The Petitions and Grants Department oversees all the beneficiaries of the Trust’s main funds, the TalentAid scheme, Choral Bursaries and Subsidiary Funds.  The Grants Manager is Stuart French (bottom right), who is the first point of contact for all new enquiries, maintains links with the Provinces and is currently working with IT colleagues to develop the Trust’s grant-making databases. Gill Bennett (below) is the Case Manager. She oversees the progress of all applications and the administration of all cases. She also manages the research and policy team.

There is a team of six Case Advisers led by Lucy Rogers, the Senior Case Adviser; her team includes Andy Long, Andrew Walters, Edd Chalkley, Claire Brandon, and Ian Johnson.  They manage the day to day needs of beneficiary families, prepare papers for committee and administer all grants. Each manages around 250 children’s cases.

Gill Bennett

Kerry Whitford, is the Senior Policy Adviser (Research and Subsidiary Funds) and together with  David Bass, Case Adviser (Subsidiary Funds and Research) they form a team that undertakes the day-to-day administration of the Trust’s many subsidiary funds.  They also carry out research for the Trust’s grant-making policies and are responsible for the Trust’s various non-Masonic grants projects.

Kerry Whitford

David Bass

Pat Dono is Payments and Administration Manager.  She audits and processes all grant payments, is responsible for the department’s records and for providing statistics to the Provinces. Marilyn Langley works with Pat and is responsible for initial responses to all of the Trust’s enquiries. She maintains logs of all our applications and assists with mailing of notifications and post-outs.

Pat Dono and Marilyn Langley

Su Nicholson is our Office Manager. She manages Mary Williams, our Office Administrator and Welfare Secretary and Pat Carney.  Pat is the main receptionist at the Trust. In addition to her reception duties she is responsible for the post room and in particular she sorts and scans all in-coming mail.

The Support Team

Pam Smoothy is Secretary to the Welfare team, which comprises four Welfare Advisers led by Julia Young. Their role is to visit all new applicants and maintain an on-going contact with families offering support particularly to those most in need.