China Earthquake

The President of the Grand Charity has approved a £20,000 grant to the Red Cross to support relief efforts following an earthquake on May 12th 2008, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, in south-western China. The Freemasons’ Grand Charity is the first organisation to support the British Red Cross’ response to the worst earthquake to strike China in more than 30 years.

The Red Cross Society of China’s local branches have been active in the 48 hours following the quake, providing emergency relief to the affected areas, including tents and blankets. At the time of writing, the official death toll stood at over 40,000, with over 250,000 people injured.

The grant of £20,000 from the Freemasons’ Grand Charity will be an important contribution to the continuing rescue and relief efforts and is enough to provide approximately 200 relief tents, which will provide shelter for many of those affected and act as a first aid point to treat casualties, and also 850 quilts.