Karen Organ of Cheltenham & Gloucester Hospital Charities was interviewed on David Smith’s show on BBC Radio Gloucestershire on the 25th of July 2023, talking about how important partnerships with organisations in the community is to support they work they do. She singled out Freemasonry as being a ‘brilliant organisation’ she hadn’t known much about at the start of the project. She had enjoyed learning more about us over the two and a half years of the project and hoped that Peter Coles, her main contact, was listening to the show. She told everyone that Project 21 had raised a ‘fantastic amount of money’ which had made a ‘huge difference to Gloucestershire’.
The project was initiated by Tim Henderson-Ross, head of Gloucestershire’s 2,600 Freemasons, and aimed to raise £300,000 (revised to £311,500) solely from donations by its members by the end of 2023. In fact, that target was exceeded by the end of June, so 6 months earlier. The Imaging Equipment that has been purchased by Cheltenham & Gloucester and Southmead Hospital Charities, have been invaluable as they go to the patient when and where the need is greatest. The speed of diagnosis and intervention can save lives. We know that this has been particularly important in neonatal care where inserting a line into such a tiny artery can be made far safer, quicker and easier by being able to see it live on one of the scanners provided by our donations. Gloucestershire Freemasons received an email from one very grateful father telling us how he will never forget what a difference that had made to his newborn daughter, who needed an urgent scan on the ward to identify life threatening issues. Doubtless there have been many, many more who have reason to be grateful to Gloucestershire Freemasons’ generosity in providing funds to purchase much needed Imaging equipment.
A full review of Project 21 Imaging Appeal results will follow in a special edition of ‘The Chain’ in the near future.
Please see link below to the interview on BBC Radio Gloucestershire on the 25th of July, which includes reference to Gloucestershire Freemasons 2 hours and 46 minutes into the interview – this is only available for 28 days from this date:
