care and residential dementia support throughout the years.

The building has naturally aged over time, bringing certain limitations, which have led to a reduced occupancy and increased building maintenance costs. Therefore, RMBI Care Co. has made the decision to build a new purpose built care home, which can support up to 64 people, on the site of the existing Home. The new care home will be designed and created to meet the changing needs of older people in a homely environment.

It will consist of:

• Four separate house groups, each containing 16 bedrooms, all of which will have an en-suite wet room. Each area will have two dining spaces and two lounges together with additional communal space in the main part of the building.

• Many of the ground floor rooms, including bedrooms, will have direct access via patio doors, to secure landscaped gardens.

RMBI Care Co. believes that its residents and staff teams are at the heart of the organisation. It will therefore be building the new care home in phases to retain the workforce and ensure that residents are able to continue to live comfortably in the existing home, before moving to the new building. These changes will help the charity to ensure it can provide quality care for Freemasons, their families and the wider communities in Suffolk, for years to come.

The new care home will be built in a series of phases:

Phase One Demolition of the existing Geoffrey Dicker House dementia house. The residents will move, with their dedicated staff team, to a designated space within the main home for the duration of the build. This phase may take approximately three months, starting September 2023.

Phase Two Construction of a new care home, which can support up to 32 people, on two floors, with an additional basement floor providing back of house facilities. This first building phase will be at the back of the existing home on the existing grassy car park space. The construction will take approximately 15 months, starting winter 2023.

Phase Three Demolition of remaining existing home, which will take approximately 4 months.

Phases Four & Five Construction and completion of additional 32 beds to give 64 new beds in total. This phase will also include finishing the landscaped gardens.

Next steps RMBI Care Co. will be submitting planning application in March 2023 with anticipated approval being granted in early Summer 2023. The wider team of RMBI Care Co. staff and external consultants including architects and the building contractor, will meet with residents, relatives, staff, and Association of Friends to discuss progress.

Mark Lloyd, Managing Director, said: “We’re passionate about supporting older people’s changing care needs, so we’re always thinking about how we can support them now, and in the future. Following the success of our new-build care home in Berkshire in 2022, we’re excited to share our plans to build a new home in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. “Pending planning permission, we aim to create and build a new care home to support our residents in a modern homely environment, with assistive technologies and a personal approach to our care.”

The completion date is expected to be 2026.

Jamie Gwatkin, Suffolk Provincial Grand Almoner, said “I am delighted and excited that RMBI Care Co. has committed this significant investment to Cornwallis Court in Suffolk. This will provide a first class facility for our Masonic Community throughout the Province and region. Our older citizens will receive the highest quality of care, from a dedicated team, in a homely environment. “This will be the most modern home in RMBI Care Co.’s portfolio. I am very proud and honoured that Suffolk has been chosen for this exciting project”

About RMBI Care Co. RMBI Care Co. provides residential care, nursing care and residential dementia support to older Freemasons, their families and people in the wider community. We have been caring for older people for over 180 years and today, we support over 1,000 residents across 17 care homes in England and Wales with a focus on wellbeing and quality outcomes.

Further Information: please contact: Maricel Foronda, Marketing Team This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ukrainian families split apart by conflict will be reunited thanks to Freemasons

Suffolk Freemasons have lent their support to families affected by the conflict in Ukraine by helping to raise a £100,000 donation to the British Red Cross, along with other Freemasons across England and Wales. The grant will support the Red Cross in its work with people seeking safety in the UK who have lost contact with loved ones. After being torn apart, finding each other can be incredibly hard and many may not know whether their children, partner or parents are alive, let alone where they are. Even when family members are found, the legal process to reunite can be long and complicated, and physically reuniting them is often unaffordable. Thanks to the British Red Cross they can be safely brought together in the UK.

The British Red Cross international family tracing team helps to find missing relatives, with experienced caseworkers, supported by interpreters, finding out how people were separated and where they could be. Those looking for loved ones can also upload a photo of themselves on the Trace the Face website in the hope that their missing family recognise them. If found, they will be able to speak to each other by phone. The Red Cross can also help families with visa applications and arrange face-to-face reunions with relatives in the UK. Dedicated caseworkers support refugees both practically and emotionally during this long process, helping them deal with the trauma of separation, and supporting them to access accommodation and financial support to maintain their wellbeing. Red Cross teams can also help pay for flights to the UK, for those that cannot afford it.

This latest £100,000 grant from the Freemasons comes after a series of previous grants totalling more than £1 million, helping Ukrainian refugees both in the UK and in Ukraine, as well as in Poland, Moldova and other neighbouring countries.

Alex Fraser, UK Director of Refugee Support and Restoring Family Links for the British Red Cross, said: “We’re very grateful to the Freemasons for this generous grant which we’ll use to reunite families torn apart by conflict. For people seeking safety in a crisis, losing contact with family members adds a new layer of trauma, and while the conflict in Ukraine has highlighted that fact, it’s a situation facing countless refugees and people on the move around the globe. Bringing families back together is a hard and complex process, but for someone looking for their child, spouse or sibling, it means everything. The Freemasons’ generosity will help us to support these people, whoever they are and whatever they’ve been through.”

Bob Lee, Assistant Provincial Grand Master of Suffolk Freemasons, commented “I am very pleased we’ve been able to help the British Red Cross with this hugely important project to reunite families who have often been scattered across the continent. I can’t imagine a better way for Ukrainian children to celebrate the New Year than to get their  families back in a safe country away from violence.”

About the Masonic Charitable Foundation The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) is one of the largest grant-making charities in the country. Funded entirely through the generosity of Freemasons and their families, the MCF awards millions of pounds each year to local and national charities that help vulnerable people, advance medical research and provide opportunities for young people. The MCF also helps to fund vital services such as hospices and air ambulances and regularly contributes to worldwide appeals for disaster relief.  In total, MCF support helps to improve the lives of thousands of people every year in England, Wales and internationally. As well as providing grants to charities, the MCF supports Freemasons and their families with a financial, health or family need. Visit www.mcf.org.uk