White Rose - Masonic Province of Yorkshire, West Riding

LIFELITES ARE A LEADING LIGHT FOR YORKSHIRE CHILDREN
The Eye Gaze equipment in use at Martin House
As reported in the Spring 2012 edition, the
Province made a donation of £20,000 towards the
Lifelites project at the Forget-Me-Not Children’s
Hospice, Huddersfi eld. The donation allowed the
charity to install a wonderful piece of equipment –
the Sound Beam - that enables children with even
the most profound physical and learning disabilities
to make music using whatever movement they can.
In autumn 2012 Lifelites returned to Yorkshire
to install a similarly innovative package at Martin
House Children’s Hospice in Wetherby.
The package, which includes training for care
staff and on-going maintenance and technical
support, boasts the UK’s fi rst ever children’s
hospice radio station and includes some of the
very latest gaming and educational software which
the hospice care team say is ideal for improving the
children’s communication and social skills, as well
as their confi dence and creativity.
Caroline, a music therapist at Martin House
said, “The radio project is important because it
will help the young people we care for to become
more confi dent, enable them to create something
special together and, most importantly, to have
fun. They have already started to record jingles
and are looking forward to learning how to
become presenters.”
The package also includes state-of-the-art
technology such as the Eye Gaze, which works
by tracking the user’s eye movement, enabling
children with severely limited movement to play
computer games and communicate.
Simone Enefer-Doy, Lifelites’ chief executive
said, “Our work isn’t just about providing the latest
gadgets for kids. Children in hospices won’t have
the same opportunities as their contemporaries
to run and play or ride a bike for example. What
we try to do at Lifelites is level that playing fi eld:
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our specialist equipment gives them opportunities
to make fi lms, record music and the chance to
play computer games that their disabilities may
ordinarily prevent. The chance to be ‘normal’,
to have a choice and to participate; that’s what
Lifelites is all about, that’s what our technology
enables these children to do.”
It’s been a busy two years for the charity, which
has just installed its fi rst packages of 2013 in the
three UK baby hospices for the fi rst time, taking the
total number of Lifelites projects up to 49, including
fi ve in Yorkshire.
This work would not be possible without
donations: each Lifelites package costs
around £37,500 to install and maintain over
four years, which is about £9,000 a year; a
sum which a number of Provinces are already
pledging to match.
Simone said, “It’s impossible to imagine Lifelites
without freemasonry. Of course, Masons from all
over the country have been there from the start –
providing their technical expertise to ensure Lifelites
projects remain in good working order. One of
the key ways that freemasons have been able to
support Lifelites is to take part in our fundraising
activities. Yorkshire, West Riding is a great example
of that – your wonderful donation really set the
bar for other Provinces to match. Our work never
stops. We must continue to be innovative so that
the children in hospices can make the most out of
the precious time they have.”
For more information about Lifelites and how
you can support their innovative approach to make
a make a difference to children in hospices please
contact Deri Jones at djones@lifelites.org.
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White Rose Masonic News Spring 2013
37