Cumbria Freemasons have marked the official launch of their fundraising festival with a cruise in the Lake District. 

The festival is a five year appeal that they do to raise funds for the Masonic Charitable Foundation. 

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Neil Dixon, a Freemason said: "The Masonic Charitable Foundation is funded entirely through through the genorosity of Freemasons and their families, it is one of the largest grant-making charities in the country, it supports local charities, Freemasons and their families."

On the night, the Head of Cumbria Freemasons, Bill Bewley, launched the festival with a huge donation of £250,000 from Cumbria Freemasons. He said: "Many millions that are given away by our charities each year, is mostly the result of the individual genorosity of Freemasons during festivals like this one."

Since 2016 the Msonic Charitable Foundation has awarded support amounting to over £90 million, around £52,000 per day. 

They say that this has improved the wellbeing of over 32,000 people directly and that they have worked with over 3000 charities.