The Independent Aftermarket really pulled out the stops to support the trade's charity at the recent ADF Dinner. BEN's interim chief executive Christopher Macgowan was a VIP guest and Tony Sackett made the appeal on behalf of BEN. Not only is Tony vice President of the ADF, he is also a trustee of BEN and has recently been appointed a vice President for the charity.

The traditional cash collection raised £8,734.50, followed by two presentations of cheques representing the fruits of fund raising activities outside the dinner, one of £5,031.41 from Aftermarket magazine's editor Tom Mallen and the other of £12,017.82 from Opal Telecom's Jerry Bart. (Opal remits a proportion of each telephone call charge to a special account for BEN). At the end of the evening it was revealed that another ADF member - JAYAR Components - had, through a combination of employees fundraising and a contribution from the directors, donated a further £7,200.

ADF Chief Executive Brian Spratt was able to conclude the evening by announcing a grand total, including gift aid, of £35,166.73. This is an all-time record at the ADF event.

BEN's Director of Fundraising and Communications, Charles Davis added, "As 2008 draws to an end we couldn't have hoped for better news. Over the last few months I, and the rest of BEN's executive team, have been taking every opportunity to reinforce the message that BEN's income is vulnerable to the economic climate because our financial fortunes are so intrinsically linked to those of the industry. We have already seen a drop in fundraising income and an increase in demand for our support services so this fantastic support from the aftermarket is vital and we couldn't be more grateful to all those involved in raising it. These are trying times for all those connected to our industries, but we must strive to ensure that support for BEN remains at the heart of all automotive companies so that we can continue to support the increasing number of our colleagues who find themselves in need.