Engineering support for life

Engineering support for life

Annual review

Care and disability . . . .5

Employment and education . . . .6

Legal advice . . . .7 Volunteer stories A Trustee . . . .8 Volunteer stories A Local Representative . . . .9 Financial statements . . . . 10

Introduction

In the summer, the IET’s building at Savoy Place closed for extensive and much needed refurbishment work to start; this meant that we found ourselves looking for a new home . Our new offices give us a special area for the Helpline, meeting rooms for volunteer training and trustee and committee meetings . We also have an area to meet with people in private who need our support . On the welfare side we undertook a comprehensive review of our grant making process, part of our on-going work to ensure we are providing the best service possible . As a result, a new policy was introduced whereby future assessments for financial assistance would be based on household income compared to ‘Minimum Income Standards’ as defined by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which has done a significant amount of research in this area .

This year, we helped more people

than ever before and still found time

to move offices .

42

%

increase in people accessing our legal advice service .

In a way it is not just the financial aid itself, it is also what it represents .

It means that whilst for a long time we have felt particularly isolated,

we now feel that there is a team of people that represent the broader

Institution who really care and that makes an enormous difference .

Follow us on Twitter for our latest news @IETConnect .

*Names have been changed to protect identities

COVER IMAGE: The photograph on the front shows Finlay and his mum . IET Connect supports Finlay, who has developmental problems, and his family . They wanted to say ‘Thank you’ to IET Connect and the donors who make the support possible .

We saw a rise in the need for unemployment support and a massive 42% increase in people wanting to access our legal advice service .

Finally, we ventured into the world of social media for the first time . We can now be found on Twitter

@IETConnect and the IET’s My Community . We are hoping that this will prove an effective way to engage with members and disseminate information quickly .

We hope that this review will give you a flavour of what we have achieved over the past year and how we can help IET members and their families in the future .

IET Connect 4 Annual review

IET Connect 5

Annual review

Expert advice

Their valuable experience and expertise, combined with the flexibility of IET Connect’s services, meant that they were able to offer bespoke advice or support to many individuals and families, establishing trusted relationships along the way .

This year:

Our Caseworkers dealt with the highest

number of enquiries and helped more

people than ever before .

7,555

contacts with beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries .

£719,936

of financial support was given .

Completed a review of the grant making/eligibility and implemented the recommendations .

Introduced benchmarking using the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Minimum Income Standards .

Sent out a mailing to 104,000 IET members highlighting the excuses people use for not contacting us and trying to encourage them to get in touch .

Raised awareness of IET Connect at the IET South Asia Volunteer Conference in India .

Care and disability

Over 200 grants were provided to help

IET members and their families .

Over the past twelve months we have funded specialist equipment, home adaptations, respite breaks for carers and assisted with travel costs for medical appointments.

This, along with a wide range of other assistance, has helped to alleviate some of the pressures that individuals and families affected by long term illness or disability face day-to-day .

Unbelievable! We can now take my son, in his new wheelchair, to places

that we, as a family, have been unable to go for 16 years . Fantastic speed

of response . No-one can believe it was sorted within a week .

Raising awareness outside the UK .

It has enabled us to not worry about

the significant cost of the respite for

all of the family . We are all carers and

IET Connect is one of the few that

recognize that we all need help .

Laura* was forced to take early retirement on medical grounds due to a painful and debilitating illness . She had great difficulty reaching the toilet at home which was upstairs . The local authority were able to fund a stair lift but this was not ideal for a 34 year old with a young family . Laura’s partner was an IET member so she contacted us to see if we could help . We provided a grant which helped them to convert an under-stairs cupboard into a downstairs toilet . She now feels much more comfortable and independent at home .

Formed a partnership with StepChange Debt Charity . Completed training on welfare reform with staff and volunteers . Visited beneficiaries in the UK and India .

Employment and education

We referred 96 people, who were looking for work, to our partner Chiumento . They provide support and coaching to help develop the skills needed when looking for work and improve the chances of success when applying for jobs .

Of those who completed the programme this year (the rest are ongoing), 65% went on to find work by the time they had finished it .

IET Connect funds the programmes which vary in length depending on the individual’s need .

We also support IET members who are in education, providing financial and emotional support to students who are at risk of leaving their course due to unforeseen personal circumstances . Some examples where we’ve helped include young people dealing with family and caring responsibilities, and students with physical or mental health problems .

One of our busiest areas of enquiry was

employment and education support .

96

people referred to our partner Chiumento .

When two UK universities had their ‘highly trusted status’ revoked by the UK Border Agency, hundreds of non-EU students needed to transfer to another university or return home .

One of those affected was Amal* who was a Student Member of the IET . He had transferred to another university but was struggling with the significant and unexpected costs . We gave him a grant to cover the additional expense of moving to a new city so he could continue his course .

In the end I had a number of job offers and with your help I have

been able to select the one that is the best fit for me .

Legal advice

Our legal helpline continued to be our most

popular service with 708 referrals, a 42%

increase on the previous year .

