Freemasons give £60,000 to newly-opened Grimsby Babyhub
Lincoln Freemasons’ Lodge celebrates its golden anniversary
June 15, 2026
Almost 5,000 Grimsby children and their families will benefit from a £60,000 donation from the Freemasons’ Charity over the next two years. They’ll be supported by Babyzone, based at the Horizon Youth Zone in the town, where King Charles has seen first hand the work that goes on.
The Grimsby Babyzone in the newest in the UK, running free, drop-in early years sessions in disadvantaged communities for families with children up to five years old. Each hub is a welcoming, stigma-free space where babies, toddlers and parents can play, learn and connect, while accessing co-located health, wellbeing and practical support from a wide range of local partners – with no fees or eligibility tests.
The Grimsby hub, visited by King Charles in early June, opened in February in an area of need due the high level of deprivation in North East Lincolnshire, which is in the top 20% of the most deprived local authority areas in England, where 26% of children live in low-income families. Early years infrastructure has been significantly reduced following the closure of children’s centres, leaving families with fewer preventative services when they are most effective interventions.
Babyzone runs free, sessions for families with children up to there age of five. Each hub is a welcoming, stigma-free space where babies, toddlers and parents can play, learn and connect; while accessing co-located health, wellbeing and practical support from a wide range of local partners – with no fees or eligibility tests.
The grant from the Freemasons’ Charity (which is the new name for the more familiar MCF) will support Babyzone hub sessions between 9.30am – 2.30pm on Fridays during term time. These are supported by a back-to-back timetable of drop in evidence-informed sessions for the children and their families, such as yoga and massage, story time, science workshops and football; and will roll out further sessions on topics like maths and social & emotional development.
