Today, Ben is announcing the future strategic direction for the charity as part of a new five-year strategic plan.

The automotive industry charity has experienced a significant increase in service demand since 2018, managing over 300% more enquiries through its confidential helpline and supporting over 200% more individuals through its support and specialist services.

With the aftermath of a global pandemic, coupled with cost-of-living pressures, Ben has continued to respond to ever increasing demand each year, with more industry-connected individuals reaching out for support than ever before.

Ben’s Board of Trustees and Executive team have spent the past 12 months completing a strategic review of every aspect of the support and services Ben currently operates and has made some key decisions about the future strategic direction of the charity, which exists to support automotive industry people and their family dependents.

The following excerpt in italics is a summary taken from a statement which can be read in full here. The statement is to be printed as it is and not re-phrased:

“Through a recent strategic review process, Ben’s Board of trustees reflected on the changing context for people working in the automotive industry and the impact that it is having, and will have, on their health and wellbeing.In light of the growing demand for Ben’s health and wellbeing services, the Board concluded that over the next 5–10-year period, the priority of the charity will be to significantly increase these services for industry people and their family dependents. This will entail enhancing and accelerating both our reactive and preventative health and wellbeing support services and driving increased impact and engagement across the automotive industry.We will be in a position to share our plans for these developments over the future months. 

“Establishing Ben’s future focus has required a fundamental review of all Ben’s current services. Our care, and latterly village, services have been an integral and valued part of the charity for over 70 years. Both the Board and Executive team are extremely proud of these services and the excellent reputation they have achieved over the years. After very careful consideration, the Board, supported by Ben’s Executive team, has unanimously concluded that now is the right time to recommend the transfer of these services to the stewardship of new operators. We believe this will ensure that these services and our employees working in them have the very best opportunity to continue to flourish, develop and thrive going forward.”   

Zara Ross, Ben’s CEO, said: “The announcement being made today marks a significant period of change for our charity, but we believe now is the right time for us to make this commitment. This will enable us to grow and accelerate support and services for our automotive family.

“Since 2018 when Ben launched its previous 5-year strategic plan, we have developed our health and wellbeing services and managed significant growth in demand. More people than ever are reaching out to us due to their mental health and financial pressures, along with many life and health or wellbeing related issues. In addition to this, we are also, sadly, responding to more cases where automotive people have been affected by the loss of a colleague through suicide.

“Our Board of Trustees and Executive team are committed to growing our charitable impact even further, but we must raise awareness of the support that Ben provides to ensure we can be there for those who are struggling, or in crisis. We cannot do this alone; we need our industry to join us in raising awareness and help us to support even more of our automotive family. We look forward to sharing more about the scale of our ambition and plans soon.”

Support Ben and spread the word
To support Ben and help spread the word about your automotive industry charity, visit www.ben.org.uk/supportBen today.

Ben is here for those who work, or have worked, in the automotive industry and their family dependents. If you need support, get in touch via our free and confidential helpline: 08081 311 333 or use our webchat at www.ben.org.uk. You can also access Ben’s out of hours text support line by texting BEN to 58258.

The British Motor Museum is to host an exciting evening event on Monday 4 December, ‘An Evening With McLaren’. Visitors can join two of McLaren’s Chief Engineers, Geoff Grose and Sandy Holford, to gain an insight into the evolution of the McLaren supercar through the years and get up close to three of their iconic cars – the Artura, the 750S and the 12C. The evening will be hosted by Steve Cropley, Editor in Chief from Autocar and Trustee of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, within a relaxed environment with the chance for audience participation and questions.

From 6pm, visitors will be served hot drinks in the Welcome Gallery and at 7pm, they can enjoy a delicious buffet-style supper before joining the conversation in the Lecture Suite.

Cat Boxall, Curator at the British Motor Museum, said, “With 2023 being McLaren’s 60^th Anniversary year, there is no better time to discover how this iconic British marque’s relentless competitive drive has revolutionised the supercar world”.

Tickets are on sale to the public through the Museum website and cost £27 per head with a discounted price of £22 available to Premium Members.  All proceeds of the event go towards the vital work of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust.

To find out more information about the event, please call 01926 895300 or visit the website at https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/whats-on/an-evening-with-mclaren

The fastest car on earth, the ‘Bloodhound Land Speed Record’ car, visited the British Motor Museum on Wednesday, 8 November, as part of a national roadshow to find a new driver. The roadshow, which is taking place at various locations from 8 – 14 November, is offering this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attract passionate and skilled individuals who are ready to push the boundaries of speed and aspire to become part of history.

