About us
We are here to help those associated with pharmacy
Who We Are
The Benevolent Fund supports those who are or who have been associated with pharmacy and are now in need of assistance. The funds raised are put to a wide variety of uses to improve the basic quality of life for those in need.
lll-health, fitness to practice, unexpected bills are some of the many reasons people need assistance from the Pharmacy Benevolent Fund.
While many believe that the typical pharmacist is financially secure, there are occasions when someone may fall on hard times or are affected by poor health. Some may need help accessing the services of the IPU or paying their annual PSI registration fee.
The Pharmacy Benevolent Fund is there to help financially or by linking those in need with services such as Practitioner Health Matters.
The Pharmacy Friends Group are also available to provide a listening ear to anyone who just needs a chat and to talk about what is going on with them.
The Pharmacy Benevolent Fund will consider cases from pharmacists and their families, anyone working in the pharmaceutical industry or in any pharmacy related role.
The Pharmacy Benevolent Fund is fully compliant with The Governance Code for Community, Voluntary and Charitable Organisations.
What We Do
The main objective of the Pharmacy Benevolent Fund is “the relief of poverty by giving financial assistance to persons in need who are or have been engaged in or associated with the pharmaceutical profession and to the spouses, widows, widowers, children and other dependents of such persons who themselves are in need”. Assistance may also be provided “to any other individuals in Ireland who may be considered to be in need of financial assistance”. Currently all those we look after, if not pharmacists themselves, have a personal link with pharmacy.
We support individuals and families in many ways:
- Giving extra financial assistance at certain times of year such as Christmas, helping with large bills – heating, medical expenses, annual registration
- Helping someone join IPU, HPAI or PIER to access supports available
- Signposting to support services outside of pharmacy community
- Visiting someone who simply needs to see a friendly face
- Linking people with Pharmacy Friends to talk about pharmacy issues
- Helping or finding someone who can help:
- individuals to avail of their full social welfare entitlements
- with arrangements for home help, nursing homes, financial affairs
Why We Do It
Many people find it hard to believe that there’s any poverty in pharmacy. We know from experience that there is and it is often hidden. Like most other professions, pharmacy has a benevolent fund to look after colleagues and their families who have fallen on hard times and need a helping hand.
There are lots of reasons why people need our support:
- Early death without adequate provision having been made for those left behind.
- Ill-health and not being able to work and earn a living, not to mention the many extra bills that arise when you’re ill.
- Working as a pharmacist can be isolating and burnout is a real issue
- Dealing with complaints and fitness to practise issues alone is hard. The fund can help you find support and provide a listening ear.
- Insufficient funds for retirement, sometimes simply due to bad luck with investments.
- Family issues, ranging from complicated relationships to ageing parents trying to cope with adult children who have a mental or physical disability.
- Being made redundant – the “new poor.”
- Short-term difficulties where the help of the Fund can keep someone going until better times come around again.
We aren’t concerned with why individuals and families require help as things can happen to anyone at any time. The priority is to get people back on their feet if at all possible and, if not, we commit to look to looking after them for as long as they need.
the team
People behind PBF
Directors
Noel Stenson
Mena Michael Eskander
Ronan Sheridan
Tadgh Scanlan
Nicola Cantwell
President
Nicola Cantwell
Treasurer
Noel Stenson
Honorary Secretary
Noel Stenson
Company Secretary
Ronan Sheridan
Case Worker
Mary Dowd
Meet The Team
Nicola Cantwell
Nicola Cantwell qualified as a pharmacist from Trinity College Dublin in 1989. She has worked in community, hospital and veterinary pharmacies. She is responsible for work placement on the Higher Certificate in Pharmacy Technician Studies in SETU. She works with Caredoc GP Out of Hours Service as Clinical Governance Pharmacist in Carlow. She is Allied Health Field Representative with Professional Association for Trans Health Ireland (PATHI). Nicola is an advocate for equality, diversity, inclusivity and belonging for all.
Tadgh Scanlan
Tadhg Scanlan is a community pharmacist based in County Wicklow. He qualified as a pharmacist in 2008 and currently works for Michael Tierney in Rathdrum. He is a member of the Irish Pharmacy Union and has served on a number of the IPU's committees and sub-committees and is interested in the development of the role of the pharmacist and pharmacy technician and the use of IT within community pharmacy to assist teams in working more efficiently. He is currently the Chair of the Employee Pharmacist Committee. Tadhg joined the PBF in 2022 and is the newest trustee in the current board of trustees.
Noel Stenson
Noel has worked for thirty years in Community Pharmacy practice working as an owner practitioner and has been involved with development of pharmacy practice policy. He is currently working in arena of regulatory audit and client support, as well as a committed focus on the education and training of the pharmacy team. He has an established record in supporting practitioners who are come into contact with the regulatory process at a personal and practice level.
Mena Eskander
Mena qualified as a pharmacist in Dublin in 2016 and joined the PBF soon after in 2017. Throughout his career, Mena has balanced locum work in community pharmacy with his career in IT. He has a keen interest in all things health technology having started his career building pharmacy quality management systems to today where he manages the technology infrastructure powering the health benefits system of a major multinational.