Freemasons help create life-changing experience

A 15-year-old Warrington girl attended a special event which she has described as “life changing” thanks to a
£250 grant from the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity.
Jenny Clarke, a member of a youth leadership programme called HOBY is also a member of the Warrington Youth Parliament.
She attended a four-day seminar to enable young leaders to share their opinions and enthusiasm and explore in-depth ethical and moral questions. HOBY encourages young people to be confident be able to speak in front of large groups.
At that seminar some were chosen to attend the world leadership congress in Washington DC which would be attended by nearly 500 ambassadors from 20 different countries.
Jenny was one of the people selected to attend from the United Kingdom. The problem 15-year-old Jenny then faced was having to raise £1,600 to finance the trip.
She raised some of the money herself with a sponsored event and applied to several groups, including Freemasons, for sponsorship.
Colin Rowling, grant executive of the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity, said: “It was clear from Jenny’s first approach to the charity that here was someone who was not only determined and sincere, but was also an individual who saw the opportunity to give something back to society – quite rare in one so young. Her objectives rang so true with the educationists on the committee, that we felt we had to support her.”
From the moment she arrived in Washington and put into a team Jenny says she knew it was going to be “life changing”.
Although every moment of the event was special Jenny says it was “volunteer day” that made the whole trip worthwhile.
She said: “I went to the Washington DC boys’ and girls’ club. I was looking after the five and six-year-olds and it was completely life changing as it was the inner part of DC. You could see the true love from these kids as they were really nice every single one of them, but from stories I heard worry swept over me as I thought about their lives ahead of them.
“I would go on and find that perfect job and live my dream but these kids may never gety out of the terrible things that
happened in their community even though they wanted to change that. I grew extremely close to a little boy throughout the day whose father had been shot and as he was telling me my eyes were brimming with tears, especially when I said goodbye.
“It was a complete moment in my life where I knew I could make a difference. I am definitely going to volunteer now I understand what you can do other people’s lives and ultimately what it can do for you.”
Jenny went on: “Each day brought me new friends, laughter and even tears but each day gave me something to remember and I now know I can make a difference and this experience has definitely changed my whole life, from the way I see things, to how to handle situations. I will definitely go on to keep the HOBY spirit alive by volunteering in my community and at other HOBY projects.”
Jenny said she would not have been able to have taken part in the Washington event without the generosity of Freemasonry and said: “I am very thankful for everything you did in helping me reach my dreams and aspirations and I know it was definitely worth it.”
Picture shows all the ambassadors from the United Kingdom outside the Lincoln Memorial. Jenny is pictured on the right wearing the yellow t-shirt.