Norfolk Freemasons were delighted to support Norfolk Scrubs Volunteers to help them keep up with demand making scrubs for frontline NHS staff.
We have given a grant of £10,000 which was immediately spent purchasing 3,000 metres of fabric, which will make around 750 scrubs. You can see their work at Norfolk Scrubs Volunteers Updates
With the current Covid-19 pandemic, Norfolk Freemasons are funding antibody research at the UEA, face shields for the NHS and GP surgeries, laptops for the Citizens Advice Bureau, local food banks and meals for hospital staff with more to follow. This is being repeated with similar initiatives by Freemasons, their lodges and Provinces all over the country.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gstATY_yAfs”][vc_column_text]As you would expect, Norwich’s Naval and Military Lodge has close associations with the military. Indeed it can even claim a Victoria Cross holder – W. Bro. Harry Cator VC, MM as a Past Master (he was WM in 1944). As part of its traditions, at every November meeting, the Lodge holds a Service of Remembrance, usually accompanied by a talk from a notable speaker with a military association. This year as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions they were unable to hold their usual meeting but were keen to maintain the spirit of remembrance.
One of their members having considerable expertise in digital media, they placed remote cameras through the Lodge Room so that having “called off” the meeting the remembrance could be recorded. This was all done in strict conformity to Covid restrictions. We hope you will enjoy the fruits of their labours.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The Dynex Agility Automated Elisa System which was funded by Freemasons from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Hertfordshire, has been fully installed and configured at the University of East Anglia. Four staff members have been trained to carry out the Covid-19 antibody tests to determine if someone has had the virus and developed immunity to it.
The £91,000 machine was presented to Professor Bill Fraser by the Head of Norfolk Freemasons, RW Bro. Stephen Allen.
The Government has agreed to allow antibody testing nationally and has asked the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital to produce 1,400 test results per day. Together with other analysers across the Norwich Research Park, the UEA will contribute to meet this demand. This fully validated testing system has also been able to help validate or reject other possible tests that could be used to further increase total capacity across the Eastern region and beyond.
An important phase of the UEA’s Covid-19 research has already begun, with the UEA offering coronavirus testing to all students and staff. Using the PCR test, this can detect if somebody currently has the virus.
The testing aims to prevent the silent spread of the virus and provide reassurance to students, staff and the Norfolk community. It will allow the UEA to swiftly localise any outbreaks and put immediate measures in place to support those who have contracted the virus and enable others to continue their studies and deliver critical scientific research with minimal disruption.
Professor Fraser’s antibody test will play a vital role in this work. Those who return a positive PCR test will be asked to contribute a sample on a regular basis in order to determine whether immunity persists over time, helping to understand whether patients who test positive for antibodies become re-infected. This further test will provide vital information to support the future fight against Covid-19.
Looking further into the future, Professor Fraser’s test will also be used when the first vaccines are distributed to understand the type of protection it offers in the long, medium or short term. The test will provide vital information to understand how regularly the population of Norfolk needs to receive further vaccinations.
For example, parts of our population are vaccinated every year for flu. This project will also contribute to the global understanding of long term immunity and vaccination success.
The full impact of Covid-19 is not yet fully understood, but this strategic and long term project will bring vital knowledge to our research community – and eventually our health services on the frontline – to manage the fight against the pandemic and ensure we can all return to a normal life as soon as possible.
In 2019, Norfolk Freemasons together with the Masonic Charitable Foundation raised and donated £190,213 to cancer research at The University of East Anglia. Here, the team at the UEA give an update on their progress.
Over the past decade, Professor Colin Cooper and his team at the UEA have been working to improve the accuracy of prostate cancer diagnosis, to better inform who does or does not require radical treatment. Professor Cooper’s work has evolved into two revolutionary new tests: the Tiger Test which will enable clinicians to distinguish aggressive forms of prostate cancer from slow-growing ones, and the Prostate Urine Risk (PUR) Test – a non-invasive urine test to more accurately diagnose aggressive prostate cancers up to five years earlier than current methods. These developments could help transform prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, thereby improving and saving lives around the world.