The Bloodhound LSR Project is an iconic British programme which aims not only to break the FIA Outright World Land Speed Record, reaching speeds beyond 800mph, but also to showcase world-class science and engineering. It aims to be the first Net Zero Land Speed Record car of the modern era. The project has proved itself to be one of the most inspiring STEM projects of the last decade. A separate education charity promotes STEM in schools and has reached up to 2 million school-age children.

The roadshow started at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, allowing the press and members of the public to see Bloodhound LSR and meet the team. The roadshow will be  travelling south to London and then onto Surrey and Hampshire.

Stuart Edmondson, Bloodhound CEO, said, “As we enter a new chapter of the Bloodhound LSR Project, I am excited about the opportunity and challenges that lie ahead and confident that this will enable us to return to South Africa and set a new record. With a new driver, along with my aim of not using fossil fuels to set a new FIA Outright World Land Speed Record, the project promises to be exciting, engaging, and relevant at so many levels”.

Stephen Laing, Head of Collections & Engagement at the British Motor Museum, said: “We are delighted that the Bloodhound LSR Project chose the British Motor Museum as the first venue for its roadshow. The collection already holds a range of land speed record cars from MG, dating from 1938 to 1998, a connection with the pursuit of speed and advancing technology. As a British-designed and built car, it’s even more fitting for the Museum to host this groundbreaking car that aims to surpass 800mph”.

For more information about the Bloodhound LSR, please visit https://www.bloodhoundlsr.com/

To find out more about the British Motor Museum, please visit www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

MAVERICK FINISHES ELEVENTH, ALEIX CRASHES

The Malaysian Sunday in Sepang did not bring the improvements hoped for in the Aprilia camp, where they had to settle for Maverick’s eleventh-place finish. His race was conditioned primarily by being in the most crowded part of the pack where, between overtaking and tyre management, it is difficult to exploit a pace which, on paper, could have earned better results.

Aleix, on the other hand, fell victim to a crash on turn 9 as he was attempting to close the gap from his twelfth-place position. His generosity encountered a less than perfect feeling with the front end, a recurring sensation throughout the weekend, which the technicians will be working on both in view of Qatar and in terms of developing the 2024 RS-GP.

ALEIX
"A weekend to forget, without a doubt. In the warm-up session, we tried a very different setup on the bike and, to be honest, I was fast but I realised straight away that I was closer to the limit with the front end. The most difficult thing to accept is not so much the crash – these things can happen – but rather the gap we had behind the leaders. When I crashed on turn nine I was twelfth, without the pace to even think about a serious comeback. We need to think about this and find a solution to get back to being competitive."

MAVERICK
"It wasn’t a fantastic race, but it was what we could do today. By now we have figured out that, if you’re in the middle of the group, you might even have a good pace, but you aren’t able to fully express it. You have to overtake and not let anyone overtake you and manage tyre temperature – all factors that ultimately limit your overall performance. I’m looking at the positive: a race like this allowed us to collect lots of information. Maybe we won’t be able to use it straight away in Qatar, but the Aprilia engineers will certainly have a lot of data to help them in developing the 2024 bike."

APRILIA HARD AT WORK TO MAKE A STEP FORWARD IN THE RACE

In a Sprint Race that rewards the top nine riders with points, Maverick’s top-10 finish is meagre consolation. After starting well from the third row, the Aprilia rider had to reckon with the usual chaos on the first turns where some contact and some trajectory changes cost him ground with respect to the leaders. His race, characterised by consistency, is a good starting point for tomorrow where, with twice as many laps to ride, he could easily have the chance to exploit his pace. 

As for Aleix, it’s safe to say that his performance today in Sepang suffered from the events of yesterday. Although extremely fast in Q1, the time he did was not enough to send him through to Q2, which he missed by just over a tenth of a second. His fifth-row start had him then maintaining a good pace, but still not enough to allow him to move up any farther than twelfth.

ALEIX
"The good thing is that I got back the "normal" sensations on the RS-GP with the change in settings. My time in Q1 (1'58.069) was the fastest yet for Aprilia in Sepang, but it wasn’t enough to go through to Q2. Starting a bit farther forward would certainly have helped, especially in the Sprint Race, but the fact is that I expected to be faster. We’ll have better chances tomorrow in the long race."

MAVERICK
"I can’t say that I’m disappointed, because I think the result today was the best possible. I had managed to start well, but then in the chaos on the opening corners I lost a few positions and I didn’t have the speed I needed in order to attack. We made a few steps forward on various fronts and we still have the warm-up session to try and find a few tenths. We’ll need to continue working to improve for future races as well."