Charity aims to rival private sector benefits packages

A new benefits package at disability charity Leonard Cheshire is set to offer the charity’s staff, volunteers and service users a deal to rival the packages on offer in the private sector.

The charity believes that its Benefits for All plan, which includes benefits ranging from reducing costs on childcare to discounted holidays, will help reward existing staff as well as attract new staff to the organisation.

Employees increasingly look into the benefits packages that employers have in place, said Leonard Cheshire’s Human Resources Director Clare Smith. Our new plan offers an exceptional and varied package that we believe will offer something to everyone within Leonard Cheshire.

By working with the Charities Buying Group (CBG), a group established by Leonard Cheshire to help charities save money through bulk-buying, many of the benefits will be on offer not only to employees, but also to the charity’s 21,000 service users and 5,000 volunteers.

The CBG has been able to use its network of suppliers, in particular Swift Benefits, to negotiate benefits that are essentially free from costs to the charity, Clare Smith said. We have taken their excellent benefits package and been able to add other unique features to create a scheme that will be of real benefit to all the people within Leonard Cheshire.

Some of the benefits on offer in the scheme include:

Reduced price childcare vouchers
A Pay Saver high interest savings account with high-street bank Abbey Significant reductions on theatre tickets, car rental, holidays, insurance etc. Hospital Saturday Fund health plan, offering help in paying for healthcare

The package, which has taken 18 months of work to establish, has also benefited from the help of Hospital Saturday Fund (HSF) and Abbey, who have both contributed to the launch costs and will make a donation for each new member who enrols in the respective product offerings.

Clare Smith said: I hope that this package can help reward those people that do so much for Leonard Cheshire, and I also hope that it can encourage more people to consider embarking on the sort of rewarding career that they can experience in Leonard Cheshire.