Regular monthly and annual donations enable us to budget and plan our support, so we can be there for as many engineers and their families as possible.
Support Foothold and show that you care about engineers facing challenges now and in the future.
Show You Care - Appeal
With your help, Foothold will continue to support hundreds of people in their time of need – we receive no Government or IET funding, so we can’t do it without you!
Founded by engineers, for engineers, Foothold (the IET Benevolent Fund) has been supporting your engineering community for 135 years!
Has an engineering colleague that you know ever struggled with a life-changing event?
I’m Beth, Fundraising Officer at Foothold.
I see the care and support Foothold can bring to others who are finding life tough and facing unexpected difficulties.
I’m Beth, Fundraising Officer at Foothold.
I see the care and support Foothold can bring to others who are finding life tough and facing unexpected difficulties.
With your help, Foothold will continue to support hundreds of people in their time of need – your support ensures we are there for them when they need us most
Any amount you can afford to give will make a big difference. I’d really appreciate it if you would consider making even just a small donation today. Your generosity will make a huge difference over the months and years to come.
As an independent charity, we rely on donations from the engineering community to fund our life-changing work. We don't receive any direct funding through IET membership renewals or government funding.
The more support we receive, the more we can provide.
Help us continue providing care and support to the engineering community, ensuring they don't have to face unexpected challenges alone.
I’d like to share with you Pauline & Tristan’s story from our Foothold community:
I’d like to share with you Pauline & Tristan’s story from our Foothold community:
“They can give you stability and support, and not just in the moment. No matter the support you get, it makes a huge difference. They have changed Tristan’s life as well as my own – they may be able to do the same for you.”
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, where you can’t afford the things you or your family desperately need, don’t wait – contact Foothold as soon as you can.
“They can give you stability and support, and not just in the moment. No matter the support you get, it makes a huge difference. They have changed Tristan’s life as well as my own – they may be able to do the same for you.”
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, where you can’t afford the things you or your family desperately need, don’t wait – contact Foothold as soon as you can.
“We heard something that no parent ever wants to hear about their child.”
Hi, I’m Pauline, and I’m a full-time carer for my adult son Tristan.
Tristan was 14 when he first got sick. He has very high care needs, so I gave up my full-time job to care for him. Whilst this allowed me to ensure he was getting the best support we could give him, things haven’t always been easy. But I soon realised there was nothing that I would rather do, than care for him.
In the first few years we often felt that, as a family, we were just surviving rather than living, especially during the years of exploring options.
“There has been a ray of hope throughout all this. I’ve never been one to ask for help, even when things are really tough. But I knew we couldn’t keep on providing all of Tristan’s care needs on our own.
Foothold have been a godsend to us and helped give Tristan a bit of freedom back in his life. It feels like we are actually living – not just surviving day by day."
Donations, by engineers like you, helped Foothold provide Tristan and his family with care and support
That’s why we’d like to ask you to consider making a one-off donation, or setting up a monthly Direct Debit to Foothold to help others who are struggling too.
With your help, Foothold will continue to support hundreds of people in their time of need – we receive no Government or IET funding, so we can’t do it without you!
Show you care for someone in need today
Show you care for someone in need today
Support we offer
Our support is designed to empower our community to thrive by improving their financial, emotional and physical wellbeing.
People we've helped
Find out how we've supported people in the engineering community through life's most difficult challenges.
Get involved
There are loads of ways you can support us on top of donating - from taking on a challenge event, to becoming a volunteer.