what do we mean by financial hardship?

You must have less than £4000 in savings and have difficulty balancing your budget.

how does the grant making process work?

If you would like to apply for a grant, please get in touch and we will send you an application form by post or email.

Once you have completed and returned your form, we will look at your circumstances and see how best we can help you. The next step is to speak to you on the phone or arrange to meet in person to discuss what we think we can do to help. We will also let you know if there are other organisations that we think might like to help.

Your case will usually be considered by the committee to decide how much help we can give you. We will then tell you the outcome and disperse the funds to you as soon as we can.

how long will it take to get a grant?

Our committee meets once a month, so it takes up to six weeks to hear. However, if you need more than the grant that we award we may have to contact other charities and this can take many months.

what is the maximum grant BEN can give?

The maximum grant that we can afford to give, except in the most exceptional circumstances, is £500. However we can often approach other funds on your behalf for certain needs.

what sort of things does BEN give money for?

During our last financial year we made 899 grants to new applicants.

We are unable to help with top up fees for people in care homes, housing repairs or improvements (except heating and adaptations for a disabled person), private education, private medical treatment and medications.