Shop manager Maggie Young, with charity steward at the Lodge John Thorne, and shop volunteer Margaret Jones with Michael White.

A very special donation was given to the Cancer Research UK shop in Maidenhead High Street on Saturday.

Masons from Cookham Manor Lodge visited the shop on World Cancer Day to hand over funds raised by the lodge for the charity.

Michael White, a past master, has been a member of the lodge for over 40 years.

He said: “The charity has a very special place in my heart.

“My wife Valerie has had cancer three times, she’s ok now, she’s in remission, but that is only down to the research and support we’ve received from Cancer Research UK.”

Michael explained how the money was collected through money donated to the Freemasons’ Grand Charity over the years, through which the regional lodges then apply to donate the money to a worthy cause of their choice.

The retired planning and design consultant added: “I will always do as much as I can to support them.”

Shop manager Maggie Young said: “Valerie is an amazing survivor and it’s people like her and Michael and the people who shop here who really make all the difference.

She added: “Within the next 18 years we hope that three in four people diagnosed with cancer will live for ten years or longer.”