You, we, are not alone

Membership of the Guild brings many things (writes Vice-President John Blauth): colleagues, contacts, the occasional long lunch. It also brings something quieter and, when it matters, far more valuable: every member has automatic access to our own Benevolent Fund. This is, of course, a different entity to the industry-wide organisation Ben, about which more below.

Our Fund exists for moments of genuine need. It isn’t a bank and it isn’t a pension provider, but it can help in a variety of ways when life takes an unexpected turn. Our Fund is a clear illustration of what the Guild fundamentally is, namely a community whose members look out for one another and treat each other with kind courtesy.

Our General Secretary’s recent initiative to strengthen connections between members comes from the same instinct, and I hope we all support it. However, there is a further source of help that may be less well known in terms of specifics, and you should be aware of its existence before you ever need it.

That is Ben, the automotive industry charity, which Guild members can also approach for support with your health and wellbeing. Its purpose is simple and is stated up front and centre on its website: “We provide health and wellbeing support for life to anyone who works or has worked in the automotive industry.” And that includes those of us who write about, and photograph, the industry.

Ben has changed a good deal in recent years, and it had been some time since your charity had been in touch, so I recently met Leila Moss-Kelly, Ben’s Communications Lead, to put that right.

We talked about the free and confidential support that Ben offers and the services that are most relevant to us:

• Money worries: information and guidance on debt and finances

• Work, health and wellbeing: support through changes in work or career, from redundancy rights to CVs and interviews

• Life coaching: help with goals, confidence, career, coping with stress and much more, free for up to eight sessions.

If you need support but you’re not sure where to start, you can contact Ben’s free and confidential helpline team on 08081 311 333 or visit the website. 

If any of this could be useful to you, or to a colleague you’re quietly worried about, follow the links or pick up the phone.

The point is this: none of us is alone. We have our own Fund, close to home, and beyond it a whole industry that is interested.