Category: Community Activity


Blood Bike Couriers Gifted an Infusion of Cash

A DEDICATED band of life-saving motor bike couriers, spearheading a vital out-of-hours service delivering vital blood and medical supplies to the region’s hospitals, healthcare sites and the Great North Air Ambulance, have themselves received an important gift – a donation of £1,000. The cash, from Durham City’s Freemen, will help meet the running costs of […]



Freemen’s “Fantastic” Tonic For City Hospice

A Crisis-hit hospice, forced into make a string of staffing cuts in the wake of the Chancellor’s autumn budget, has been given a major boost by Durham City Freemen. In January St Cuthbert’s Hospice, with a 124-strong workforce, axed 18 jobs in the wake of the rise in National Insurance contributions alongside other inflation- linked […]



Mayor’s Charity Appeal Gets Major Boost

TWO charities supported by Durham’ Mayor, County Councillor Liz Brown, during her year of office will share a £1,000 gift from the freemen. The two recipients, Feeding Families and the animal rescue service Stray Aid, both operate within the county’s boundaries. Thousands of families across the region facing “food poverty” have benefitted from deliveries from […]



Butchers look to save their ancient craft skills

NEWLY apprenticed butcher Rachael Lister looks set to be a cut above the rest at the start of her chosen career – thanks to an award from Durham Freemen’s Charitable Trustees to help meet the cost of the tools she will need. And the 22-year-old’s benefactors – whose own links to the meat trade stretch […]



Former Durham pit village claims a unique royal double

SANDSTONE tablet of King Charles’s official cipher, hand-crafted by a Durham Cathedral mason, has gone on display in a village hall – alongside an official letter of commendation from his mother, the Queen, awarded as part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations Her Majesty’s personally signed letter to the independently-run Waterhouses Community Association, acknowledged the value […]



Mental health charity, stretched by “a huge increase” in demand for its services

AN independently-run mental health charity, stretched by “a huge increase” in demand for its services, has been thrown a financial life-line by Durham City Freemen. When the Waddington Street Centre celebrated its 40th anniversary three years ago it provided a front-line safe haven every week for 120 members, all struggling with the crippling stress of modern […]



Charities Link Up To Feed City’s Hungry Families

THREE foodbanks, which have provided emergency grocery parcels to hundreds of crisis-hit families in the Durham area over the past year, have been gifted £1,000 by the charitable trust of the city’s freemen. The three hubs, operating premises in Waddington Street, Old Elvet and Gilesgate are part of a network of 27 distribution points across […]



Durham’s Double Tribute To “The Fallen”

REMEMBRANCE Sunday in Durham will be marked again by a double tribute to “The Fallen” – both supported together for the first time by the Durham City Freemen Charitable Trust. The traditional Sunday morning parade through the city, which follows a service in the cathedral, is one of the biggest in the region. It will […]



Quilters Warmly Welcome Gift To Develop Their Craft

ACENTURIES-old craft, which first emerged in England during the Middle Ages and went on to be nurtured for over two hundred years in the homes of Durham’s coal and lead mining families, is poised to receive a double boost from the city’s freemen. A 20-strong women’s voluntary self-help group, whose ages range from 40-plus to […]



Freemen Continue To Provide Hope For Isolated Stroke Victims

STROKE victims from across Durham will enjoy “an enhanced quality of life” thanks to the continuing support of the city’s freemen. The 30 members of the County Durham Stroke Club have meet twice monthly at Framwellgate Moor’s Bede Lodge Social Club since 2011 and in the last five years have enjoyed the financial backing of […]