Benevolent Fund to host AGM in March

The Benevolent Fund has confirmed it will host its annual general meeting (AGM) online on 4 March.

The meeting can be attended by all eye care professionals, during which they will hear about how the Fund supports optical professionals and their dependents through “periods of difficulty or even crisis,” administrative secretary for the Benevolent Fund, Lynne Brown, shared.

Brown highlighted that the Fund is “an important safety net, and a unique resource working for the benefit of the optometric profession.”

During the AGM, the Fund’s chair will report on the activity of the charity in the financial year ending September 2023, and will also share how the Fund has assisted people and how it intends to increase awareness of its work across the profession.

“Everyone within the profession needs to know how to get in touch with the Benevolent Fund if they, or their colleagues, are facing challenges that seem too severe to face alone,” Brown told OT.

During quarter four of 2023, the Fund reported that enquiries were up by over 50% on the previous year, and it received a record number of enquiries within a single month in December last year.

The AOP supports the Fund through an annual donation.  

For more information and to attend the AGM, email [email protected].

To learn more about the Fund, read OT’s article “The Benevolent Fund can provide a safety net,” in which Lynne Brown shares insight into the role of the fund and the support it can provide optometrists and their dependents.