John Lewis talks to the Transport Benevolent Fund (TBF)’s CEO, John Sheehy, about the array of benefits the organisation can offer public transport workers
These days, a quid will barely buy you a loaf of sliced bread – and you won’t get much change if you want a couple of pints of milk instead.
What your quid will pay for, though, is your weekly subscription to the Transport Benevolent Fund CIO, usually just known as TBF. What is more, the flat-rate £1.00 subscription covers your partner and your dependent children. [wlm_nonmember][…]
By subscribing you will benefit from:
- Operator & Supplier Profiles
- Face-to-Face Interviews
- Lastest News
- Test Drives and Reviews
- Legal Updates
- Route Focus
- Industry Insider Opinions
- Passenger Perspective
- Vehicle Launches
- and much more!
Given the wide range of health, welfare and financial benefits the fund can offer to people working in public transport should hardship or distress arise, that’s astonishingly good value for money.
“We can’t solve all their problems, but we can make a real difference,” Chief Executive Officer John Sheehy told CBW. “We can offer some peace of mind.”
TBF was originally formed in 1923 to support the families of transport workers who served in the First World War and suffered as a consequence. Today, it has just over 60,000 paying members and has paid out over £2.5m in benefits during the last 12 months.
A non-profit-making charity registered in England and Wales (1160901) and Scotland (SCO47016), it is run by a board of trustees, the majority of whom work in the transport industry, who decide on all benefits. The needs and the circumstances of members are all different, so the discretionary awards are made on the individual merits of each case.
Anybody who is employed in public transport in England, Scotland and Wales can join TBF says John. “That includes office workers and mechanics as well as drivers,” he explained. “It also includes cleaners who may of course work for a subcontractor.”
With its head office in central London, TBF caters for employees in the rail industry as well as for those who work for bus, coach and airline companies. There is no age limit for joining, no bar if the individual suffers from a pre-existing condition and no medical.
When members retire, they may be able to obtain free membership if they have contributed for long enough.
What sort of benefits are available?
“TBF can offer a grant if you are off work for a fortnight or more because you are ill, the sick pay you receive falls short of what you usually earn and you’re suffering financial hardship as a consequence,” John said. “We can contribute to the cost of two different types of therapy – osteopathy or physiotherapy for example – over a 12-month period, and help pay for a period of convalescence after illness or an operation.
“We don’t run our own convalescent home, but we have close links with the Railway Convalescent Home in Dawlish, Devon,” he continued. TBF can offer a cash alternative instead to help defray the cost to members of arranging convalescence themselves.
“We can also contribute towards the cost of medical equipment you may need at home,” he added. That might be anything from wheelchairs and mobility scooters (if the recipient is not eligible for state-funded equipment) or mobility payments to back supports, tilting chairs, walking frames and special mattresses where the state or the local authority cannot or will not provide them.
Nebulisers and TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) machines to help with pain relief can be made available too.
TBF can contribute towards the cost of adaptations to a member’s property to make it easier for the individual concerned to enter, leave and move around inside their home if the government or local council will not pay for the changes – but the member has to ask the authorities for help first.
Other medical benefits include scans and tests, second opinions if the NHS is unable to deliver within an acceptable time frame, not to mention the cost of prescription prepayment certificates. They entitle the holder to obtain prescription medicines solely for their own use without further charge during a period of validity of either three months or a year.
A bereavement grant is available if a member or their partner unexpectedly passes away before reaching state pension age, or a dependent child. 
The fund does not make loans; any money granted is for the beneficiary to keep. It is worth noting that each family member is considered separately, and benefits paid are not cumulative for the whole family.
TBF can additionally help with legal assistance, although employment-related matters and associated costs relating to property conveyancing are not covered. However, many other legal areas are.
“We can offer impartial state benefits advice and help you put an appeal together if our benefits advisors believe you were wrongly refused a state benefit,” he said. TBF can also help members sort their finances out if they have got into debt and are finding their situation difficult to manage.
To receive all the foregoing benefits, you have to be a TBF member. But there is an exception: “We can consider helping any public transport worker who has witnessed a fatality at work,” John said.
The £1.00 payment is usually made by payroll deduction, but can also be made direct from the member’s bank account by standing order if payroll deductions are not available.
The weekly subscription qualifies for gift aid in most cases, which helps bolster TBF’s income. “We have a good idea of the minimum amount of money we’ll have coming in over the next 12 months when we do our annual budget,” he observed.
It also receives donations from time to time from companies in the transport industry. Although they are not a major source of TBF’s revenue, they are of course always welcome. Some businesses pay the subscription on behalf of their workers as an employee benefit.
“It’s something some of the smaller coach firms in particular do,” John said. “They may not have the resources to increase staff pay even though they want to, but TBF membership is something they can offer, and it won’t cost them a fortune.”
“I’d like us to have a greater presence on the induction courses businesses hold for new recruits,” he said. That way, they will be aware of TBF and what it can do for them almost from day one.
A team of nine local organisers helps to recruit new members. TBF does not pay commission, which means more of its income goes towards helping members in difficulties.
TBF appears regularly at industry events, including ALBUM and the annual bus show at the NEC. The fund has numerous patrons, with leading figures in the major transport groups and trade unions very much involved.
“We produce a quarterly news sheet called In The Know and we have a regular presence in the transport sector’s magazines,” he said. “It’s a constant drip-feed with the aim of making people aware that we exist.”
It is a drip-feed that has proved successful. Steadily raising TBF’s profile has resulted in the membership expanding from just 8,000 in March 2000 to 40,500 in March 2013, and now to today’s record total.
It is also leading to an increasing number of claims, says John, because more people are aware of the fund and how it can help them. “We’re receiving more claims than ever before,” he said.
All a member who wants help needs to do is ring TBF’s team of advisers who will do whatever they can to assist. There is no need to deal with an anonymous call centre or wrestle with lots of confusing push-button options.
So how big could the membership eventually get? In theory it could rise substantially over the next few years, says John.
“Over 1m employees work in public transport in Britain and they would all qualify,” he said.
TBF would welcome them, he says: “We want to help as many workers as possible,” he concluded. “Even though it’s the 21st century, there are still a lot of people in need.”
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