Freemasons Give £1,000 to Turkey & Syria Earthquake Tragedy

Within hours of the earthquake tragedy in Turkey and Syria on 6 February, £10,000 was immediately donated to UK-Med, a charity which is based within Manchester University by Freemasons. UK-Med sent an assessment-team to Turkey following the catastrophic event. The team, made up of surgeons, paramedics, emergency medical staff, operations and logistics staff, travelled to Turkey within hours of the disaster. On 11 February, they dispatched a field hospital from their Manchester warehouse to get vital medical aid to the thousands of people in need of help.  Freemasons nationally also gave £60,000 immediately to the British Red Cross, UK for UNHCR and UNICEF too who are leading the relief effort on the ground.  Other substantial donations are being made by Freemasons.

Closer to home in Henley, Henley Freemason, Geoff Walsh visited our good friend Dino Gezen the owner of Henley Turkish Barbers and a Turkish Kurd himself last Friday.  Dino is prominent in the local campaign to send off relief supplies urgently and directly to Turkey and Syria.   Geoff presented a cheque to Dino from Henley Freemasons for £1,000.  Dino said, “In my own  family, my close family member, first cousin Kathryn, who is a school teacher, is married to Mohammed also a Turkish Kurd and they have a daughter. I have been speaking to him in the last few days over his own family’s suffering from the dreadful loss of life and earthquake damage back on the Turkish/Syrian border.”