ABDO Benevolent Fund

The ABDO Benevolent Fund provides support to its members, past and present (or their dependants) who are struggling generally due to an unforeseen change of circumstances such as redundancy, bereavement, illness, relationship breakdown, etc.

Who is eligible:

Members, past and present, of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. The Fund may also help dependents of members.

We cannot award grants for:

• Private healthcare
• Private education
• Legal fees
• Debt

How to apply

Contact Jane Burnand on 07939 936827 or email jburnand@abdo.org.uk

Confidentiality

All enquiries will be handled in strictest confidence. Any ABDO member can make a charitable donation to the Fund.

Help beyond ABDO

StepChange provides free, confidential and expert debt advice. It offers solutions by way of debt management plans and provide ongoing support for as long as clients need its help.

Turn2us is a national charity providing practical help to people who are struggling financially. Turn2us helps people in financial need gain access to benefits and grants. Its benefits calculator takes less than 10 minutes to complete and will tell you which means-tested benefits you may be entitled to, including child tax credit. Its grants search can help look for funds or other types of assistance.

Help for students

The ABDO Benevolent Fund occasionally receives requests for help from students who are self-funding and having difficulty paying for course fees. In this situation, students should apply to the ABDO Education Trust which exists for this purpose. Students in severe financial need, however, can apply to the ABDO Benevolent Fund, provided they are ABDO members.

A further source of help for students (who have completed one year of study) is the Wiseman Memorial Fund, which is administered by the Optical Suppliers Association.

The Spectacle Makers’ Charity offers a limited number of bursaries for first-year students across all optical professions.