Medical help they have already. Now it was time for some Christmas therapy in the Healing Garden. And so they were wheeled and led, wide-eyed, frail and some bandaged - the children of Kidz First Hospital, Middlemore - to the magic place to meet a group of stand-in grandpas from the Freemasons. And they were told, "We know you have families but we say you are OUR children; the children of Auckland!"

Christmas bonbons were handed out, a magician was there and a couple of clowns and a face-painter - and Santa Claus himself, who was told by one small boy: "I've been waiting all year for you!"

Good works go with Freemasonry, and there is a generous annual budget to prove it. But this was a bright idea that got away and found a mind of its own. Two Masons named Ed Pownall and Arthur Berman had been surrogate grandpas in previous years, and this year with time running short they decided on a direct approach to fellow Masons in central Auckland. They raised $5000 in no time at all and here was the result - a touch of magic in the Healing Garden (a high-walled haven donated by the Lions in 2001).

There is more to come.

The funds raised will give the 84-bed hospital which is also the National Burns Unit for children, a range of electronic gear including a video camera and laptop computer. DVD games, T-shirts and caps, toys and a donated TV set are also in the offing. New-found Masonic friends will also come along and be proxy grandpas at Christmas itself.

Seasonal jollity is one thing, but there is a poignant undercurrent to it all as an unfortunate few may have terminal illnesses. In cases where the worst happens, and personal effects have to be returned to grieving parents, it is important that the containers be of decorous and dignified design. Provision of such containers is being considered as a project for next year.