Mrs Heather Weir, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Hospice
receiving a cheque for £11,000 from R W Bro Maurice Lee, P.G.M.
On Monday 21 December 2015 five representatives from Provincial Grand Lodge travelled to Belfast to present a cheque for £11,000 to the Northern Ireland Hospice to furnish and equip an individual en suite private room in Somerton House, Somerton Road, Belfast 15.
Somerton house is being completely refurbished and extended at a cost of £13 million and when re-opened in April 2016 will become a centre of excellence for Palliative Care in the Province. It will include 17 private bedrooms in addition to an impressive range of day care and treatment facilities offering respite and end of life care. The party from Provincial Grand Lodge was welcomed to Somerton House by R W Bro Rodney McCurley, Deputy Grand Master and a trustee of the Northern Ireland Hospice. It was his great pleasure to introduce brother masons for Tyrone and Fermanagh and express his hope that further bedrooms in the hospice would be sponsored by brethren from other masonic provinces. The cheque for £11,000 from the Provincial Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund was presented to Mrs Heather Weir, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Hospice, by Provincial Grand Master, R W Bro Maurice Lee, on behalf of the brethren of Tyrone and Fermanagh.
Other members of the delegation from Provincial Grand Lodge were, R W Bro Frank Arnold, Provincial Deputy Grand Master, V W Bro Ronnie Abbott, Provincial Senior Grand Warden, W Bro Harold McKee, Provincial Grand Steward of Charities and V W Bro Jim McBain, Provincial Grand Almoner.