Since its foundation in 2008 as a charity with the mission of inspiring young people of East Anglia to fulfil their potential, 2018 has been The Mason Trust’s most successful year to date, and the charity is looking forward to 2019 with the intention of bettering that record. It has achieved success in various ways.
A total of 64 young people have been helped to achieve their dreams in 2018 by personal funding. These encompass a variety of activities from a volunteering trip to Honduras with Project Trust to scooter hire costs; from a medical placement in the Dominican Republic to piano lessons; from Rotary youth leadership award course fees to performing arts tuition fees, and many more besides. Since being established, the Trust has made 395 grants totalling £602,000 helping in excess of 6,000 young people.
G rants from both the Dudgeon Community Fund and the Sheringham Shoal Community Funds have enabled the charity to deliver Renew Your Future energy day workshops to five secondary schools in the Great Yarmouth, North Norfolk and Breckland regions of Norfolk. The workshops are designed to inspire and encourage students to consider studying STEM subjects [Science, Engineering,
Technology and Mathematics] in sixth form or at college, thereby opening up a variety of engineering career options being offered in the region by the offshore wind farm developers and operators.
The interactive icanbea… careers guidance website [www.icanbea.org.uk] was used within these energy day workshops to demonstrate how students can explore opportunities in the renewable energy sector and the regional supply chain. It was also the focus for 22 workshops and 25 careers fairs and school assemblies at 47 schools across Norfolk and Suffolk during 2018, and its innovative mobile App attracted much attention at both the Norfolk and Suffolk Skills Shows.
Mason Trust founder, Yvonne Mason, is proud of the impact of the charity on the region’s young people in 2018, commenting: “My fellow Trustees and I believe implicitly in the benefits that The Mason Trust can offer our young people. We recently celebrated our 10th anniversary with an Anniversary Ball, all proceeds from which will go towards the continuation of work by The Mason Trust during 2019. We couldn’t think of a better way to both have a good time and to raise funds to take the organisation forward.
“The Mason Trust’s aim for 2019 is to continue in the same vein, providing even more of our young people with funding for particular projects, global experiences, ambitions and vocations, and by providing an insight into the world of industry and its many facets.”
