ISM NEWS: Members in Need
01 February
2006
In recent months, the ISM Members Fund has been giving record
amounts of financial assistance to members in need: often, because they have
been unable to work for a long period through illness or injury. This can
quickly lead to financial problems, particularly among self-employed musicians.
The ISM Members Fund, a registered charity, offers members grants to give them a
breathing space: this reduces their financial worries, lessens pressure on them
to return to work prematurely, and enables them to focus on recovering their
full health.
One member with a young family whom the Fund supported while she was off work
for six months undergoing chemotherapy wrote: ‘Thank you for being there when
I needed help. I will always be very grateful to this wonderful organisation. I
am so proud to be a part of the ISM’.
Another member who has been receiving help since heart surgery forced him to cut
his workload said: ‘I feel indebted to the ISM for the financial assistance
afforded me since my illness. Without it, my situation would have been very
difficult. It is not only the financial assistance, but the feeling I have that
someone cares’.
Over the past few months, the Members Fund has helped several members who had
injured their shoulders or wrists and so could not play. One wrote about ‘the
wonderful help the ISM has given me. I can’t tell you how much difference this
is making to my recovery – it means I can concentrate on getting myself fit and
healthy again, without worrying about paying bills. Later in the year, when I
have been working again for a few months, I hope to be able to make a donation
to the Fund, to help you give other members the sort of absolutely invaluable
help you have given me’.
The ISM Members Fund depends on the generosity of members for the financial
resources it has available to give to needy colleagues: it is not funded in any
way out of annual subscriptions. The Members Fund Officer can advise on the best
way to leave a legacy to the Fund, and is always glad to receive donations
(cheques payable to the ‘ISM Benevolent Fund’ – the Members Fund’s official
title). She can be contacted at ISM Head Office, 10 Stratford Place, London W1C
1AA, tel: 020 7629 4413, fax: 020 7408 1538, email:
membership@ism.org.
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