2 19 30 23 2 227 49 29 5 26 7 8 61 1 20 68 11 4 25 Benefits Commercial Company Consumer Criminal Data Protection Debt Education Employment Family

Landlord & Tenant Medical Negligence Motoring Personal Injury Power of Attorney Property Small Claims Court Tax

Wills & Probate

Legal advice topics

It was very helpful – it gave me advice on my rights and what to do .

The topics that people were contacting us for remained largely the same with employment related matters the most common . The second and third most frequent enquiries were for consumer and property related issues .

Chris* had been a member of the IET for many years and knew that IET Connect offered a legal advice service . He needed some advice on a compromise agreement his employers were offering as part of a redundancy settlement . After getting advice he was able to return to his employers to negotiate further .

I have been a member of the IET for

many years and was aware of the

service . This was my first time using

it and I would use it again .

IET Connect 8 Annual review

Volunteer stories

A Trustee

One of the keys to the success of IET Connect is teamwork and the way in which the staff, Local Representatives and the Board of Trustees work together . Every trustee plays a very active role in the running of the Charity . They frequently ‘roll their sleeves up’ and get involved directly .

It may be giving presentations about the organization to raise awareness, running a study into our services and considering ways in which they can be improved or perhaps advising on the use of technology given their own specialist experience .

IET Connect 9

Annual review

Volunteer stories

A Local Representative

Local Representatives (LRs)

cover specific geographical areas, they are the local point of personal contact between IET Connect and beneficiaries .

The staff and LRs work together making initial visits to people contacting us for help for the first time . These joint visits have been a great success, with the staff bringing considerable welfare experience and the LRs bringing local knowledge and a professional (engineering) connection .

I started volunteering for IET Connect as a Local Representative for the IET’s Coventry and Warwickshire Network, visiting beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries to help them understand the help offered, to provide a local link and aid understanding in the Local Network of the great work being done .

I have met beneficiaries whose lives have been

changed by the help IET Connect has provided .

Don Brown

Trustee and Chairman of the Case Review Committee

I was very impressed with the care with which the Caseworkers operated and this has only been enhanced as I became Chairman of the Case Review Committee and a trustee .

The Case Review Committee reviews a sample of cases every few months, makes decisions on higher value grants and ensures that the funds are spent to the best effect .

An Engineer by background, the role of LR is something I took on in 2010 in addition to various other voluntary positions within charities and other organizations .

Alongside caseworkers, I visit beneficiaries in the Birmingham area . Our different perspectives help us get a better idea of how we might be able to help those we visit .

Seeing the difference between the initial and final

visits, when our support is no longer needed, makes

me feel proud to be a part of IET Connect .

Jean Brownsword

LR for Birmingham and a member of the Case Review Committee

The caseworkers are invaluable, having a vast amount of knowledge and the ability to offer support and advice in most areas .

Being an LR is extremely rewarding as I am able to see first-hand the difference made by support from IET Connect .

The summary financial information shows the income raised for our activities, the cost of raising the income and the amounts spent on our charitable activities .

The information is taken from the full financial statements which were approved by the Trustees on 14 November 2013 . In order to gain a full understanding of the financial affairs of the Charity, the full audited financial statements, trustees’ annual report and Auditors’ report should be consulted .

Copies can be downloaded from IET Connect’s website www.ietconnect.org

Signed on behalf of the Trustees

A G O’Neill BSc MSc CEng FIET

Financial statements

IET Connect financial year

1 July 2012 – 30 June 2013

Where our money came from . . .

Income

£600,585

Investments

£545,525

Donations (annual, one offs)

£23,035

Fundraising events

Total

£1,169,145

. . .and how we spent it

Expenditure

£719,936

Financial assistance

£448,273

Welfare advice, legal helpline, employment support

£15,694

Fundraising

£55,756

Governance Total

£1,239,659

51

Investments

2

Fundraising events

47

Donations (annual, one offs)

%

%

36

Welfare advice, legal helpline, employment support

58

Financial assistance

5

Governance

1

Fundraising

IET CONNECT STAFF May 2013

Left to right: Caroline Fielding, Jim Minnion, Eva Ilanovska, Ljubica Ivanovic, Caroline Hobden, Chris Oxland, Cathie James, Emily Hopkins, Peter Talbot .

Not pictured:

The help we have received has really had an impact . It has taken away

considerable amounts of the stress we have faced and continue to

face . It has not itself resolved the problems, but it has helped us cope

much better .

IET Connect, The Institution of Engineering and Technology Benevolent Fund . A Company limited by guarantee .

Registered in England . Registration No .00441284 . Registered Charity No . 208925 . Registered office: Napier House, 24 High Holborn, London WC1V 6AZ

The outplacement scheme has improved my chances of finding work .

It’s a relief to know that IET Connect can help with the small things .

www.ietconnect.org IET Connect 24 High Holborn, London WC1V 6AZ

E: ietconnect@theiet .org

T: 0845 685 0685 UK only +44 (0)20 7344 5498 Worldwide Helpline opening times:

9 .00 – 17 .00 UK time, Monday to Friday CONTACT US