Foothold is the Institution of Engineering and Technology Benevolent Fund. It is an independent charity that has been supporting engineers for over 130 years.
I am asking for help today to raise awareness of Foothold and the fantastic work it does to support the most vulnerable members of our engineering community.
Originally founded in 1890 as the benevolent fund of the IEE, since the formation of the IET from the IEE and IIE in 2006 it has continued to provide support to IET members as their benevolent fund.
What does Foothold do?
As an IET member, Foothold is your charity.
Foothold’s mission is to support engineers and their families around the world to thrive, so they never have to face life’s challenges alone. It does this by providing a multitude of services to IET members and their families, including:
In 2022-23, Foothold spent £2.2m supporting engineers. Including 2,432 instances of direct support and 60,012 digital wellbeing support sessions to our engineering community.
How do IET members like me support Foothold?
Donations from IET members are vital to enable Foothold to deliver this support, but many are not aware that since October 2023, Foothold only receives funding if you donate directly online or by direct debit at www.myfoothold.org/donatedirect/.
Unfortunately confusion over this change has resulted in significant reduction in essential donations that Foothold needs to continue its work. This is hindering vital support to engineers, needed by some of the most vulnerable members of our community right now.
You can hear some of the real stories of support that could be at risk without these donations in the Foothold Impact Report.
How can I help today?
Whether you are involved in the IET as an individual member, or volunteer in support IET Communities such as a Local or Technical Network, you can help by raising awareness of Foothold and encourage fellow members to support the charity by donating directly.
Local Networks can help by raising awareness of Foothold at their events and meetings – particularly to encourage donation – but also to signpost support.
Many members are not aware of the change to direct donation.
Other members may be in difficulty right now and simply not know about support and services they can access.
Raising awareness can be as simple as including a Foothold slide at the start of your LN events or webinars to inform members about the charity – an example four-slide presentation pack is attached to this blog.
Where can I get more information?
A wealth of information can be found at www.myfoothold.org.
If you have any questions please message me on EngX – IET volunteers can also find me directly using the IET Volunteer Office365 email.
I encourage IET LNs to contact me directly or email – contact.us@myfoothold.org to find out how you can help raise awareness of Foothold to support IET members in your region.
IET members can easily set up an Direct Debit or one-off donation directly to Foothold online at www.myfoothold.org/donatedirect/
Please help to ensure the continued success of Foothold – your benevolent fund – for the benefit of all IET members.
Thank you,
Phillip J Corner CEng MSc MIET
IET West Yorkshire Network
Chair of IET Local Representatives to Foothold
