Contact us 0800 756 5555 benevolent@bt.com
And pays weekly grants to almost 220 elderly people on very low incomes. We receive many letters of thanks from those we help and their families. These summaries of a few of our recent cases show what we do and what it can mean for those we help. Names and locations have been changed in order to respect confidentiality.
Glenda is an 80-year old BT pensioner. She never married and has no close family. She was the victim of a distraction theft at a cash machine and lost the money she was withdrawing to pay her rent. In despair she pawned her late mother’s jewellery. She already owed sizeable sums on a store card and credit card and was very worried when she rang the Fund. We were able to make her a grant of £1,000 which paid the rent, recovered the jewellery and paid modest amounts towards her other debts.
Dave joined BT after several years in the Army and has suffered with his mental health for many years. He’d been assaulted by racists in a bar and as a result had a period of absence which resulted in a reduction in his take-home pay. His adult son had severe autism and still lived at home and his wife was out of work. The Fund made Dave a grant towards his rent and council tax until he returned to work, and BT’s Employee Assistance team arranged some counselling for him.
Nadia was a cleaner in BT for fifteen years. Now aged 76 she has various health problems including severe arthritis. Her doctor had recommended she changed her bath for a shower, and while a local Authority Disabled Facilities Grant was available, she couldn’t afford her part of the contribution. The Fund paid this, enabling the work to go ahead.
Pete is in his fifties and worked for BT for 14 years. When he approached the Fund he was homeless and sleeping in his car. He suffers from depression but had finally sought help through Shelter who were hoping to find a home for him. They referred his case to the Fund and we agreed a grant for essential furnishing and appliances once he moved in.
Janine works for EE and had been in an abusive relationship for years. She finally found the courage to leave and had been temporarily loaned a caravan by a friend. She had to leave most of her possessions behind and her partner had blocked her access to their joint account. The Fund made a grant towards re-housing, food, and travel costs for getting to work.
Norman is one of several BT pensioners living on the Caribbean island of Dominica whom the Fund helped following the devastating hurricane there in autumn 2017. He’s 87, is blind and has a number of other health problems. The roof had been blown off his house and serious storm damage resulted. The Fund made a grant of £2,500 towards the work required before the start of the 2019 hurricane season.
Dorothy is the widow of a BT engineer who, at the age of 98, now lives in a care home. She still enjoys trips to a nearby garden centre with her daughter, herself in her 70s. However the lightweight wheelchair she needed for these and other outings had broken and they couldn’t afford another. The Fund was delighted to buy one for her.
Julie was a BT telephonist who now works in the NHS. She and her teenage daughter had been evicted from their rented accommodation due to her having a long period off work with stress and depression as a result of years of abuse by her former husband. The local authority wouldn’t offer them a new home until the rent arrears were paid. The Fund cleared these and Julie was subsequently re-housed.
Steven works for BT in Scotland. His bungalow was flooded in early 2016 and as this was the second time his insurance cover was limited. He had to rent temporary unfurnished accommodation for his family and the fund was pleased to help with the cost of beds for his three children.
Don used to be a BT exchange cleaner. He’s widowed and in his 70s and has a number of health problems. Very sadly his eldest son died suddenly and with no family of his own Don was responsible for the funeral. A DWP funeral payment helped but he had no way of meeting the balance, so the Fund stepped in and paid it.
Bettina’s late husband was a BT catering assistant. She’s now aged 78 and lives in a rented room in London. When she was diagnosed with cancer her landlady asked her to move out. She has five adult children but is in contact with only one of them, who lives in Trinidad. The Fund agreed to pay the deposit on a new property as well as her moving costs.
Sally works in Openreach and had recently split up with her partner. She has two young children needing daily childcare but problems with her tax credits and the need to move to a new rented house meant she had fallen behind with the nursery payments. She got the tax credits sorted out and the Fund paid the childcare arrears which put her in a position where she could manage in the future.
Nigel was medically retired from BT in 2016 due to motor neurone disease. His health was deteriorating and all their savings and his pension lump sum were needed for changes to their home, an adapted car, and the cost of carers. The Fund was pleased to be able to contribute to a wheelchair-accessible wetroom which made life much easier for him and his wife.
Lauren works for BT in Sussex. She has a 4 year-old son and was expecting twins. Tragically they were born early and one died at birth while the other had to be moved to a specialist London hospital. In order to visit daily Lauren had to pay for extra childcare for her son as well as the cost of daily train travel. The Fund made a grant to help with these expenses as well as towards the funeral of her baby daughter.
Mark is a BT engineer in South Wales. His wife had a stroke in 2014 and had been unable to work since then, so family finances were already stretched. In October his brother, who lives in London, suffered a serious heart attack while having minor surgery. Mark had to make several trips to London to help and the cost of these used money that would have normally paid the family’s rent. He had been given only two weeks to pay the arrears to avoid eviction when he approached the Fund. We were able to clear the arrears and help with his travel costs, making life much easier for Mark.
Teresa's husband had worked for BT for over 20 years and was only 68 when he died suddenly. She works part-time as a hospital auxiliary and has a very low monthly income. There were some savings which met most of the funeral bill but she was finding it very hard to manage both financially and emotionally. Sadly she was estranged from their two sons, had no other sources of help, and was struggling to adjust to life alone. The Fund made her a grant for daily living costs until she received her BT widows pension.
Barry was a former BT manager whose history of depression had led to him resigning from the company in 2012. Since then he had had only casual jobs, had separated from his wife, and had lost his home. When he came to the Fund his weekly income was just £55 working tax credit and he was sleeping on a friend’s sofa. We gave him a grant for everyday living costs and cleared some debts relating to his former rented accommodation.
Ted is a former BT engineer aged 79. Both his wife and his brother had died in recent months, and then he was seriously ill and in hospital for several weeks. A friend who visited him found that he was not coping financially nor looking after his home, and had run up rent arrears of over £1,500 resulting in imminent eviction. With his friend’s help an assisted care local authority flat had been found and the Fund was pleased to pay his removal costs and for some essential items for his new home.
Arati is a BT employee with a young daughter. She left her husband due to his having become violent to them both, but her family disowned her when she divorced him. After a period staying with friends she had managed to rent a flat but it was unfurnished and providing essential items took her limited savings. She suffers from depression and had fallen behind with council tax and water bills. Her BT manager and colleagues had been very supportive and her manager suggested she approach the Fund for help. We were delighted to be able to clear her council tax arrears and BT Employee Assistance helped her to apply for all the benefits to which she was entitled.
Bill spent his entire working life in BT. Now aged 86 he was increasingly disabled and suffered from epilepsy. Bill had been in the RAF, and SSAFA approached the Fund for help towards a wheelchair ramp, a stair lift, and a walk-in shower. The estimated total cost of the work was £12,000 but Bill and his wife had no savings. The RAF Benevolent Fund agreed to pay for the stair lift, and the Cavell Nurse Trust were also contributing. The Fund made a substantial grant to allow the bathroom adaptations to go ahead.
By post:
Room 4210
Bristol Central Telephone Exchange
Marsh Street
Bristol, BS1 4AY
By telephone:
0800 756 5555
By email:
benevolent@bt.com
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