The UK's largest motor dealer group, Pendragon plc, has announced a number of initiatives in support of the automotive industry charity, BEN.

Planned activities which range from promoting awareness of the charity's work amongst its workforce by means of regular email communications and special induction packs to organising monthly fund-raising and awareness days for BEN have the personal endorsement of Pendragon's C.E.O. Trevor Finn. The key part of the programme will see BEN embarking upon a nationwide, 12-month tour of the group's dealerships with a series of payroll giving presentations to its 9,000 employees.

Welcoming the news, BEN's Head of Marketing, Ray Diggins said, "Never has the work that BEN does for members of our automotive family been more important than it is now and we want every member of that family, past and present, to know that we are here for them and what we can do for them, for their colleagues and for their families should they ever find themselves in a time of need. To achieve that, we need to get the BEN word out to as many people in our industry as possible and the kind of help that Pendragon is giving us to do just that will be completely invaluable. I'm very grateful to Trevor and his senior team for helping to make this happen."

BEN is the motor industry's only dedicated charity and offers a range of care, welfare and residential services to past and present members of the automotive and associated industries throughout the UK.