ST LUKE’S Hospice and Northwich Stroke Association are among the groups which are to benefit from a £500,000 gifting spree across Cheshire by Freemasons to celebrate their 300th anniversary.

Martin Barlow, Northwich and Knutsford’s most senior Freemason, said: “We are looking forward to celebrating our 300th anniversary by gifting additional support to charities and deserving community groups across Northwich and Knutsford.

“This includes giving thousands cuddly bears to comfort children in the accident and emergency unit at Leighton Hospital, funding for Northwich Stroke Association and local hospices.”

Nationally Freemasons have donated more than £100 million to charities and medical research, making them one of the biggest charity donors in Britain.

In a bid to re-launch the image of Freemasonry, Stephen Blank from Altrincham, who leads more than 5,000 Freemasons across Cheshire as Provincial Grand Master, intends breaking a mould which has placed the organisation behind a veil of mystery since the Second World War.

He said: “We can no longer carry on in the fashion that was common after the last world war when Freemasons kept their membership to themselves, where they never spoke publicly about their activities or their giving to charity.

“Freemasonry in Cheshire is shedding its cloak of secrecy and striving to show how it is still relevant as Britain’s most altruistic club.”

The groups to benefit include £400 for Northwich Stroke Association, £1,000 for Willaston Scouts, £5,500 for The David Lewis Centre and £10,000 to Leighton Hospital for prostate screening.

Each hospice in the Province is to receive £1,000, apart from two, including St Luke’s Hospice, which are to receive an extra £10,000 each for specific match funding projects.