Unison Welfare Booklet

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016)

Disclaimer: The contents of this publication are believed correct at the time of producing.

Nevertheless, the publisher can accept nor responsibility for errors or omissions, changes in the detail given or to any expense of loss thereby caused. Produced July 2017.

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016) Welcome to the first edition of Unison Stirling Welfare Booklet, produced by Stirling Unison Branch. We hope that you find it useful & informative. We welcome any feedback you have regarding the content; layout or ideas how Stirling Branch Welfare Officer can help you. Our branch welfare officer is Pam Campbell, telephone 01786 233141 or email campbellp@stirling.gov.uk or pamunison@hotmail.co.uk (still to set up email address????)

There for you is UNISON's own registered charity offering a unique confidential service supplying advice and support just for UNISON members and their families. Members experiencing financial and emotional difficulties can contact our welfare charity, There for You, through the branch welfare officer, who provides a confidential advice and support service for members and their dependents.

We offer a range of FREE and confidential services, benefits and support including: Financial Assistance: If you are a member and you are experiencing financial difficulties, whatever the circumstances, “There for You” can offer you support.

Well-being Breaks: Wellbeing breaks can provide welcome relief from stress and respite from difficult circumstances. We can help you towards the costs of a break, depending on your financial situation.

Advice: “There for You” provides a confidential service for members over the phone or in person if you are experiencing personal difficulties.

Debtline: The service is available to all our members to help you manage money and deal with debt. We offer free confidential advice to help you clear your debts.

Small Grants: School Clothing Grants and Winter Fuel Grant Website: https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/servicessupport/there-for-you/

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016) ADVISE: BENEFIT ADVISE

Advise Stirling, Benefits Adviser, Customer first Stirling, 1-5 Port Street, Stirling, FK8 2EJ Telephone: 01786 233528 or email moneyadvice@stirling.gov.uk or complete enquiry form from website: http://my.stirling.gov.uk/services/community-lifeand-leisure/community-advice/debt-and-money/moneyadvice-customer-enquiries Open: Monday to Friday 9.00 am till 5.00 pm. Appointment required.

Service: We provide advice and support on multiple and complex debt matters including rent and mortgage arrears.

We also offer income maximisation; applying for Welfare Grants and referrer to Food Bank Citizens Advice Bureau Stirling, The Norman McEwan Centre, Cameronian Street, Upper Craigs, Stirling, FK8 2DX Telephone Number: 01786 470239 Website: http://stirlingcab.org.uk/ Open: Monday – Wednesday 10.00 am till 3.00 pm Thursday 1400 till 1900.

Out of hours Monday – Friday 8.00 am till 8.00 pm and Saturday 10.00 am till 2.00pm Telephone: 0808 800 9060 Outreach provision offered in the communities of Callander; Cornton: Cowie; Cultenhove: Killin and Plean.

Service: offers free, expert, impartial advice, including income maximization; debt advise; consumer rights; employment problems; housing; tax and immigration.

Council on Disability – Stirling, The Norman MacEwan Centre, Upper Cameronian Street, Stirling,, FK8 2DX Telephone: 01786 462178 Email: codstirling@talktalkbusiness.net Open: Monday to Thursday 10.00am till 3.00 pm Service: aims to provide independent confidential specialist advice and information for those with special needs and anyone who has or cares for, someone with a disabling illness Department of Work & Pension, 2 St Ninians Road, Stirling, FK8 2HF Telephone - 08456 060 265 Textphone - 0800 731 7339 Website - www.gov.uk Open: Monday to Friday 9.00 am till 5.00 pm except Wednesdays 10.00 am till 5.00 pm Service: Face to face job search advice and information. Working age benefit claims advice. Access to telephone benefits advice and online service access in customer area; Better off calculation

advice in relation to transition from benefits into work; full range of online welfare and benefits information and advice; access by appointment to internet enabled IT terminals to facilitate online claims and job search Forth Housing Association, 4th Floor, Wallace House 17-21 Maxwell Place, Stirling, FK8 1JU Telephone: 446066 or (direct dial) 01786 431921 Email: tracy@forthha.org.uk Website: http://www.forthha.org.uk/ Open: Monday to Friday 9.00 am till 5.00 pm Service: Providing good quality and well managed housing for rent and low cost home ownership in the Stirling area. The Income Maximisation service aims to help you achieve your maximum possible entitlement to welfare benefits. Their

