DISCOVER ERLEGH LODGE · GIVING BACK
Charity at Erlegh Lodge
Charitable giving has been part of Erlegh Lodge’s character since 1984, and it has never stopped, not even when the lodge could not meet. This is where that quiet, steady work is recorded: the causes we have supported, near and far, and the people they help.
THE STORY SO FAR
A tradition that has never stopped
Erlegh Lodge has been giving to charity since its founding in 1984. The detailed record that survives from 2015 onwards offers a window into a tradition that has never stopped, and one that resists easy summary. The lodge’s earliest donations in this period went to Sue Ryder and to Serien UK, an aid organisation working in Africa: a pairing that already speaks to the mix of the near and the distant that has characterised Erlegh Lodge ever since.
Over the years that followed, the lodge channelled significant funds into the Berkshire Province 2023 Festival, a major Masonic fundraising effort for which Erlegh Lodge earned a Platinum Award. It maintained ties with the Earley Volunteer Driver Bureau, which supports vulnerable residents in the area after which the lodge is named; it gave to Macmillan and Sue Ryder; and more recently to Alzheimer’s Research UK and Prostate Cancer UK. In 2026, the Worshipful Master designated Help for Heroes as the lodge’s chosen charity for the year, each Master has that privilege, bringing his own judgement to where giving is most needed. In total, more than £20,000 was donated in the decade to 2026, not counting the separate support given directly to members and their families through Freemasonry’s own benevolent funds.
The giving continued even through the pandemic, when lodge meetings were suspended for over a year. That continuity, maintained quietly and without fanfare, is perhaps the most honest measure of the lodge’s values.
BY THE NUMBERS
What the record shows
£20,000+
donated in the decade to 2026, for which detailed records are held
12
charitable causes supported across local, national and international giving
Platinum Award
Berkshire Province 2023 Festival, earned, not self-awarded
1984
the year Erlegh Lodge was founded, and charitable giving began
All figures exclude benevolent payments and direct support to members and their families; the real total is considerably higher.
LOCAL · NATIONAL · INTERNATIONAL
A dozen causes, near and far
Erlegh Lodge’s giving has never been tied to a single cause. Over the past decade it has reached local community services, national health charities, Masonic care and international aid. These are the causes the lodge has supported.
Berkshire Province 2023 Festival
Regional Masonic charitable campaign.
Alzheimer’s Research UK
Dementia research, national charity.
Prostate Cancer UK
Men’s cancer research and support.
Earley Volunteer Driver Bureau
Local transport for vulnerable residents.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Cancer care and support, national.
Sue Ryder
Palliative and neurological care.
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution
Care homes for Masons and families.
Serien UK
International aid, Africa.
Reading Symphony Orchestra
Community arts, Berkshire.
Provincial Pantomime Charity
Children’s charity via the Province.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Court
RMBI care home, Berkshire.
Help for Heroes
Wounded, injured and sick veterans.
★ Worshipful Master’s charity for 2026
THE WORSHIPFUL MASTER’S CHARITY
Help for Heroes, our chosen charity for 2026
Each year the Worshipful Master, the brother who leads the lodge, names a charity close to his own heart as the lodge’s chosen cause for his year in the chair. It is a small tradition that keeps the lodge’s giving personal, and keeps it moving with the people who make up the lodge.
For 2026, the Master has chosen Help for Heroes, which supports wounded, injured and sick veterans of the Armed Forces and their families. It sits alongside the lodge’s continuing support for Alzheimer’s Research UK and Prostate Cancer UK, a reminder that charitable duty here is not fixed to a single cause, but grows with the times and the people it serves.
THE QUIETER SIDE
Charity is built into the Craft
The donations recorded on this page are only part of the story. Freemasonry has its own long-standing benevolent tradition: funds that quietly support members and their families in hard times, and care homes such as Lord Harris Court here in Berkshire, run by the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution. That support rarely appears in a set of accounts, which is why the lodge’s real charitable contribution is greater than any single figure suggests.
Freemasons are also among the largest charitable givers in the country, and the great majority of what is raised goes to causes with no Masonic connection at all: medical research, hospices, community services and disaster relief. Erlegh Lodge’s giving, local, national and international by turns, is a small part of that wider effort.
Local
Long support for the Earley Volunteer Driver Bureau, on the lodge’s own doorstep.
National
Alzheimer’s Research UK, Prostate Cancer UK, Macmillan and Sue Ryder among the causes backed.
Beyond
International aid through Serien UK, and care for Masons and their families through the RMBI.
Read more about the lodge’s history and character on our About Erlegh Lodge page.
COME AND MEET US
Moved by what we do? Come and meet us.
Charity is only one part of what draws men to Erlegh Lodge, but it is a good place to start a conversation. If the way this lodge gives back speaks to you, we would be glad to tell you more, with no obligation of any kind.
Making an enquiry commits you to nothing. We will simply arrange a relaxed chat at a time that suits you.