UK drinks charity launches ‘Here to help’

Following interviews with members of the UK trade, drinks industry charity The Benevolent has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of its support services.

The Here to Help leaflet from The Benevolent

Called ‘Here to help’, the new campaign sees the charity promote a “complete tool kit”, which is available off- and online, embracing four key types of Benevolent support.

Grouped under the headings money, family, home and wellbeing, the information is designed to be distributed to employees by drinks companies, particularly as leaflets in communal areas.

Speaking to the drinks business last month about the new campaign, David Cox, chief executive of The Benevolent since April 2013, said it was vital the drinks charity raised awareness of its activities.

“We need to have made enough noise so you know exactly how to contact us… We want people to realise their own trade has this safety net,” he said.

Encouraging Cox to launch this campaign was research conducted in 2013.

During the latter part of last year, Cox instigated a series of interviews with members of the trade at different levels of seniority to find out more about The Benevolent’s image in the UK drinks industry.

“We found out that awareness of The Benevolent as a charity was relatively high among senior management, but there were misconceptions, for example that it was here just to help publicans or retired ill and infirm people, or those who were suffering from alcohol misuse,” he reported.

Continuing, Cox admitted that among “general staff the awareness was very low or non-existent”.

Consequently, the Here to Help campaign has been engineered to reverse this situation, and alter misconceptions.

“We want to reinforce the message that The Benevolent is there to help people who are working in this industry,” said Cox.

“It can be practical as well as financial help, and can embrace common everyday problems, from stress to family issues, which we know exist, but those people who are suffering from them don’t think we’re the charity they can turn to,” he added.

And, to further illustrate the type of support The Benevolent can provide, the drinks charity has provided db with two real life stories, which can be viewed on the following pages.

Meanwhile, to find out more about the Here to Help toolkit, please click here.

David Cox has been chief executive of The Benevolent since April 2013

Harry’s story

Following a successful career as an assistant sales service manager spanning 36 years at Moët Hennessy UK, Harry retired in 2002 to enjoy his golden years and indulge his passion for cricket, as well as cooking and food.

In 2007 Harry experienced a heart blockage that was corrected by coronary bypass surgery. The following year Harry was again admitted to hospital, this time due to severe pain in his left eye which was initially treated with laser eye surgery.

Shortly after the surgery the pain spread to the right eye and, after a visit to a specialist, Harry was diagnosed with profound optic nerve damage due to advanced Glaucoma.

Glaucoma occurs when the drainage tubes within the eye become blocked which prevents fluid from draining properly, increasing intraocular pressure and leading to a drastic damage of the optic nerve and nerve fibres from the retina. Harry’s prognosis is unusually poor and he continues to experience continued loss of visual field and peripheral vision.

Harry now needs to wear polycarbonate dark glasses on top of his reading glasses due to ongoing deterioration of his sight and can now only detect shapes and navigates around his home by touch and memory.

In addition to the problems caused by his progressive condition, he also had to cope with the added financial pressures caused by paying for a full time carer to help him perform basic tasks that the average person would take for granted such as cooking, tidying or even just reading a letter.

In 2012 Harry was referred to The Benevolent by an ex-colleague who was aware of his precarious financial situation and ongoing health concerns. The Benevolent immediately intervened and sent a Welfare Officer to Harry’s home to assess his situation and set up a monthly grant to help with basic living expenses. The Welfare Officer also arranged a follow up visit by RNBI, a charity that specifically supports people with sight loss.

Harry continues to be supported by The Benevolent and he is extremely grateful to the charity for the practical advice and financial assistance that is provided to him.

Richard’s story

Richard was young, successful and happily married with a 1 year old son when he started experiencing the onset of weakness and muscle cramps two years ago. He had enjoyed a rewarding career as a journalist working for The Daily Telegraph as a wine correspondent as well as Decanter Magazine as an editorial assistant.

In more recent years he had retrained as a teacher and was enjoying the challenge of working in early years’ education where he was able to pass on his love of language.

Richard was officially diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last year and was forced to take early retirement due to his condition. Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a progressive disease that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord.

This means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting. MND affects many aspects of daily life including the ability to walk, talk, eat, drink and even breathe. Although there is currently no cure for MND, symptoms can be managed to help achieve the best possible quality of life, however the condition is progressive and symptoms worsen over time shortening life expectancy.

The family recently moved from London to Cheshire due to Richard’s wife’s job being relocated and they are currently in the process of adapting their new home to accommodate Richard’s condition. This has included converting the garage to a bedroom for him, making an adjoining wet room and widening all of the doorways for wheelchair access. These adaptations are proving costly and have severely diminished the couple’s savings.

Richard was initially referred to The Benevolent by a former colleague at Decanter Magazine who thought the family might need support due to Richard’s condition. The charity immediately stepped in providing the family with a monthly grant which helps cover the increased costs of heating the house due to Richard’s sensitivity to the cold. The Benevolent is also funding the purchase of a specialised Riser/Recliner chair as he is unable to get up from a normal armchair or sofa. In addition to this support The Benevolent is also spearheading a campaign to raise the substantial funds needed to finish the adaptations of the couple’s home and liaising with a variety of different charities to achieve this goal.

Richard and his family will face many challenges in the upcoming years but The Benevolent will be there to support them no matter what the futures brings. Richard wrote “We are so grateful for the support of The Benevolent. It means we can adapt our home and not use all our savings we have worked so hard for. Without this assistance we would have no means to provide for care in the future.”