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016)

Income Maximisation Officer does this by giving advice and help on all kinds of benefits.

MacMillan Money Matters – Long Term Conditions, Stirling Council, 1- 5 Port Street, Stirling, FK8 2EJ Telephone Number: 01786 233525 or email: mmltc@stirling.gov.uk Website: http://my.stirling.gov.uk/services/business-and-trade/tradingstandards/trading-standards-advice-and-support/debt-andmoney/long-term-conditions or https://www.macmillan.org.uk/ Open: Monday to Friday 9.00 am till 5.00 pm appointment required Service: We can provide advice and assistance to maintain your financial wellbeing. This service is available to patients who do not have cancer as well as those who do. A long term condition is something you have lived with for more than a year, has required ongoing medical care and has a limited your life in some way e.g COPD; Stroke; Dementia; etc

Stirling Carers Centre, 65-69 Barnton Street, Stirling, FK8 1HH Telephone: 01786 447003 email: info@stirlingcarers.co.uk Website: http://www.stirlingcarers.org/

DEBT/MONEY

Advise Stirling, Benefits Adviser, Customer first Stirling, 1-5 Port Street, Stirling, FK8 2EJ Telephone: 01786 233528 or email moneyadvice@stirling.gov.uk or complete enquiry form from website: http://my.stirling.gov.uk/services/community-lifeand-leisure/community-advice/debt-and-money/moneyadvice-customer-enquiries Open: Monday to Friday 9.00 am till 5.00 pm. Appointment required.

Service: We provide advice and support on multiple and complex debt matters including rent and mortgage arrears.

We also offer income maximisation; applying for Welfare Grants and referrer to Food Bank Credit Unions: There are a range of credit unions operating in the Stirling area, including: Cornton & District: Cowie: Mercat Cross & Bruce; Stirling Credit Union. For more information on the community credit unions go to Scottish Credit Unions website: https://www.scottishcu.org/our-credit-unions For more information on Stirling Credit Union see website: http://www.stirlingcreditunion.co.uk/

Open: Monday to Friday 9.00 am till 4.00 pm Service: Stirling Carers Centre provides information, advice and support to unpaid carers throughout the Stirling Council area. We provide: advice & information; carers support plans; benefit checks; help with forms; one to one support; basic advocacy; respite events; hospital support; peer support groups and more.

Citizens Advice Bureau Stirling, The Norman McEwan Centre, Cameronian Street, Upper Craigs, Stirling, FK8 2DX Telephone Number: 01786 470239 Website: http://stirlingcab.org.uk/ Open: Monday – Wednesday 10.00 am till 3.00 pm Thursday 1400 till 1900.

Out of hours Monday – Friday 8.00 am till 8.00 pm and Saturday 10.00 am till 2.00pm Telephone: 0808 800 9060

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016)

Outreach provision offered in the communities of Callander; Cornton: Cowie; Cultenhove: Killin and Plean.

Service: offers free, expert, impartial advice, including income maximization; debt advise; consumer rights; employment problems; housing; tax and immigration.

