Chris Lockwood, left, an APGM from the Province of Hampshire and Isle of Wight, and Graham Glazier, Provincial Grand Master of the Province of Dorset
Local Freemasons came together to fund a much-needed support hub in Bournemouth for Hope Housing’s training and support programme.
The charity provides accommodation for homeless and vulnerable adults and helps them integrate back into society.
Its new hub was entirely funded by Freemasons from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and Dorset.
It will enable the charity’s support workers to use ‘quiet rooms’ to conduct private, one-to-one sessions with those who it is helping.
Hope Housing provides homes across Bournemouth and Poole for 100 people.
Chris Lockwood, an APGM from Hampshire and Isle of Wight with responsibility for that area of the province, attended the opening with Graham Glazier the Provicnial Grand Master of the Province of Dorset.
Chris said: “The charity works tirelessly for those who find themselves homeless, giving them somewhere to live but also helping them in many other ways.
“The new hub, which we are proud to have funded, provides the perfect place for important sessions between support workers and their clients.”
Typical of those whom the charity helps is Stuart, from Poole, who became homeless.
He said about the ‘quiet room’ support sessions he receives in the new hub: “They are helping me get my head together and taking me towards independence.
With the ambition of being able to rent his own flat in Poole, he added: “You have to have hope.”
So far Hope Housing has helped nearly 2,000 vulnerable people into safe, supported accommodation.
Bournemouth and Christchurch are part of the Freemasons’ Province of Hampshire and Isle of Wight which is why it joined with the Province of Dorset to fund the hub.
The Masonic Charitable Foundation was also involved in match funding the effort.