Engineers support the world. We’re here to support them.
IET members help shape the world every day. You tell us your careers can be rewarding, demanding and unpredictable. You also tell us it can be hard to know where to turn for support when life or work gets difficult.
We’re Foothold, the benevolent fund for the IET.
We’re a charity that’s been here for IET members and their families since 1890. We don’t know much about engineering, but we do know engineers.
We exist to make sure IET members and their families never face life’s challenges alone. So, if you or a colleague is experiencing stress, money worries, family pressures, legal issues - or just want to look after your wellbeing - Foothold is here.
Support for IET members and their families
The best support empowers, and we're here to help you take control of your circumstances. If you are, or have ever been a member of the IET, we may be able to offer:
- Tailored financial grants
- Health and wellbeing support
- Counselling grants
- Specialised neurodiversity support
- Disability support, including funding for equipment
To make the best use of our limited funding and to support as many engineers as we can, we assess each application against our savings, income, and eligibility criteria.
Could any of this support be helpful for you or your family? Check your eligibility here.
Online support for engineers and students
As well as the above support for IET members, we also offer free online tools for the whole engineering community. They're designed by experts to help you build your resilience to life's challenges and take control of your wellbeing.
Here are just some of our free online resources:
Monthly webinars
Our expert speakers give practical advice on topics that engineers tell us are important to them, from mental and physical health to personal finance and planning for the future.
Wellbeing Hub
Here you’ll find advice on mental, physical and financial help. You’ll also find free online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) programmes to help you make changes in areas such as work stress, social anxiety, low mood, stopping smoking and managing drinking.
Mental Health Check-In tool
A series of clinically validated questions to help you make sense of how you’re feeling and find ways to improve your mental health.
Differently-Wired Hub
If you’re a neurodivergent engineer, or believe you may be neurodivergent, this online resource will help you get support and discover more about yourself so that you can thrive in your career, studies or personal life.
Sleep assessments
One in three of us will experience problems with sleep at some point in our lives. This free assessment from Sleepstation is here to help you understand your sleep problems and get expert guidance to improve your sleep.
Law and finance factsheets
These up-to-date factsheets from Law Express are here to guide you and your family in the right direction. They cover 50 topics, from divorce and unfair dismissal to personal injury and inheritance tax.
Career support
Starting out, stepping up, or starting over? Explore practical career resources from organisations we work with including The IET, CVIA and Matchtech.
Our history
We’ve been proudly supporting IET members and their families for 135 years.
In 1890, the benevolent fund was set up to help members of the IET (then the IEE). Its purpose was to help widows and children of members who had died and who were living in poverty.
In 1900, we awarded our first documented grant of £20 to an engineer, which equates to about £2,500 today.
In 1944, an appeal was started for a ‘homes fund’ for people returning from the war. Two generous donations allowed Foothold to become the organisation it is today.
An anonymous member donated his house as a home for ‘aged, infirm or convalescent members.’ The second donation was from Charles Speirs who offered his estate to house people returning from the war.
Since then, we’ve continued to grow and expand the support we can offer. Today, we’re able to support engineers and their families around the world with whatever life throws at them.
Our impact today
In 2023/4, we spent £2.1m on delivering 2,922 instances of direct support to 1,585 people in 56 countries. We provided 294 regular and one-off financial grants.
We delivered 50,083 wellbeing sessions online to community members. And our amazing volunteers delivered 651 hours of support.
You can read stories from our community members here.
How you can help engineers in need
We’re able to offer all of the above support thanks to generous donations from IET members. The more support we get, the more we can help engineers in need.
Here are some ways you can get involved:
Spread the word
Tell your colleagues about Foothold – particularly if you know someone who might benefit from our support. Share us on your social media or professional networks.
Donate
Whether a regular donation or a one-off, however much you can give will make a big difference to engineers like you. You can donate to Foothold here.
Take part in an event
We support all sorts of fundraising challenges. For example, our community members took part in the Edinburgh Marathon, Brighton Marathon, Cardiff Half and Run Balmoral. We can support you in any event of your choice, anywhere in the world.
Volunteer
We have several exciting opportunities for you to get involved in, including becoming a volunteer content presenter for our advice videos.
Leave a gift in your will
By leaving a gift to Foothold in your will, you’ll provide vital support to engineers for decades to come. (If you haven’t got a will, you can make one for free through our partnership with Octopus Legacy, whether or not you choose to leave a gift for to Foothold.)
Thank you. Your help goes a long way.
Keep in touch
Hear about our latest tools and resources – subscribe to our newsletter here.
Email: contact.us@myfoothold.org
Website: www.myfoothold.org
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Historical image used: British Post Office engineers at the world's first demonstration of the transmission of radio signals over open sea, 1897. Source: Cardiff Council Flat Holm Project. Permission: Creative Commons.