To meet rising demand for its services, automotive charity Ben has announced a new five-year strategic plan that will see its care and village services transferred ‘to the stewardship of new operators.’
Since 2018, Ben has managed a 300% increase in enquiries through its confidential helpline and supported over 200% more individuals through its support and specialist services.
With the cost-of-living continuing to put pressure on families, Ben’s Board of Trustees and Executive team have spent the past 12 months completing a strategic review of every aspect its support and services and has made some key decisions about the future strategic direction of the charity.
Zara Ross, Ben’s CEO, said, “The announcement being made today marks a significant period of change for our charity, but we believe now is the right time for us to make this commitment. This will enable us to grow and accelerate support and services for our automotive family.
In a statement, the charity said, “Through a recent strategic review process, Ben’s Board of trustees reflected on the changing context for people working in the automotive industry and the impact that it is having, and will have, on their health and wellbeing. In light of the growing demand for Ben’s health and wellbeing services, the Board concluded that over the next 5–10-year period, the priority of the charity will be to significantly increase these services for industry people and their family dependents. This will entail enhancing and accelerating both our reactive and preventative health and wellbeing support services and driving increased impact and engagement across the automotive industry. We will be in a position to share our plans for these developments over the future months.
“Establishing Ben’s future focus has required a fundamental review of all Ben’s current services. Our care, and latterly village, services have been an integral and valued part of the charity for over 70 years. Both the Board and Executive team are extremely proud of these services and the excellent reputation they have achieved over the years. After very careful consideration, the Board, supported by Ben’s Executive team, has unanimously concluded that now is the right time to recommend the transfer of these services to the stewardship of new operators. We believe this will ensure that these services and our employees working in them have the very best opportunity to continue to flourish, develop and thrive going forward.”
