Redevelopment of website assisted by donations from freemasons across Scotland
Donations from Scottish freemasons led by the Grand Lodge of Scotland have helped Prostate Scotland, Scotland’s prostate disease charity rebuild its website to make it more accessible and increase its content. The Grand Lodge of Scotland nominated Prostate Scotland to be its beneficiary charity in 2012. The generous support from the Grand Lodge of Scotland and from freemasons across Scotland has included:
- Raising £125,000 from a special Zipslide towards the charity’s special Blue Horizon appeal to help introduce robot assisted prostate cancer surgery in the East and west of Scotland
- Enabling the charity to print and distribute a special leaflet on ‘Prostate Cancer- is it in the family?’ to make available to men most at risk of prostate cancer
- Enabling over 15,000 copies of a ‘Brief Guide to prostate disease’. The brief guide, which when folded is credit card sized making it easy to pick up, provides information about prostate disease, its symptoms and its treatments to people coming new to the topic. These leaflets are being distributed to men and their families in many locations up and down Scotland, including in many health centres, social, sports and welfare clubs and freemasons Lodges caress the nation.
- Activity by many Provincial and daughter lodges in support of the charity including sponsored cycle rides, Burns Suppers, and sponsored walks amongst others
- Support towards its new website to enable the charity to provide information to men and their families.
Adam Gaines, Director of Prostate Scotland stated: ‘The wonderful and magnificent support we have received from freemasons across Scotland under the leadership of the Grand Lodge of Scotland has enabled us to not only increase the range of information materials and literature we have to inform men about prostate cancer and prostate disease and its’ symptoms and treatments, but also to produce new materials and support awareness initiatives in many parts of the country. We would like to specially acknowledge and thank the Grand Lodge and freemasons from across the nation for their kind donations which helped us in the redevelopment of this website – enabling us to reach out to even more men and their families.
‘Whilst there is still much more to do both in raising awareness and in providing information about treatments and also in increasing the survival rate even further, that task has been made easier thanks to the generosity and support of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and from Provincial and Daughter Lodges. That support is making a real difference to our work to reach out to men and their families across Scotland and in working to enable men to have information about treatments and access to them and we should like to record our sincere thanks – this support is deeply appreciated’.