These findings come from a survey carried out by Benevolence Today, a coalition of 35 benevolent funds, among its partner charities. The majority of Benevolence Today partners are occupational benevolent funds, charities that give grants to people in need who work or have worked in specific professions, trades or industries.

“Through the survey, and through direct contact we had with our partners, we see a much less gloomy picture than other parts of the charities sector seem to see”, says Alan Mottram-Playfoot, Marketing Director at NewstrAid and member of the Steering Group leading Benevolence Today.

He continues “Although half of our partners report an increase in applications since the beginning of the financial crisis, the picture is mixed. Not all industries and professions feel the recession in the same way. People’s decision to ask for help may come some time after they have been made redundant or start to struggle. So we will not see the full impact until much later. However, where we are feeling the effect of the recession already is in donations. Just when we need to prepare ourselves for the coming demands, it’s got tougher to raise donations.”

While some industries are hard hit, others do not see more recession-based poverty. Instead, they continue to help with financial need arising from long-term health problems, care needs and other life crises.

One industry which feels the impact from the recession directly is the building industry. However, many charities cannot help with debt, but occasionally support living costs for a short period of time, to help someone over a tricky period. Some Benevolence Today coalition partners have published advice on coping with redundancy or debt, and the joint web portal of Benevolence Today at www.benevolencetoday.org has just published a pooled collection of such materials.

Where benevolent charities are hit most is on the income side. One in five Benevolence Today partners say the decrease in their income from invested reserves, corporate or individual giving may affect their grant-giving strategy in the near future. Half of Benevolence Today partners say that although they have seen such income reductions, it will not influence their grant strategies in the near future. 15% see no impact of income reductions on their grant-giving strategies, the remaining 15% do not know yet.

The Benevolence Today coalition has laid the groundwork to help its partners combat the impact of the recession. 'Many in the group are exploring new ways of supporting people,' says Susanne Kendler, Head of Development with Benevolence Today. 'In Benevolence Today we explore new ways of engaging with beneficiaries, and develop partnership working with other charities.' 

She continues 'Many of our coalition partners actively look into new ways of working, rather than being pessimistic about the situation. Yes, we will need to do much more on fundraising to make up for our losses. And there are smaller charities in the group who cannot afford to do a lot of work on service development to meet the increased need. But the collaborative framework we have is a good base to feed successful models down from larger charities to smaller ones, so all can benefit and help as many people in need as possible. We are sure that we have a positive story to tell that will influence donors to help our partners do their work to meet the rising need for our services.'

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For further information please contact Susanne Kendler at Benevolence Today on 02072168988 or by emailing susanne(at)benevolencetoday.org or Alan Mottram-Playfoot at NewstrAid  on 01371 874198 or by emailing alan.mottramplayfoot(at)newstraid.org.uk

Notes to the Editor:

· The Benevolence Today coalition partners helped 33,000 people in the last year, with a variety of one-off grants, regular income-support, care places, and other advice and support services.  Grants in the last year totalled Ł30 million across the coalition.

· Useful Benevolence Today partner charities’ online advice on recession-related problems can be found here. http://www.benevolencetoday.org/index.php?id=103.

· Most Benevolence Today partners support people in need with a background in different professions, industries or trades. Some Benevolence Today partners also support older or disabled people in general. Eligibility criteria differ, but as partners in this coalition all Benevolence Today charities aim to raise awareness of their services so that they can help more people in need.

· Benevolence Today is run through a joint campaign office, which is based with one of the coalition partners in central London.

· The Benevolence Today Coalition consists of a group of members of the Association of Charity Officers (ACO). Founded in 1946, this umbrella for benevolent and care charities has over 200 members. Registered Charity No 1118605. A Company limited by Guarantee No 6113479. www.aco.uk.net

The key finding from the review is to move the existing regional welfare operation to a central hub. Although the welfare hub will operate virtually, in that the caseworkers will not all be based in head office,  the streamlined way of working is designed to improve outputs and outcomes of welfare programmes, with the aim of reducing delivery costs and maximizing benefits to beneficiaries.

Reaching out to those who do not know about their benevolent fund is also seen as being important, as the organization has no wish to be seen as a well kept secret. Which is why EEIBA supports Benevolence Today's ambitions. It is EEIBA's view that our collective endeavours are cost efficient and very much more effective than going alone.

The remarks were made at a turn2us event, which saw Benevolence Today's partner charity launch a new intermediary module to their website.

The NCVO chief's challenge was followed by Kate Green, CEO of the Child Poverty Action Group. She also made a call for a radical rethink in benevolent charities to not be content with providing 'sticking plasters' to relief poverty, but to do everything in their power to help eradicate poverty.

