There are currently just over 1,800 former employees or their surviving spouse on our visiting scheme. Former employees are visited by one of a small team of eight welfare officers who may also identify and confirm instances of need.
The assistance provided by the Trust varies depending on needs. For example, irreparable white goods or occasionally, the Trust may assist towards a requirement to adapt beneficiary’s house through a disability, if no other alternative sources are available.
The John Laing Charitable Trust will also support existing staff or their immediate families who have fallen on difficult times. Individual cases are reviewed and assistance given on merits of the circumstances of staff and their needs.
The Trust also support nine John Laing Retirement Clubs, the production of the quarterly newsletter, Retired Employees’ News (REN) and the Laing Past and Present website. Click to the relevant pages to find out more about memberships and access.
Retirement Clubs
There are nine retirement clubs across the country with Lady Laing as the honorary president. They have hundreds of members who meet up for lunches, social events or just a chat. Each summer there is a President’s Day lunch. The Trust supports the committees of the clubs. Some retirees join clubs near to where they live; others – who have moved away – attend clubs based where they used to work. It provides a useful opportunity to meet up with old friends.
The Clubs are (from North to South):
Saltire in Glasgow
LNER in Newcastle
Cumbria in Carlisle
North West in Manchester
Realm in Birmingham
REAL in North London
Solare in South London
South West in Bristol
Further details of the Clubs can be obtained from alex.finkenrath@jlct.org.uk
Laing Past & Present
John Laing employees and pensioners are able to keep in touch with former colleagues through the Laing Past and Present Website. The site also holds some current and archive information, copies of the current edition of our magazine Retired Employees News and copies of past editions going back as far as 2005.
Club events are listed on the website, and members sometimes send in articles of events they have enjoyed. We encourage our pensioners to send in stories they recall of their working life with John Laing. We also have an obituaries page.
Our current Welfare Team and how our pensioners can contact them can be found in Laing Past & Present.
Further details of Laing Past & Present can be obtained from teresa.pettican@jlct.org.uk
Retired Employees’ News
The Retired Employees Newsletter contains both current information and also archive material, which may be of interest to those researching the history of John Laing. Retired Employees News is published quarterly and posted to those former employees and pensioners who have requested a copy, a PDF version is always available.
For enquiries or if you have an article to be included in Retired Employees News contact alex.finkenrath@jlct.org.uk
