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  • JLCT COVID-19 Reassurance Message

    Thursday April 9, 2020 in News

    The Covid-19 pandemic has created great uncertainties and disruptions. The John Laing Charitable Trust has been considering how best to respond to situations as they evolve.

    Welfare beneficiaries:  We appreciate it is important for you to understand how you can navigate through the challenges and financial pressures.   We want to reassure you that we will continue to support you through this period.  Our Welfare Officers are in touch with many pensioners although they are mainly doing this now by phone, we are offering assistance in the normal way.

    Retirement Clubs:  We are also maintaining financial support of the John Laing Retirement Clubs.   Please contact the committee members of the respective Clubs to find out how their plans and activities have been affected and the changes they are implementing.

    Grant making:  We understand the Covid-19 will impact the charities and projects we fund.  Events may be cancelled or there may be difficulties in meeting the outcomes of our grant or deliver the programmes as planned.   We want to reassure our charity partners that we offer flexibility and we would like to hear how the virus is impacting the work we are funding as well the wider impact on their organisation.   We are committed to providing support during this challenging time and have signed the Funder Statement of Covid-19 to:

    • Adapting activities – we recognise that you may experience difficulties achieving some of the outputs or outcomes we agreed for your grant during the outbreak, and would like to be able to maintain our grant payments to you at originally-agreed levels during this period, so please have a conversation with us if you are affected in this way;
    • Discussing dates – we don’t want to add pressure, so if you think you will struggle to meet a reporting deadline please get in touch with us so that we can agree a more realistic time for you to get things to us wherever possible;
    • Financial flexibility – we know you may need to use your funding to help cover sickness, purchase equipment, or deliver services differently, and we will be reasonable if you need to move money between budget headings to ensure your work can continue; and
    • Listening to you – we are here if you want to talk to us about the situation you’re facing, but we’ll wait for you to call us so that these conversations are at the right time for you.

    We are also considering co-ordinating collective support with other funders and sector leaders.

    Staff and Operations:  All our staff are now working from home and available by phone or email.  Post are collected from the Mill Hill office once a week.  In order to reduce unnecessary journeys, we will make payments electronically and communicate mainly by phone or email.

    Contact phone numbers:

    General Office: 020 3836 7942

    Welfare:  020 3836 7934

    Club Liaison:  020 3836 7931

     

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