BEN Cancels Annual Lunch

BEN has cancelled its Annual Lunch for 2009 due to the effects of the recession on its fundraising income.

The Annual Lunch is BEN's thank you to its supporters who have helped over the previous year. The event is normally sponsored so as not to divert money from BEN's main purpose of care and welfare, but in these difficult times even their traditional supporters have to cut their costs.

David Main, BEN's Chief Executive said:

"We remain as grateful as ever to our supporters and hope they will understand why we have decided not to go ahead with the Annual Lunch. With our fundraising income declining due to the tough economic climate our priority has to be on handling the increased volume of people in need and maintaining the high standards of care we give those in the industry. We are sure that all of those who know BEN will appreciate our priorities. We hope to invite supporters to other events later this year to thank them for the invaluable help they have given us this year."

An announcement on the way in which BEN will thank its supporters in 2009 will follow.