Dragonfly Cancer Trust support young people who have terminal cancer, the Northumberland Freemasons have donated ten thousand pound that will help fund Sibling Boxes, filled with keepsakes that will enabled families to create lasting memories together.
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00:00We were approached by the Trust to help with some funding
00:04and when we read the letter and I made the phone calls to do some research
00:09it was a very emotional decision to help this charity.
00:12After all, I'm a father, I'm a grandfather
00:15and to lose a sibling of any description for the family and the other children
00:21must be heartrending.
00:23And we decided that we had to support this case.
00:26The Freemasons of Northumberland have a charity fund
00:29and we meet twice a year where we consider all applications
00:32and we give away approximately £160,000 to £180,000 every year
00:37to various good causes.
00:39So we support young cancer patients from birth up to their 25th birthday.
00:44So as you can see in front of us we've got a small selection
00:48of just some of the items that go into our sibling boxes.
00:52These gorgeous fluffy animals have little sections in the back
00:58where there should be a voice recorder inside
01:02and siblings can record voices or mums or dads
01:07and leave messages to be played so that they can be remembered in that way.
01:11We've got lovely holistic things like cameras and projectors
01:17that we can use to soothe and comfort siblings
01:20and also a huge array of boxes that explain the process
01:24of what's happening to their sister or brother.
01:27We're celebrating an amazing donation from the Freemasons of £10,000
01:32which is going to enable us to grow our sibling boxes
01:36and really develop that project across the region
01:39because there's lots of siblings that can do with support
01:42when they're going through that sad journey of a brother or sister having cancer
01:47and for us to be able to step in and give these fantastic boxes out to the family
01:52to help with that journey is absolutely incredible.
01:56So this money means the world to us as a small organisation.