Thousands of people whose lives have been devastated by flooding in Bangladesh will be given urgently needed humanitarian assistance, thanks to a grant of £20,000 from West Lancashire Freemasons

The floods have affected more than 7.5 million people, including 114 known to have lost their lives. An estimated 600,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed, with damage to 6,640km of roads and other vital infrastructure, with hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops lost.

The grant will provide vital supplies for the many thousands of displaced people; including blankets, mosquito nets, water buckets and personal hygiene products, which will be distributed in Kurigram District, which has been hit especially hard by this disaster.

The grant comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Rose Caldwell, Chief Executive of Plan International UK, said: “We’re hugely grateful for this generous contribution to Plan International’s disaster response in Bangladesh. These funds will make an enormous difference to hundreds of families affected by the devastating floods and help them get back on their feet by providing urgent essentials like hygiene products, water buckets and mosquito nets.”

Added Tony Harrison, leader of West Lancashire Freemasons: “Sadly, many people have died and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced by these terrible floods.

I’m very pleased that freemasonry is able to move so quickly to provide this essential funding for Plan International UK who are providing rapid support to those worst affected by this disaster.”