B R A N C H W E L F A R E by Pauline Lawton-Hughes

UNISON Welfare is a unique confidential service just for UNISON members and their families. We offer:

Listening and Support

Financial Assistance

Breaks and holidays

Debt Advice

General Advice

Call 01352 704300 to speak to our branch welfare officers:

Pauline Lawton-Hughes 

Dave Cartwright

Or, if you don’t want to speak to our local contact you can contact our national helpline on 020 7551 1620 or email welfare@unison.co.uk

For debt advice, please call the Unison Debtline on freephone: 0800 389 3302

Monday - Friday 8am - 9pm, Saturday 9am - 3pm

unison.org.uk/thereforyou

The service is free and confidential, and there is no obligation involved.

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IMPORTANT MESSAGE

We are pleased to report that 2014 was another successful year for Unison's own charity 'There for You'.

Many who asked for help recounted stories of how they have struggled to provide for their family and pay for the most basic items. For others the situation was compounded with worries about how they would pay their rent or mortgage.

In these difficult times, our charity's work is vital and for this reason, we are writing to all branches to ask if you would consider making a donation and enabling us to continue to help those of our members who are finding life difficult.

Please demonstrate your support by making a donation now - it could make all the difference - for example:

• £120 could help pay towards school uniforms for 3 children
• £800 could help with resettlement costs or essential household items after someone has lost their home or in the case of domestic violence.
• A regular donation or, subscribing to the lottery would enable us to deliver meaningful support to even more members.

This is a unique service within trade unions and something we should all be proud to support.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email. Please address any queries or requests for additional information to j.grant@unison.co.uk.

Maureen Le Marinel

Chair: Board of Trustees

Cliff Williams

Assistant General Secretary: Regional Management & Governance

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Supporting UNISON members when life gets tough

If you are struggling through an unexpected crisis, or if the pressures of every day life are getting to you, There for You can help.

We offer a unique confidential advice and support service just for members of UNISON and their dependants.

Whether it's just a chat and a sympathetic ear, or more concrete help you need, we may be able to help.

We offer:

• Financial assistance
• Debt advice
• Wellbeing breaks
• Support and information

UNISON is the only trade union to offer a confidential advice and support service to its members and their families in the form of a registered charity. UNISON Welfare, now been rebranded as There for You: supporting UNISON members when life gets tough.

In recent years, we noticed that the name "Welfare" was putting some people off, while other members didn't understand what services we provide.

So we've rebranded our services as the more approachable There for You: supporting UNISON members when life gets tough.

The charity's official name remains UNISON Welfare.