Annual report & accounts

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2023. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in Note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity’s constitution, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published on 16th July 2014.

Following a couple of unusually quiet years in terms of grant applications, 2023 was much busier, driven no doubt by high inflation and the continuing cost-of-living crisis. The BT Benevolent Fund rose to the challenge as ever, continuing to help those in most need. Energy costs also remained high in 2023 which was of particular concern to the most vulnerable people in our society, but through the generosity of our donors, the BT Benevolent Fund was able to help many people who were struggling to pay their bills.

In 2023 we awarded grants of almost £700,000 and helped 513 individuals, couples and families who needed financial support. Cases from current BT employees remain high and account for 43% of our case load. We awarded 3 grants of £5,000, which were the largest we made in the year and all three were for wet rooms with accessible access. We also made 31 grants of £2,500 or more, many of these being for funeral costs, new boilers and priority debt. In addition to our single grants, we ended the year paying weekly grants to 125 former BT people on very low incomes. We are in regular contact with our weekly grant recipients, so we know what a huge difference these payments make and how grateful they are for our support. We also made additional Christmas payments to them, which included a £200 winter fuel payment funded in part from the donation received from the Civil Service Insurance Society Charity Fund (CSIS CF) and a Christmas bonus payment of £100.

Our income exceeded £1million for the 10th year in a row. Membership donations, together with Gift Aid made up over 66% of this and thanks must go to the CSIS CF, PORF and Openreach for their very generous contributions. Other income came from investments, Christmas card sales, various one-off donations and legacies. We again ended the year with a surplus and have substantial reserves, which will help to support our work well into the future.

Once again this year we saw a decline in overall donor numbers which decreased by 4% to 16,466. Many existing donors increased their monthly contributions and new donors tend to donate more than those that leave us and this helped overall donor income remain reasonably flat.

This year Beth Courtier stood down as a trustee after 5 years with the BT Benevolent Fund and I would like to thank Beth for all her hard work and dedication during that time. There were no other changes to the Trustee Board throughout 2023. As always, the whole Board has worked hard to support the Fund's objectives and my thanks go to them for all their time and effort.

The Secretariat team have worked hard again this year in support of those that come to us for help and my thanks go to them for their continued commitment and enthusiasm. We now look forward to 2024 where our focus will be on growing our donor base and most importantly continuing to provide financial help and support to our BT colleagues, past and present.

Mark Murphy
Chair of Trustees