THE county’s freemasons have given a special lift to a very worthy cause.

For they presented the Herts Air Ambulance charity with a cheque for over �10,000.

Venue for the handover was The Mark Masons annual Provincial Golf Day, held recently near Stevenage, an event which was also raising cash for the charity.

The Herts air ambulance made a special landing at the event so crew members could be presented with a cheque for �10,600 from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hertfordshire.

The sum included �4,000 from London-based Freemasons’ Grand Charity, another �4,000 from Colin Harris, Provincial Grand Master of Hertfordshire, who had decided to match the award given by the Grand Charity and �1,000 from the Mark Benevolent Fund.

The Corinthian and Samson Lodges within Hertfordshire donated �1,000 and �600 respectively.

Speaking about the donation from the Freemason’s Grand Charity, Colin Harris said: “Air ambulances play an important role in ensuring people get the medical help they need as quickly as possible.

“For those in life-threatening situations this can dramatically improve their chance of survival.

“Hertfordshire masons and the Freemasons’ Grand Charity are delighted to once again be supporting Herts Air Ambulance and contributing towards the continued provision of this excellent service.”

Nikki Caborn, Herts Air Ambulance co-ordinator said: “We are extremely grateful to Hertfordshire’s Freemasons for their continued generosity and support.

“When the Herts Air Ambulance Appeal launched in April 2007 their donation was one of the first we received and now three years later they are still raising funds for the charity.

“I would like to say a big thank you for all their hard work and contributing towards keeping the county’s life-saving helicopter in the air.”

A charity spokeswoman added: “We are grateful to Medical Aviation Services, operators of the aircraft, for allowing the crew to fly the helicopter free of charge for this special landing to pick up the cheque.”