Durham Freemasons are creating a £125,000 scholarship at Durham University to help talented young people from the North East overcome financial barriers to studying science.
The legacy of former Universities Lodge No. 2352 member Norman Jackson is now being used to create the scholarship, giving young people from the North East opportunities that reflect his lifelong belief in the power of education.
The Norman Jackson Scholarship will provide successful students with £5,000 a year for four academic years, giving each recipient support worth up to £20,000.
It will support students from low income and low participation backgrounds studying STEM subjects, with preference given to applicants from the North East studying within Durham University’s Faculty of Science.
The £125,000 will be invested as an endowment, with the income funding a new scholar every four years. The first Norman Jackson Scholar is expected to begin at Durham in autumn 2027.
Alex King of Universities Lodge led the initiative to create the scholarship, which is particularly fitting as 2027 would have marked Norman’s 100th birthday.
Alex said: “We wanted to use part of Norman’s legacy to create something permanent, something that would open the door to Durham University for talented young people who might otherwise find the financial barriers difficult to overcome.
“By creating an endowment, the scholarship can continue supporting students for generations. It means Norman’s generosity will still be changing lives many years from now.”
Norman Jackson was born in Sunderland in 1927, the son of a local police officer and Freemason. While studying metallurgy at Durham University, he joined Universities Lodge on 21 May 1953.
After graduating, Norman married his wife Sheila and pursued an international career in mining and engineering. He mined copper in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, worked for British Nuclear Fuels and later spent much of his career in South Africa and Zimbabwe, including as a consultant to Anglo American.
Despite living thousands of miles from Durham, Norman remained in close contact with Universities Lodge and maintained his membership for 65 years. He died in Zimbabwe in March 2018, aged 91.
Shortly after his death, the Lodge learned that Norman had left half of his Spennymoor Trust Fund to “the Master of Universities Lodge to distribute to Masonic charities”.
The Lodge sought help from The Freemasons’ Charity, the national charity of Freemasonry, which received £943,017.43 on behalf of Universities Lodge on 17 July 2019, following the necessary legal and financial checks.
The balance formed the Norman Jackson Fund, jointly overseen by Universities Lodge and the Durham Freemasons’ Charity.
The £125,000 scholarship will now turn part of that legacy into a permanent investment in education, giving young people from Norman’s home region access to opportunities similar to those that helped shape his own life.
Alex King, Phil Twizell and Clinton Leeks OBE, Deputy Grand Superintendent of Durham Freemasons, joined Duncan Maw, Deputy Chair of Durham Freemasons Charity, to meet Professor Clive Roberts, Executive Dean for Science at Durham University, to discuss the scholarship and the difference it will make.
Phil Twizell, who was Treasurer of Universities Lodge when the legacy was received, said: “Norman spent much of his life thousands of miles away, but for 65 years he maintained his membership and his connection with Universities Lodge.
“When his remarkable legacy was received, we knew we had been entrusted with something very special. To see part of it now returning to the university where Norman studied, and creating opportunities in his name, is a fitting way to remember one of our members.”
Professor Clive Roberts said: “We work hard to encourage talented students from our region to see Durham as a place where they can fulfil their potential. For some, financial pressures can still affect their ability to take up their place and participate fully in university life.
“The Norman Jackson Scholarship will help students make the most of the opportunities available across our science disciplines. It is particularly fitting that Norman studied metallurgy at Durham and that his legacy will now help a new generation of North East students follow their own path.”
Clinton Leeks OBE said: “This is what Freemasonry is about. One man’s generosity is being turned into opportunities for young people he could never have known, but whose lives could be changed because of what he left behind.
“Durham Freemasons have been making a difference in our communities for generations. This scholarship takes that commitment forward, investing in young people who may become the scientists, engineers and innovators of tomorrow.”
Duncan Maw said: “We were entrusted with a remarkable legacy, and our responsibility is to turn that generosity into something that makes a real and lasting difference.
“Rather than making a single award, we are creating an opportunity that can support North East students for generations. It is about using the generosity of Freemasons to make a lasting difference in the communities where we live and work.”
More than 70 years after Norman arrived at Durham University to study metallurgy and joined Universities Lodge, his generosity is coming home.
Through Universities Lodge and Durham Freemasons Charity, his legacy will give generations of North East students opportunities to fulfil their potential, continuing Durham Freemasons’ long tradition of making a difference in their communities.
