The Oakbourne League

The Solihull and District Oakbourne Football League Benevolent Fund was set up, at the start of the 2010-2011 season, to assist club members when they, or their family have suffered some type of medical problems resulting in some temporary kind of hardship. Details below show the system that should be used to claim from the fund.

Benevolent Fund

The aim of the fund is to provide a timely assistance where a condition is identified to try to alleviate problems for the families
concerned. However, the fund cannot solve all the monetary problems that a family may face but is designed to be a fast track initial help for the member. This would include items such as:
Help with meeting expenses when someone is incapacitated in Hospital.
Help with meeting expenses when injury to the family provider rendering them incapacitated and hardship of some kind is likely to occur.
Help with traveling expenses when the member or immediate family is incapacitated in Hospital, if the Hospital is distant from the home address.
Help when the member who is injured is the main family provider and income is considerably reduced.
Any other situation where the Committee feel justified in making a donation from the fund where the member is incapacitated.

On identifying a possible claim the members Club must complete a request form, which can be downloaded from the Web Site. (at the bottom of this page) Alternatively a request to the League Treasurer should be made and he will email the form or post as requested. This form should then be completed and immediately dispatched to the Treasurer by post (Contact address as shown on the Ruling Council Page). To speed up the matter, the form can be sent as a scanned file, by email, where possible to mwwhitehouse@hotmail.co.uk. However, the original must also be recieved prior to any payments being made from the fund.
The League Treasurer will then send a copy of this report to the other members, of the Benevolent Fund Committee, with possible recommendations. The Treasurer will then collate the thoughts of the Committee and, on agreement, will inform the claimant of the decision. If a donation has been agreed the Treasurer will arrange to make that payment, usually by cheque but if the recipient does not have a Bank Account then the Treasurer will arrange for funds to be transferred to the recipient.

The Benevolent Fund Committee will consider the following when making their decisions.
1. Does the incapacity affect the family/member in a very serious manner i.e. very little income coming in initially causing serious issues for the family. Particularly if being unable to work the member will receive little or no wages/benefits for a period of time.
2. Does the incapacity affect the family in a slightly less serious manner where a quick donation will help over the initial period if the member is the main breadwinner.
3. Where the member or his family is hospitalized although not affecting earning power but considerable expense is expected for the family to visit. These would include such instances, as the member is the only person in the household who drives and transport to the hospital, car parking etc is considerable to maintain contact. This also would cover when an immediate family member is hospitalized in a distant hospital.
4. Any other condition the Committee deem fit.
The Committee will advocate what level of assistance is made.
i.e. £50, £100, £150 or £200 maximum, however in extreme circumstances the Committee will consider further applications.