Sussex charities are more than £76,000 richer following the first Freemasonry in the Community week.

Lodges across Sussex kept their promise to throw open their doors with public events, including sponsored walks, sponsored cycles and gala evenings. Fourteen special needs children from Downs Park School in Brighton were taken on a special helicopter ride along the Sussex coast, courtesy of the Old Steine Lodge in Brighton.

The Meningitis Trust benefited by more than £3,000 from a sponsored walk along the Brighton seafront.

Among those taking part were meningitis survivors Zoe Smith and Stuart Holt, a member of the South Down Lodge who lost both his legs from the condition.

Freemasons presented a defibrillator to the Mayor of Brighton David Watkins, to be placed at the stage door of the Brighton Dome.

John Farrar, provincial information and education officer for Sussex, said the week had been a great success in providing a window into the work masons do throughout the year.

Mr Farrar, who belongs to the Adur Lodge, said: "This week was an opportunity to show what we do all the time. It is nice for people to know what we do."