In this article we will explain more about Benenden Health's Communities:
Members can get involved at a time and place that suits them
What is a Benenden Health Community?
As a Benenden Health member, you are part of a community of members in your area; this is called your Benenden Health Community. We have 19 Communities across the UK. Each Community is managed by a group of volunteers and their role is to engage with their fellow members, ensuring they are kept informed and can share their views. We’re a mutual after all, and we believe that an important part of your Benenden Health membership is the opportunity to have your say.
What is the role of a Benenden Health Community?
Benenden Health Communities support our engagement with members. Your Community will do this by:
Inviting you to attend member meetups so that you can find out more about the Society’s strategy, products and services, and information on current healthcare topics.
Representing your views and helping you submit ideas for consideration by the Member Council and the Board of Directors.
Keeping you up to date and enabling you to engage via our website at a time that fits around your busy lifestyle.
How will members engage with Benenden Health Communities and the Society?
We expect that by mid-year 2023, you'll be able to engage with your Community through all of these channels:
- Member meetups.
- Online.
- By post.
By offering different ways to have your say, we're giving you the opportunity to interact with the Society in a way that works for you, whether this is by attending a meetup, engaging at home, logging on from work or on the move.
Member meetups
From July 2023
These will be in-person events led by your Benenden Health Community representatives where members gather to discuss health and wellbeing issues and get updates from the Society. Your Benenden Health Community will run at least one of these a year.
At your member meetup, you can expect to hear health and wellbeing advice from guest speakers, get updates from members of the Society’s Board of Directors, get advice on how to make the most of your membership from our partners and so much more.
Our online platform
You will also be able to interact with your Benenden Health Community via our online platform. This includes:
- Posting in forums.
- Voting in polls.
- Reading Society updates.
- Watching videos from member meetups and guest speakers.
Our website will be a great way to keep up to date with Society news, and provide your feedback, in a way that fits around your busy life.
How to put your ideas forward
Do you think there’s a product or service that would make your Benenden Health membership even more valuable? Your Benenden Health Community will be the quickest way to put ideas forward for the Board’s consideration.
Below is a quick guide on how you will be able to do this:
Lewis from Manchester is a single parent, his son Charlie has autism. This brings many challenges, and he sometimes doesn’t know who to turn to.
Lewis comes up with an idea that there should be a service that offers support to parents to help with strategies when dealing with difficult behaviour. There’s three ways he can submit this; in person, online or by writing in. He chooses to submit this idea online.
Next, the Benenden Health Community will meet with Lewis to discuss his idea. If they think it’s viable, they will share the idea with the Member Council.
Once they’ve reviewed the idea, they will work with the Society to investigate the idea and submit their recommendations about the autism service to the Board.
The Board will review and if they believe the idea is in the best interests of our members, will give the go-ahead to introduce it into the membership.
The Member Council reports back to Lewis, the Benenden Health Communities and members if the idea has been successful.
This is an example; we do already have support for autism through our Care Planning and Social Care Advice service.
Get involved
Our Benenden Health Communities provide an important channel of engagement for our members, with a variety of ways for members to have their say or get involved. Most importantly the structure is designed to fit around your lifestyle allowing you to interact with Benenden Health in a time and way that suits you.
Here are the Benenden Health Communities
You will find below the postcodes included in each Benenden Health Community. You have been allocated to your community based on the postcode where you live.
Communities Locations
If you would like more information on your Community, please email our friendly member engagement team at thesecretary@benenden.co.uk.
Get involved
We have some exciting opportunities available to help and support our Benenden Health Communities. By volunteering, you can play a key role in engaging with our members and making sure their voices are heard. Take a look at the information below if you’re interested in getting involved. We look forward to hearing from you.
Why volunteer with Benenden Health?
We have a proud history of volunteering at Benenden Health and this important role has ensured that our members’ voices are always heard. We’re looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help support our Communities, and we would love to hear from you.
Not only will you make a difference to your fellow members and the Society, we hope that the role will make a difference to your life too. You can:
Share your knowledge and skills…and perhaps pick up a few new skills as well.
Enjoy new opportunities and experiences.
Build connections with fellow members.
Represent your Community at engagement events and our Annual Conference.
How it works - We’ll support you every step of the way
To demonstrate our commitment to supporting our volunteers, the Society will commit to:
Delivering the necessary training, support programmes and handbooks to enable volunteers to confidently understand their role, and support their Community Group.
Providing the appropriate technical systems to enable volunteers to carry out their role efficiently and effectively.
Working in collaboration with all Community Representatives for the benefit of members.
Encouraging effective networking between the Community Representatives and sharing best practice.
Providing dedicated support from Registered Office, which will include Finance, IT teams and the Engagement Team.
Benenden Health Community Roles
There are several different roles in each Community and our volunteers bring a mixture of skills, expertise, knowledge and views. They work in partnership with each other, colleagues from other Communities, and Benenden Health staff for the benefit of all our members.
Community Representative
The majority of volunteers hold this position in their Community. Representatives get involved in all of the activities of their Community, and perhaps specialise in some! They may also attend Engagement Events and keep a good working knowledge of our products, services and business plan. Most importantly they share their views, and ensure the views of their members are also represented.
Community Leader
Each Community can elect up to two Leaders and two Deputies. They fulfil the role of a Representative with the additional responsibility of running their Community. This involves a planning Community meetings and member meet-ups, building relationships with other Leaders, representing their Community at events and acting as a key liaison between the Society and Community Representatives.
Key Contact
Many Communities also have ‘key contact’ roles for finance and/or online engagement. The finance contact is responsible for high-level oversight of financial spend in the Community and the online engagement contact works with their Representatives and Benenden Health staff to maximise the Community’s engagement with its members online.
Apply now
For more information about the roles that might be available in your Community, or to register your interest in becoming a volunteer, please email thesecretary@benenden.co.uk with your name, membership number and contact details and we’ll be in touch.