Bermuda’s Freemasons have raised more than $80,000 to help communities battered by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

The funds are the result of six months of fundraising efforts by the island’s lodges, and are set to help those in Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos.

Freemason groups throughout the Caribbean launched a fundraising effort last year after several island nations were devastated by the back-to-back storms that left thousands homeless.

A spokesman said the local lodges have made numerous charitable donations over the years, but members dug deep over the past few months to support hurricane relief efforts.

He said: “This particular contribution is over and above what we often do.

“The lodges all contributed, and in addition individual Freemasons have contributed to support this very worthy cause.”

The spokesman said Robert Rego, the district grandmaster for English lodges in Bermuda, passed on the funds to Walter Scott, the district grandmaster for Jamaica and the Caymans at a recent Regional Conference in the Bahamas.

He said: “We know the lodges in the Caribbean will send the donations where they are most needed.”