Their comments were answered by Fred Payne, Chair of the Benevolence Today coalition.  Drawing on examples from his own charity, the Bankers Benevolent Fund, Fred said that many benevolent charities had for over 100 years tried to respond with focused grant-giving to remedy poverty, adjusting strategies and service-development to need.

Fred acknowledged that the idea of developing a sound best practice framework for the sector was gaining pace. The Benevolence Today coalition was open to look into how it could complement its current work to raise awareness and understanding of benevolent help.

This could well in the near future lead to grant-giving charities looking to increase joint service-delivery with other charities, collaboration and to highlight their policy-work, in a move to strengthen the benevolent sector's ability to help as many people as possible, in the most effective way. 

The Benevolence Today coalition is launching its new campaign with the title 'Working in Partnership'. The campaign kicks off at the end of September 2008 with the publication of an information brochure targeted to increase the referrals from other service- and advice-providing charities to the financial support available for individuals from benevolent charities.

The brochure is being mailed to 2000 charity contacts across the UK, and is also available for download from the Benevolence Today web portal www.benevolencetoday.org. Its aim is to encourage advisers, support- and health-workers across the country to refer people in need to the services of Benevolence Today coalition charities. The brochure answers frequently asked questions the coalition has received about eligibility criteria for benevolent grant-giving and about how such financial help relates to statutory benefits available.

Most benevolent charities provide financial assistance to people in need. Benevolence Today is a coalition of 35 benevolent charities and has been building relationships with charities supporting people facing serious or long term conditions or disability. In a quest to help more people in need, the Benevolence Today coalition partners encourage other charities to refer people in need to benevolent help more often.

The new brochure was created following feedback from stakeholders that they would like an information pack to answer their basic questions and help in their practical work. The publication is embedded in a wider campaign which will run until spring, and will include the publication of further fact-sheets as well as some events, as well as individual contacts with charities and umbrella organisations.

Fred Payne, Chair of Benevolence Today, says 'When we started our coalition, we thought there is a lack of awareness of benevolent funds. But feedback from charities and other service-providers over our first year has shown that it is more about understanding. End-users and charities need help to understand where and when we can help people. We have worked closely with front-line advisers in a number of organisations to create this introduction brochure, which we hope will lower the barriers people perceive relating to charitable grants for individuals.'

Susanne Kendler, Head of Development for Benevolence Today adds, 'We have come to understand that we can only reach those who need our help most if we engage in a dialogue between us and other service-providers, but also between us and the policy-makers that shape the social landscape we work in.'

As part of the campaign, Benevolence Today also has a feedback form on its website giving charities the opportunity to specify how they would like to learn more about benevolent charities. The coalition also works with partners, such as new charity turn2us, to use any channels possible to enable people to refer more people to benevolent help.

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For more information visit www.benevolencetoday.org or contact Susanne Kendler on press(at)benevolencetoday.org or by phone on 020 72168988.

Notes to the Editor:

*Benevolence Today held two roundtables in the first half of 2008, one focusing on social care and Disabled Facility Grants, one focusing on health care. Both discussions served to engage with service- and advice-providing charities and to gage how they think benevolent help can best reach and support the people who need such help most. Summaries of both meetings can be found in the news section of the www.benevolencetoday.org web portal.

* Benevolence Today is working under a Letter of Understanding with new charity turn2us, which offers a searchable online-tool to find specific grant-giving charities for different circumstances. Both organisations aim to raise awareness of charitable grant-giving, and their activities are complementary to each other.

* Benevolence Today is also developing relationships with other one-stop-shops, directories and umbrellas in order to ensure as many points of entry to benevolent help as possible are informed.

* The Benevolence Today coalition partners help approx 30,000 people per annum, with a variety of one-off grants, regular income-support, care places, and other advice and support services. Most Benevolence Today partners support people in need with a background in different professions, industries or trades. Some Benevolence Today partners also support older or disabled people in general. Eligibility criteria differ, but as partners in this coalition all Benevolence Today charities aim to raise awareness of their services so that they can help more people in need.

* Benevolence Today is run through a joint campaign office, which is based with one of the coalition partners in central London.

* The Benevolence Today Coalition consists of a group of members of the Association of Charity Officers (ACO). Founded in 1946, this umbrella for benevolent and care charities has over 200 members. Registered Charity No 1118605. A Company limited by Guarantee No 6113479. www.aco.uk.net

The Civil Service Benevolent Fund is the principal independent charity for civil servants, associated organisations and their dependants, and can assist eligible applicants with overcoming flood damage and funding certain associated costs such as alternative accommodation, repairs and replacement of household items or clothing.

