Health and Safety

Health and safety is a top priority for UNISON. Last year more than 1,000,000 injuries and 258 deaths were reported in workplaces across Britain. 24.3 million working days were lost and more than 27,000 people were forced to give up work due to injury. Since 1999 UNISON has won over £40,000,000 in compensation for members involved in work related personal injury cases.

If you have a health and safety issue at work, get in touch with your workplace representative, health and safety rep, or your branch secretary (see the Contact List for details).

For more information and resources on health and safety, visit the health and safety pages of the Branch website.

UNISON Welfare (registered charity)

UNISON Welfare is a unique confidential service offering advice and support just for UNISON members and their families. UNISON members experience many pressures in their lives affecting both work and home.

Whether it is just a chat and a sympathetic ear, advice or more concrete help you are seeking, UNISON Welfare may be able to help.

· Listening and support · Financial assistance · Breaks and holidays · Debt advice · General advice - All these services come free with membership.

Financial assistance - Sometimes all it takes is a small change in circumstances to tip the balance and turn a manageable situation into an unmanageable one. An extended illness can lead to a drop in pay. There may be other circumstances, which are placing a strain on the household budget - a relationship breakdown or bereavement or problems at work. You may need help with equipment because of a disability or you might be caring for someone with special needs.

A grant cannot be made for credit card or other consumer debts and depending on your situation you may be referred to the debt advice service. However, they often help with household bills, white goods and special equipment or adaptations.

As a charity, help with a grant will depend on your financial circumstances. More than 2,000 grants are provided to members every year and many more receive confidential advice and information.

Debt advice and support - Free, impartial and confidential debt advice service provided in partnership with Payplan who are experts in helping people in financial difficulty. The range of help includes:

· Free independent and impartial debt advice · A simple switch from your current fee charging debt management provider · Flexible Debt Management Plans · Five year fixed Individual Voluntary Arrangements (with no upfront fees)

INVITATION - Financial Surgery Day

Understanding where you are now and where you want to be in the future enables you to make informed decisions about your finances. LighthouseTemple Independent Financial Advisers want to help ease your mind and guide you through the maze of options available to you. We can help you ensure:

• Your Family (and you) will have sufficient income should the unexpected happen
• Pension planning maximises tax efficient contributions and future income
• Saving and investments reflect your attitude to risk and your objectives
• Finances are organised to benefit from tax-planning opportunities

LighthouseTemple are running a Surgery Day to cater for your specific needs – providing information to help you make important financial decisions. This is a free, private and confidential discussion on a one to one basis for Union members.

Their qualified Financial Advisers are highly experienced and are not tied to a single provider, meaning they can research the whole of the market to provide the most appropriate advice.

To arrange a 30 minute, no obligation, one to one appointment with one of the qualified financial advisers please contact Mel Sayers on the details below.

Date: Thursday 29th October 2009
Venue: Floor 1, Rooms 14 & 15 British Gas, 4 Callaghan Square, Cardiff, CF10 5BT
Time: 11:00 am until 16:00 pm
Contact Name: Mel Sayers
Telephone Number: 01273 523714
Email: mel.sayers@lighthousegroup.plc.uk