Your donation of £190,213 towards prostate cancer research at the UEA enabled us to purchase an Affymetrix Microarray Scanner, which was
installed in the purpose-built diagnostic screening laboratory in the Bob Champion Research and Education building in January this year. The scanner will enable the team to collect Affymetrix expression arrays profile data from prostate cancer cells in a computer-readable format, to calculate if a patient has a high risk “tiger” cancer or low-risk cancer.
With the Diagnostic Screening Laboratory set up and equipment in place, the team was primed to begin clinical trials for the Tiger Test. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 crisis and subsequent lockdown restrictions forced us to postpone commencement of the trials until a time when our researchers could work safely in the lab, and the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital had the necessary capacity time and resource to support the work, without limiting their response to the virus. Despite the limitations the team has faced, they have made every effort to progress the research where possible. Bioinformatic analysis has continued throughout lockdown and the team have been working hard to ensure their vital research is published, an important step in promoting the project within the scientific community, garnering support and forging external links to enhance the research into a clinical test once it has been validated through trials.
During the lockdown period, the team has published two papers reporting advances in how to use the Tiger Test in a clinical setting, as well as the introduction of a new mathematical analysis approach that is even quicker than the previous method. The team also discovered how to use the Tiger Test together with conventional clinical markers, expanding the scope of how this test can support clinicians. The team has also used this time to finalise the structure of the new home urine collection kit for the PUR Test.
They are now currently producing 1,500 kits ready to send out to collect the necessary data for their clinical research.
Your support has been invaluable making this vital research a reality, bringing hope to millions of men and their families across the world. With the easing of lockdown restrictions, the team is now preparing to begin clinical trials as soon as possible and we look forward to updating you in the progress of these trials in due course.
Like all charities, Norwich based Nansa saw a big drop in their income due to Covid-19. This would have resulted in their All Aboard project being discontinued after only a few months, taking away access to wide-ranging specialist support and activities from families and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – all being provided free of charge.
Norfolk Freemasonry has plugged the funding gap with a grant of £28,000 which will fund the scheme for a further six months and includes:
SENSE sessions to overcome development challenges relating to complex sensory needs
ENGAGE one-to-one and group sessions giving support from specialist staff who are trained in the use of Intensive Interaction and Attention Autism
STAY & PLAY with less routine and structure, but still a vital area of the programme allowing free play, relaxed social interaction between children and further networking opportunities for parents and carers.
Additional resources will come available in 2021, including advice provided in partnership with SENsational Families and musical therapy in association with Musical Keys.
Freemasons have previously supported Nansa with other projects. In 2017, their Sleep Service was funded by the Masonic Charitable Foundation for three years, with the MCF and local lodges making donations to Musical Keys and SENSational families.
Nansa Chief Executive Leon Smith said,
“Freemasonry has always been incredibly supportive and approachable. Once I explained our predicament, they offered All Aboard funding for an additional six months with a grant of £28,000. This enables us to not only provide families with support during this difficult period, but also gives us the time and space we need to secure a more long term funding partner for the project during 2021.”
Head of Norfolk Freemasons Stephen Allen continued,
“Having seen how families across Norfolk whose children with autism, downs syndrome, cerebral palsy and other learning difficulties and disabilities are being helped by Nansa, we welcomed the opportunity to ensure their All Aboard project could continue.”
Norfolk Freemasons were delighted to support Norfolk Scrubs Volunteers to help them keep up with demand making scrubs for frontline NHS staff.
We have given a grant of £10,000 which was immediately spent purchasing 3,000 metres of fabric, which will make around 750 scrubs. You can see their work at Norfolk Scrubs Volunteers Updates
With the current Covid-19 pandemic, Norfolk Freemasons are funding antibody research at the UEA, face shields for the NHS and GP surgeries, laptops for the Citizens Advice Bureau, local food banks and meals for hospital staff with more to follow. This is being repeated with similar initiatives by Freemasons, their lodges and Provinces all over the country.