MacMillan Money Matters – Long Term Conditions, Stirling Council, 1- 5 Port Street, Stirling, FK8 2EJ Telephone Number: 01786 233525 or email: mmltc@stirling.gov.uk Website: http://my.stirling.gov.uk/services/business-and-trade/tradingstandards/trading-standards-advice-and-support/debt-andmoney/long-term-conditions or https://www.macmillan.org.uk/

You can also choose to use the free online Payplan tools to help you come up with your own plan. For more information go to: https://www.payplan.com/diagnose-your-debt/ FURNITURE

Freecycle: This is a network of local groups where people give stuff away when they no longer need it but it still has some useful life left in it. Or if there’s something you’d like, perhaps someone has just what you need that they don’t want anymore. Do not pay for couriers.

Webiste: https://trashnothing.com/stirling-freecycle

Open: Monday to Friday 9.00 am till 5.00 pm appointment required

Grand Boys Furniture Recycle Centre, Hedges Loan, Bannockburn, Stilring, FK 7 8HX Telephone: 01786 810868 Website: http://thegrandboys.co.uk/shop/

Service: We can provide advice and assistance to maintain your financial wellbeing. This service is available to patients who do not have cancer as well as those who do. A long term condition is something you have lived with for more than a year, has required ongoing medical care and has a limited your life in some way e.g COPD; Stroke; Dementia; etc

Open: Monday 10.00 till 4.00 pm: Tuesday 10.00 am till 3.30pm; Wednesday 10.00 am till 3.30 pm; Thursday 10.00 am till 4.400pm: Friday 10.00 am ill 4.00 pm: Saturday 10.00 am till 3.00 pm and Sunday 12 noon till 3.00pm.

Unison Debtline: Call the UNISON Welfare Debtline freephone 0800 389 3302

Debtline can help you deal with: credit card debt; mortgage arrears; home repossession; county court judgment claims Our Debtline service is provided by debt management experts, Payplan. Using this service you get: immediate advice; a debt management plan to suit your circumstances; a case officer to advise you throughout your repayment programme and negotiate with your creditors; a reduction of multiple debt repayments into a single, affordable monthly repayment; a choice of payment methods free and confidential service with no hidden charges.

Service: The shop sells a range of furniture, including sofa’s; bookshelves; dining tables; bric a brac and household items.

Gumtree Stirling Freebies: Is an online classified and community web. They allow people to advise items they wish to give away under freebies section of website. https://www.gumtree.com/freebies/stirling Start Up Stirling, Unit 9, 10 Munro Road, Stirling, FK7 7UU Telephone: 01786 561027 Website: http://www.startupstirling.org.uk/ Open: Referral process in place

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016)

Service: they offer support to families and individuals experiencing homelessness and financial hardship by providing home starter and well being packs, listening/befriending support and crisis food packs.

Salvation Army Charity Shop, 19 Drip Road, Stirling, FK8 1RA Telephone: 01786 448923 Website: http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/stirling

Addiction Support & Counselling Service: 90 Drip Road, Raploch, Stirling, FK8 1RN Telephone: 01786 450721 Website: http://asc.me.uk/ Opening times: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm Service: We provide a range of counselling and community rehabilitation services for people affected by alcohol and/or drug misuse to help them on the road to recovery.

Open: Monday to Saturday 10.00 am till 4.00 pm

Signpost: Units 1&2, Block 7 Cooperage Business Village Cooperage Way, Alloa, FK10 3LP Telephone: 0845 673 1774 Website: http://signpostrecovery.org.uk/

Service: Charity shop which sells mainly second hand goods, incuding clothes, bric a brac and household items.

Open: Referral process in place

Valley Furniture, Unit 4, 3a Munro Road, Stirling, FK7 7UU Telephone: 01786 448923 Website: http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/stirling

Service: Signpost Recovery are a doorstep access community addictions service (alcohol, drugs & addictions) who have in recent years expanded their portfolio to include family support, custody arrest referral, Change Fund and Clackmannanshire Healthy Lives projects.

Open: Monday to Saturday 9.00 am till 5.00 pm Stirling Council Intranet Free Stuff. The council intranet advertises items which colleagues no longer need but still have some life in them. Accessed via the source-freebies.

