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Last edited 27 Feb 2021

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PowerLottery helps give electrical industry colleagues a better tomorrow

1 Introduction
2 Help is at hand
3 About this article
4 Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

[edit] Introduction

The Electrical Industries Charity’s (EIC) biggest fundraising stream, powerLottery, which funds EIC’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), enables the charity to give crucial assistance to industry colleagues in need, like Mark and his wife Alison, who have worked in the electrotechnical industry for over 30 years.

[edit] Help is at hand

Mark and Alison fell on hard times when Alison was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in June 2016. Alison was too weak for a transplant at the time, and her condition had already caused mild dementia and memory loss, which resulted in many hospital visits. Due to Alison’s ill health, she was forced to give up her part-time job and Mark also had to reduce his hours to care for her. Alison was not eligible for Employment and Support Allowance which resulted in them spending their family savings to cover living costs.

Over the years, Alison’s condition deteriorated and there was no choice but to have a liver transplant. This meant that Mark had to take more time off work, which lead to him losing his job in March 2017. They had applied for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), but until they received the benefits, they had no means of meeting mortgage payments and other household bills. They also had a bank loan and credit card debt and had no money to cover this. Mark contacted EIC to ask for vital support to help with their situation. The Charity referred them to Christians Against Poverty (CAP) for advice and issued an immediate needs grant of £500.

Since then, Mark and Alison have moved to a new home which better suits their needs and is in a better location. However, their new home needed a lot of renovation, including new central heating, which they were unable to afford. Social services arranged to install central heating and, after intervention from EIC, a stairlift too. EIC provided another £575 grant to cover other costs plus a regular grant of £30 per week towards general living costs and £500 towards travel costs for hospital visits.

However, the couple’s problems were far from over. Following her transplant, Alison’s body started rejecting the new liver, which resulted in heart problems and kidney failure. On top of that, all of their sickness benefits were stopped, and their income support was reduced, which left Mark worrying about how to pay everyday bills and the additional costs of having Alison in hospital. EIC provided Mark with a grant of £2,000 to cover the additional costs and bills, and a further £1,000 was also given to help Mark with travelling and accommodation costs for visits.

Although Alison’s condition stabilised, she has recently been admitted to Birmingham Hospital for further treatment as her body started to reject the liver once again. In spite of this, Alison is happy and gradually making headway in her recovery. Mark is very grateful for all the support from EIC which removed much of the financial burden off his shoulders and allowed him to care for his wife.

Without support from industry members, EIC would not be able to give much-needed assistance to those who are struggling to make ends meet in times of crisis. By signing up to play powerLottery, you can help EIC to be the first port of call for those who have no one to turn to.

The Electrical Industries Charity (EIC) is giving powerLottery players the opportunity to win up to £10,000 by taking part for as little as £1 per month. To take part, simply download the powerLottery app and tap to play.

For further information or to take part, please contact Jess Vailima: [email protected]

www.electricalcharity.org.

[edit] About this article

This article was written by Tessa Ogle, Managing Director of the Electrical Industries Charity. It was previously published on the ECA website in September 2019 under the title ‘Play powerLottery and give industry colleagues a better tomorrow’. The article can be accessed HERE.