The BDA Benevolent Fund aims to offer financial support to those suffering this Christmas.
Christmas can be a particularly difficult time of year for some people, when financial worries or anxieties accumulate and become too much to bear. At such a time, essential support from charities can help individuals and their families to cope with the added pressures.
Dentists are not immune to the problems and difficulties of life and whether they have suffered from a major accident, ill health or severe stress the BDA Benevolent Fund can offer financial support.
Christmas time remains a particularly busy period for the fund, as the extra expenses of the festive season become too much for many families. Below is just one example of the hardships dentists can suffer from and highlights the integral support the fund can give to those suffering.
Dr G was a 44-year-old dentist. He sold his practice after he had suffered health problems, mainly due to the stress of running a practice and dealing with the changes in contractual procedures. He began working as a locum dentist and was delighted when his wife became pregnant with their second child. Unfortunately, his wife experienced a traumatic pregnancy and found it difficult to care for their children, putting more pressure on Dr G. Worrying about his family sparked off his depression, which led to time off sick and marriage problems, in time leading to a separation from his wife. Gradually the stress and anxiety caused a mental breakdown and he had to take a break from work.
Dr G had been earning a good income when he was working, but this had since stopped, leaving him with massive debts. He had initially managed to keep all his bills up-to-date, but gradually his savings disappeared and he was unable to pay monthly bills or towards costs to support his family. When he approached the fund he was embarking on the process of returning to work as a dentist after receiving appropriate support with his health, but his many debts and little income left him struggling. He also needed to ensure his continuous professional development (CPD) was up-to-date and was concerned about how he would pay for this.
Dr G’s confidence had been severely affected by his recent experiences but he was determined to get back to work as soon as he could. He was now dealing with his anxiety and was in the process of rebuilding his marriage and sorting out his financial affairs. The fund was able to offer him a grant to help with immediate expenses and a monthly grant towards his living costs.
Relying solely on your generous donations, the fund needs your support to continue to help dentists like Dr G get their lives back on track. Please help your fellow colleagues this Christmas by giving to the BDA Benevolent Fund. Every pound you give will go towards helping dentists like Dr G and make Christmas a more bearable affair for many more.
To make a donation please visit the BDA Benevolent Fund website and follow the link to the Justgiving page, where you can easily give a one off or regular payment to those in urgent need this Christmas.
The BDA Benevolent Fund relies on your help to continue this work, so please contact the fund at [email protected] or visit www.bdabenevolentfund.org.uk.
And if you are in need of help yourself, please contact us now. All enquiries are considered in confidence.
