Charity - How we help

As Freemason’s and Knights Templars, we are defined by our core values, one of which is charity.

We are active collecting money and donations which we then gift to appropriate charities.

All the money we collect for charity goes to good works.

Where Our Money is Sent

The St John eye Hospital is located in East Jerusalem, and was founded in 1882. It is a wholly owned corporate subsidiary of the Venerable Order of St John.

The Hospital is run as a heavily subsidised fee-based establishment, about 75% of its income being derived from donations and grants, hence why our donations are so important.

Whilst it treats all who seek its care, irrespective of race, creed or ability to pay, the reality is that it serves the predominantly Arab populations of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem of over 3 million, for whom it is the sole provider of quality Ophthalmic care and professional training. The hospital has 49 beds and its’ clinical team are multi ethnic.

In 2019 the eye hospital treated 136,658 patients and performed over 5734 major surgical procedures.

Eye disease causing blindness is ten times more common in this region than in developed countries. We know that 8o% of blindness in the Holy Land is curable if treated, but this requires money which we are passionate about raising. This is where you can personally make a difference by donating using the link below.

May 2021 update

Donate to help prevent blindness

The United, Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta give considerable support to the Jerusalem Eye Hospital through collections from our Preceptory, Provincial and Great Priory meetings as well as through our programme of Social Events.

Please send all forms and donations to:

Relief Chest Scheme

The Masonic Charitable Foundation

60 Great Queen Street

London WC2B 5AZ

Download Cash/Cheque Donation Form
Download Credit Card Donation Form
Download Regular Donation Mandate Form

Knights Templar and Charity

How it all Started

The Order of St John came to England after the dissolution of the Knights of Malta (formerly the Knights of St John, or “Knights Hospitaller”) by Emperor Napoleon I in 1798.

Slowly growing through the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Order purchased St John’s Gate in Clerkenwell, London as its headquarters. Soon thereafter, the Order established the St John Ambulance Associations, providing first aid and training to railway men and colliers to reduce the burden of industrial accident. In 1882, the Order founded a hospice and ophthalmic dispensary in Jerusalem, trying to improve the ophthalmic health of the population – Arab, Christian and Jew – in the Middle East. The St John Eye Hospital today is a modern, specialised eye hospital on the outskirts of Jerusalem, with offshoot branches in Gaza and Hebron and providing multiple mobile clinics throughout the region.

cross
Victoria

Granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1888, the Order of St John is a British royal order of chivalry whose mission is “to prevent and relieve sickness and injury, and to act to enhance the health and well-being of people anywhere in the world”.

The association of the Great Priory of masonic Knights Templar with the St John Eye Hospital Group dates back over one hundred years, and the support of the Eye Hospital is the prime focus of our charitable efforts.
Every year the Great Priory donates several hundreds of thousands of pounds to assist the Hospital in its work. This money comes entirely from the 12,000 or so members of our Templar Order in England and Wales.

For example, in 2014, the Great Priory together with private Preceptories and other personal donations gave £330,000 to the Eye Hospital and, additionally, presented a cheque for £200,000 to provide for the refurbishment and re-equipping of the clinic in Hebron. Our support has, in the past, provided £120,000 for the purchase of sophisticated eye screening photographic equipment and to allow the establishment of a modern eye screening service in the region. Each year, our Order funds in full the senior orthoptist who, with her team, provide a vital service in the management of children’s eye disease.

Our support for the Eye Hospital continues unabated to this day.

The Provincial Priory of Northumberland contributes by assigning its charitable collection at the Annual General Meeting every September to the Eye Hospital. Last year, 140 attendees at the meeting donated £1,000 to the charity, and this is typical of the level of support our Knights give so willingly.

The sixteen Preceptories in Northumberland Province make their own contributions, each averaging £100 each year, from Alms collected from the Knights at our meetings.
Our charitable focus in Northumberland does not stop at the St John Eye Hospital, and we are unstinting in our support for non-masonic, community-based charities as well.

The charity collection from our Annual Malta Meeting in March is normally assigned to a community charity and over the years we have provided £700 for the purchase of new altar cloths for the Parish Church of St Nicholas in Gosforth (where, until recently, we held our Annual Provincial Church Service); £700 for “Blind Veterans UK”, the charity for sight impaired ex-service men and women; £600 to SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity; and £600 to CHUF, the Children’s Heart Unit Fund at the Freeman Hospital.

Douglas_Fairbanks_KStJ_1958