North West Police Benevolent Fund

The North West Police Benevolent Fund, known as The Ben Fund, is an independent charity established in 1974 by Cheshire Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police, and Merseyside Police to consolidate welfare support for serving and retired police officers and their families across the North West region. Now serving around 16,500 members from Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria, North Wales Police, and the National Crime Agency, its mission is to alleviate hardship, promote wellbeing, and address the unique stresses of police life through compassion, confidentiality, and practical aid. Guided by professional governance and a member-funded model, it delivers holistic support via treatment centres in Lancashire and North Wales.

The Fund prioritises individual welfare needs, funding mental and physical health services like counselling, physiotherapy, residential recovery breaks, and holistic therapies; discretionary hardship grants and interest-free loans for financial crises, illness, injury, or bereavement; and wellbeing assistance for officers, pensioners, widows, widowers, surviving partners, and dependents. Support targets those exhausting all other options, with no project, core, capital, or organisational funding.

Eligibility is strictly limited to paying members of the specified forces facing genuine hardship or health needs—no unsolicited applications from charities or non-members. Applications use specific online or postal forms with supporting documentation, assessed rolling by a welfare committee, with decisions typically in weeks. Grant amounts are case-by-case (often £hundreds to low thousands for emergencies), excluding non-police entities. Distinctively, its police-exclusive focus, integrated financial-health services, and member-driven tradition set it apart as a trusted, tailored lifeline.