Quietly making a difference to the lives of many

In 2023, one of our Halls on Chester Rd. Ellesmere Port became unviable and was sold for redevelopment. Each unit that met there was given a tranche of money, and most of those have gifted some or all of it to the Festival, a planned activity which occurs every few years where we coordinate fund raising to support good causes.

The lion’s share however was rolled into a new Charity – The Ellesmere Port Masonic Hall Trust,  thanks to the vision of Senior Cheshire Freemason  Mike Ireland. Since that time circa £1/2 Million has been spent acquiring and completely renovating 3 properties including a 5 bed HMO, a 4 bed HMO and a family home. The purpose of the Charity is to provide accommodation for the homeless and get them back on their feet so they can move on in Society. In order to provide that service many hurdles have to be (and have been) overcome and therefore, during the renovation, Mike and others have ensured the Charity achieved the following:-

• Accredited Status with Cheshire West Council
• An HMO Licence to operate in Ellesmere Port
• Become members of The National Residential Landlords Association

As far as we are aware, Chesire is the only area providing such relief in our community.

The business model is simple – we fill each property by working with the Council to select the occupants, the Council pays the Charity a social rent, enabling it to then mortgage the property and release cash to fund the acquisition and renovation of the next property. And the good news story is that the first completed family home is now occupied by a veteran’s homeless daughter, Jane, and her 5 children who naturally are extremely grateful to have a roof over their heads.

At Cheshire Annual General meeting, in recognition of this fantastic achievement, the Province provided a £500 of vouchers to Jane to spend on some of the essentials she needs for herself and her growing family.

Thank you to everyone involved in this success story.