A spokesperson for the Fund explained that the current problems being experienced were likely to continue to affect families for many weeks and months to come and that the Fund would do what it could to support people who are struggling at this difficult time. Those affected by losses not covered by insurance, are particularly vulnerable.

They added: “We provide an efficient and completely confidential service. Contact our Freephone 0800 056 2424 during office hours or visit our website at www.csbf.org.uk for further information. We also have staff and volunteers based in your region who can provide local support.”

Benevolent funds exist to help those in specific sectors of the workforce - from the car industry to confectionery.

Benevolence Today (www.benevolencetoday.org), is aiming to raise awareness of benevolent charities and will connect people in difficulty in different work sectors who face hardship, with the funds that can help.

The Civil Service Benevolent Fund – Help at hand.
For further information please contact Stephen Westcott at the Fund on tel: 020 8240 2445 or email stephen.westcott(at)csbf.org.uk

They have no family of their own, but were foster parents for a number of years.

Mr Smith who worked in the motor trade, had to retire early to become a full time carer for his wife when she started to suffer from Eosinophilic fasciitis a disorder in which the skin of the arms and legs becomes painfully inflamed and swollen and gradually harden. When this happens, the arms and legs become difficult to move, and become stuck in unusual positions.

When Mrs Smith became confined to a wheelchair, all their savings were used to adapt the property. 

The National Benevolent Institution, a national charity which seeks to help older people from all backgrounds was able to award the couple a joint regular grant to boost their income.

In addition, the couple were were given a one-off grant to attend Mr SMith's mother's 100th birthday. He had been unable to visit his mother for a number of years because of his commitment to his wife's welfare. The award from the NBI was towards accommodation so that they could both attend.

If you want to learn more about NBI - the National Benevolent Institution - you can go to their website directly.

If you have a similar problem and want to find help from one of our other coalition partners, check our coalition directory!

Mr E was in a dreadful state especially because his partner was pregnant. As his application would take some time to process fully he was advised to contact the CAB in his area in the meantime (a branch UBA has worked with on past cases, which excels in giving good debt advice). 

As the repossession was serious and was causing Mr E tremendous worry, the fund’s Secretary spoke with the mortgage lender to ascertain precisely what they required to stop the proceedings. It was agreed between meetings to offer an interest-free loan of £2500 to clear the arrears.

At the same time the CAB advisor began negotiations with the other creditors and eventually reduced monthly payments were accepted. The Fund became one of these creditors.

Mr E would be able to manage the reduced payments without any difficulty.

UBA Benevolent Fund, as many other benevolent charities, often work in close cooperation with other organisations, such as Citizens Advice Buereaux, to ensure people approaching them for help get the best support with agencies working together as much as possible.

If you want to learn more about the UBA Benevolent Fund for people working in the nuclear industry - you can contact them directly by email or phone on 01925 633005.

If you have a similar problem and want to find help from one of our other coalition partners, check our coalition directory!

He was having difficulties getting in and out of the bath. He had been successful with an application for a Disabled Facilities Grant from his local authority, but there was a shortfall in the funds required to carry out the conversion.

EEIBA got on the case and with help from National Grid, we were able to provide the balance to complete the job.

If you want to learn more about EEIBA - the Electrical and Electronics Industries Benevolent Association - you can go to their website directly.

If you have a similar problem and want to find help from one of our other coalition partners, check our coalition directory!

Graham spent many years looking after his disabled wife before she died.  During this time their savings had reduced considerably and he was worrying how he could pay the funeral expenses when she died. 

In all the years he had been supporting the charity, he had hoped he would never need their help. But then, when life was difficult, Graham approached the fund for help, which was able to make a contribution towards the costs of the funeral.

If you want to learn more about the Rowland Hill Fund, the charity for employees of the Royal Mail Group and their dependents, you can go to their website directly.

If you have a similar problem and want to find help from one of our other coalition partners, check our coalition directory!

NewstrAid suggested that, as an existing beneficiary, he might wish to consider moving to its sheltered housing complex if and when a flat became available.  He agreed, and not long afterwards, took up the offer of a flat at the complex, which was also near to his brother's home. NewstrAid also help him with his removal costs and provided a new fridge/freezer.

Mr P has since written to say that he has now found new happiness and will be marrying his former carer, who is also disabled. His new wife will be moving into his new home after the weddi

To learn more about this charity or any other of our coalition partners, please search our partner directory!