CM October 2023

FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Benevolent thinking
The CICM is relaunching its Members’
Financial Support Fund.
AUTHOR – Sean Feast FCICM
THE current economic
uncertainty and cost-ofliving
crisis have created
hardship for many people,
young and old, able or less
able, wherever you may sit
on the social scale. Every so often, any
one of us may need a helping hand, a
benevolent gesture, to get us through a
difficult period.
It was with this in mind that almost
30 years ago the Institute of Credit
Management – as it was then – set up the
Benevolent Fund to assist members and
former members of the Institute, or their
dependents, who are ‘in conditions of
need, hardship or distress’. Now that fund
is being rebranded and relaunched as the
Members’ Financial Support Fund.
Since its original launch back in 1994,
the Fund has come to the assistance of
many different members with varying
needs. It has helped finance the purchase
of a mobility scooter for a disabled
member and fund the studies of the
daughter of a member who became
unexpectedly ill. It has financed the
purchase of computer equipment to assist
an unemployed member set up a business
and contributed towards the purchase
of an orthopaedic bed for one member
whose condition was thereby greatly
eased. It has even helped with payment
for a drug, not available on the NHS, for
medical treatment.
The fact that even more people haven’t
been helped over the years is primarily
due to a lack of awareness; although
signposted and easily visible on the CICM
website, it is still largely unknown. It’s
why the Institute has appointed Peter
Wallwork FCICM, to Chair the Committee
who consider applications, and to
spearhead a new campaign and a rebrand.
“The Fund is a tremendous benefit
to members and their families, but not
enough people know about it,” Peter says.
“This has two impacts: firstly, it means
we’re not getting help to people who might
desperately need it, and secondly we’re
not attracting donations from corporates
or individual contributions and legacies
that would mean we could help even
more people though a potentially difficult
period in their lives.”
The application process for funding is
easy; there is a simple form to complete
to explain your circumstances and how
the funding would be used. Peter admits
it’s difficult to be prescriptive about
what might/might not be considered,
but that should never put off members
from applying if they are facing genuine
financial hardship: “Sometimes even a
few hundred pounds can make all the
difference,” he says, “and we recognise
that.
“From the examples we’ve already
given, you can see a diverse range of needs
we’ve been able to accommodate, from
technology to life-enhancing medication,
and corporate donors especially can
see how any contributions they make
very much fit within the ‘S’ of their
Environment, Social and Governance
(ESG) policy.”
The Members’ Financial Support Fund
is just one of a range of member support
services available through the Institute
that includes technical, business or legal
advice.
If you need support, or would like to
support other members, please email
governance@cicm.com or go online at
https://www.cicm.com/member-adviceservice/
and find out more.
“Sometimes even a
few hundred pounds
can make all the
difference, and we
recognise that.’’
– Peter Wallwork FCICM
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / October 2023 / PAGE 27