The_Assessor_Spring 2026 web - Flipbook - Page 12
JOURNAL
IAEA BENEVOLENT FUND
IAEA BENEVOLENT
FUND HELPS
JOHN BELL,
IAEA MEMBER FOR
NEARLY 60 YEARS
A long-standing IAEA Member was the recipient of funds
from the IAEA’s Benevolent Fund.
ohn Bell, who has
been an IAEA Member
since 1967, had a fall
on Christmas Eve and
suffered a broken hip
(no, he wasn’t drunk, he slipped on
the second to last step!). After an
operation and stay in hospital, John
returned home, post-Christmas, with
the requirement that a stairlift would
be installed at his home in Pevensey,
West Sussex, to help him manage with
the stairs.
J
A stairlift is a signi昀椀cant investment.
After booking an installation for the
company to complete the stairlift
project in his home, John took advice
from the IAEA Benevolent Fund
team to see if he could access funds
to support with the purchase of the
stairlift.
The IAEA was happy to support John’s
claim, and Trustee, Tony Simpson, was
joined by the editor of The Assessor’s
Journal, Kelly Dalwood, to present
John with a cheque to contribute to
the cost.
John has worked in the automotive
industry since starting a three-year
Pupillage at the age of 18, at Rootes
Group (later acquired in stage by
US auto company, Chrysler, and
subsequently Peugeot which merged
with Chrysler, to form Stellantis) in the
early 1960s, in Coventry. Here, John
gained a deep understanding of each
area of motor design, manufacturing,
and engineering – from the shop 昀氀oor
to sales – attending the glitzy Earls
Court Motor Show, working on the
prestigious Humber stand with Royalty
in attendance, and earning the honour
of working on the engineering manual
for the glorious Humber Sceptre.
12
John was part of a team instructed to
rigorously test drive and 昀椀nd out what
failed, broke or fell off the Hillman Imp
when it came out in Spring 1963. “The
cars were on the road from 6:30am
until 11pm, from Coventry through the
Derbyshire Dales to Yorkshire,” said
John, “running two shifts of two drivers
per car with the change-over back at
the factory competition dept in the
early afternoon. Initially we were often
followed by the motoring press trying
to get info and photos, especially
when we stopped for a break at our
pre-arranged spots out in the wilds!
“The Imp was a terri昀椀c motor car and
if Rootes had survived it could have
outsold the Mini. After solving the
overheating problem the all-aluminium
engine was a fabulous piece of kit with
a successful racing and rallying history.”
John’s father worked for engineering
昀椀rm, EK Porte, before starting his own
business. When his father passed away,
John joined his mother at the business,
working alongside a team of quali昀椀ed
engineers, for many years until the
company was sold in 1987.
John was approached by a team
to manage a “syndicate” of South
Coast repairers to “sense-check” a
new approach to damage estimation,
double-checking Audatex estimates in
the early days of the system.
John enjoyed attending IAEA London
Region events and, as a loyal IAEA
member for nearly 60 years, the IAEA
Benevolent Fund team were keen to
support John.
John is occasionally asked to review
images and Audatex assessments,
which he enjoys, alongside numerous
hobbies which include collecting
Commonwealth stamps,
a phenomenally detailed and
fully-working model railway in a
dedicated room, and supporting the
local project to build a fully-昀氀ying
Mosquito, the People’s Mosquito (look
it up, it’s fantastic!).
The IAEA sends our very best wishes to
John, for his continued recovery.
JOURNAL
ABOUT THE IAEA
BENEVOLENT FUND
The Benevolent Fund was
established in 1963 as a trust
fund to support present and past
Members or their dependants.
Support is available to those
suffering 昀椀nancial hardship or the
effects of poor health or misfortune.
The fund is managed by Trustees
who all provide their time on a
voluntary basis and is 昀椀nanced by
voluntary contributions added to
annual membership subscriptions
by Associate, Members and Fellow
grade members. There are also
adhoc donations received from the
regions and personal bequeaths
made to the fund.
Who can the Benevolent Fund
assist?
You can apply for some short-term
support if you meet qualifying
criteria – in full at iaea-online.org/
about/iaea-benevolent-fund
How can I apply for assistance?
Applications can by sending an
email to the trustees at benevolent.
fund@theiaea.org or completing
the Application form on
www. iaea-online.org. All
applications are handled in
completed con昀椀dence by the
trustees.
THE ASSESSORS JOURNAL | SPRING 2026 | www.iaea-online.org/news/the-assessor