HEALTH: ALCOHOL/DRUG SUPPORT Alcoholic Anonymous to find a meeting near you please see website: http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/AAMeetings/Find-a-Meeting Meeting are held in range of community Bannockburn: Bridge of Allan, Cambusbarron: Cultenhove: Raploch & Stirling For more information please see website: http://www.alcoholicsanonymous.org.uk/

Stirling Family Support: 36 St John street, Stirling, FK8 1EA Telephone: 01786 470797 Website: http://stirlingfamilysupport.org.uk/home-2.html Open: Self-referral/open access Service: They support individuals affected by a family member, friend or partner’s substance misuse through the provision of a dedicated programme of support, including information and advice, counselling, peer support, and complimentary therapies.

Needle Exchange – Scottish Drug Forum: Web based resource which advises where local needle exchange programmes can be accessed.

Website: http://www.sdf.org.uk/index.php?cID=747

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016) HEALTH Age Scotland Nhs 24; Age Scotland; Alzheimer’s Scotland; MacMillan Nurses; Forth Valley Sensory Centre; Stirling Sexual Health Clinic; SOS Stirling; Action in Mind; Breathing Space; Minor Injuries; Keep Well HELPLINES

FRANK National Drugs Helpline Release Samaritans

0800 776600 0800 77 66 00 0207 603 8654 01324 622066

Stirling Family Support Service 0800 027 0898 HOUSING Shelter; Homeless; Loratta Care; Castlerock; RSHA; Forth; Stirling Council SUPPORT Stirling Baptisht church: Crsis Family Support; Stirling Women’s Aid; Gingerbread; Open Secret; Rape Crisis Scotland; Children 1st;Family Mediatin Central; Open Secret; Victim Support; Signpost; foodbank WEB BASED SUPPORT

Heal The Whole of Me - http://healthewholeofme.com/ Service: An up-to-date resource for you, those you may care for and those who may care for you, designed to help you make choices.

Disability Information Scotland http://www.disabilityscot.org.uk/

Service: We help to guide people through the maze of disability information Scotland’s Financial Health Service https://www.scotlandsfinancialhealthservice.gov.uk/ Service: Free impartial advice gateway. Scottish Government has developed this website to provide a one stop shop for those who have money problems or are seeking general help with their financial worries. We are an impartial website and do not provide advice directly but our aim is to signpost those in need to the most appropriate area of support, ranging from debt solutions, borrowing, managing your money or general welfare concerns.

Silverline - https://www.thesilverline.org.uk/ Service: The Silver Line is the only free confidential helpline

providing information, friendship and advice to older people, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year Telephone: 0800 4 70 80 90 Turn 2Us - https://www.turn2us.org.uk/ Service: They are a national charity that helps people in financial hardship gain access to welfare benefit information, charitable grants and support services.

Rapecrisis Scotland http://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/links/ NSPCC In-care Surviros Service Scotland; Relationship Scotland Shakti Womens Aid; Cybersmile Foundation WEB BASED RESOURCES Web Based Resources:

UNISON STIRLING WELFARE BOOKLET – Version 1(2016) In Crisis? - A Survival Guide – link: http://www.forthha.org.uk/uploads/09235131-InCrisisASur.pdf Stirling Unison Welfare Officer: If you owould like

Stirling Unison – There For You Pam our branch welfare officer is a steward who has volunteered to be the local representative of There for You. She is the contact person for There for You staff at national office.

She is the first point of contact for members who are experiencing personal, emotional or financial difficulties, or for those who need advice. She also help members apply for help or funding.

Branch welfare officer responsibilities

It is the branch welfare officer’s responsibility to: •

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inform branch officers, stewards, workplace representatives and employers about the work of There for You; make sure that members seeking welfare assistance receive a quick and effective response; link their regional regional welfare committees and There for You to ensure that welfare support is provided effectively; develop and implement local welfare activity; develop links with local charities and organisations.