Rapport THE NATIONWIDE GROUP STAFF UNION MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 2019 | ISSUE 94
DIABETES AT WORK YOU ARE NOT ALONE
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welcome… RAISING OUR PROFILE ON THE ROAD I’ve been to quite a few conferences as a delegate but chairing our National Conference in October was a totally different experience. For the first time, I was the one keeping all the delegates in order and making sure the proceedings kept to the timetable. And as the chair, you don’t have a say in the debates (unless you hand over to the vice-chair) – and keeping quiet is quite difficult for me! Only a month before, I’d been part of the NGSU delegation to the TUC Congress (another first for me), where almost all the motions were voted through. But at our conference, we had some lively debates on a great range of motions and the best discussions happened when delegates got up to talk not just about what we want but what can realistically be achieved. There were some emotional moments, of course, because this was Tim Poil and
Rapport
November 2019
NGSU Middleton Farmhouse, 37 Main Road, Middleton Cheney, Banbury, Oxon OX17 2QT Tel: 01295 710767 Fax: 01295 712580 ngsu@ngsu.org.uk www.ngsu.org.uk @TimPoil NGSU We use bitly URLs to convert long web addresses into shorter ones throughout the magazine. To avoid single-use plastics, we use a biodegradable polywrap produced from potato starch.
Marian Dean’s last conference, as they are leaving us at the end of the year. It will be so sad to see them both go, after everything they have achieved for our members over the years, but we wish them both all the best for the future. We’ve run a number of roadshows over the last few months, setting up our stand in Bournemouth, Caledonia House, Northampton, Pegasus and Optimus. They have all proved really successful, with existing members visiting to ask questions about our benefits and new members enquiring to know more about NGSU and what we offer. I’ve also ran a number of ‘benefit sessions’ in Optimus as a trial to show members (and non-members) what discounts they can get via https://bit.ly/2qVpPsa. I feel strongly that people who pay their membership fees should be aware of all the benefits they can get by using all the discounts that are available to them as members, and I hope that people who have attended the sessions at Optimus are spreading the word. I’m also now starting to run these sessions for the reps across the country so they understand the changes we introduced in October and pass on the information to their constituency members. Last but not least, I’d like to welcome our new starters at NGSU: Individual Cases Officer Paris Wills and Organiser Charlotte Fackerell. They are going to be great additions to the team!
@PresidentNgsu @ngsupresident
Bev Cubbon President
RAPPORT WINS SPECIAL MENTION AT TUC AWARDS Rapport won a special mention from the judges of this year’s Trade Union Communications Awards, which recognise the best print magazines and digital formats that trade unions produce to communicate with their members and activists (as well as recruitment and campaign material). While the judges chose members’ magazines from the National Education Union, the Fire Brigades Union and the First Division Association as the top three this year, they
also – unusually – singled out Rapport for particular praise. “The judges wanted to give a special mention to NGSU’s Rapport, agreed to be a terrific entry given the size of the union,” they said in their commentary on the members’ magazine category. And in their comments on each individual union magazines entered in the awards, the judges said Rapport was nicely designed, praised the magazine for its mix of content and concluded once again that it did “a remarkable job for the size of the union.”
MAKING HIDDEN DISABILITIES MORE VISIBLE People with hidden disabilities such as hearing impairments, autism or dementia can now wear a sunflower lanyard when they are out and about to alert people that they may need additional help. Originally launched at Gatwick Airport three years ago, the scheme is being adopted at other major UK airports, railway stations, sports venues and shops. Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s launched a national rollout of the scheme in October, while Tesco is currently trialling the scheme in 15 of its Hertfordshire stores. The hidden disabilities that are covered by the sunflower lanyard include: l autism and Asperger’s l learning disabilities l dementia l mobility issues (e.g., arthritis, MS, ME, chronic illness) l visual or hearing impairments. For people with any of these hidden disabilities, wearing the lanyard can help them interact with customer-facing
staff, who could then help them with packing their bags at a supermarket checkout or give them more time to complete security checks at airports. It can also help people more quickly understand that an autistic child’s behaviour is down to the different way they process information and react to situations, instead of jumping to judgmental conclusions. You can pick up a sunflower lanyard at any participating venue, station, store or airport at the customer service desk or checkout or buy one at www.hiddendisabilitiesstore.com. No proof of a disability is required when picking up or buying a lanyard.
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DELEGATES DISCUSS PENSION PROPOSALS Delegates to our national conference in October took part in a special session on the proposal to close the Nationwide Pension Fund to future accrual on 31 March 2021. Nationwide Chief Executive Joe Garner, Executive Director Tony Prestedge and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Alison Robb all made contributions to the session, alongside NGSU General Secretary Tim Poil, who explained the union’s role in developing the proposal that is currently out for consultation. The conference session was the first of 72 employee briefings that are running across the country throughout November and December. The session enabled delegates to discuss the proposal in detail and pose questions to Joe, Tony, Alison and Tim. The discussion covered: l the rationale behind the proposal; l the impact on affected employees; l alternative options; l more information about the proposed payment. l Members can read the full account of the union’s response to the proposal in the Rapport special Issue, published on 18 September 2019, which is available on the NGSU website. The consultation period closes on 31 December 2019. Members can send feedback about the proposals to NPFFeedback@ngsu.org.uk.
FUNDRAISING FOR TECH FOR TILLY NGSU member Sharon Bickford, who works in Nationwide’s Boston branch in Lincolnshire, is helping to raise thousands of pounds to buy the technology her grand-daughter needs to communicate with the world. Now aged three, Tilly was just seven months old when her family first became concerned with a sudden loss of motor skills, Sharon recalls. “She’d started getting on her front and holding her head up and then all of a sudden she stopped doing things,” she says. But it took a year of visits to the GP and the local hospital before she was seen by a specialist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital. That’s when Tilly was finally diagnosed with Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that almost exclusively affects baby girls, causing them severe problems with communication and language, memory, mobility, co-ordination and other brain functions. “Tilly can’t stand without the help of a little frame she has to go in every day to help her and she can’t talk – she sometimes bites herself because she’s so frustrated at not being able to communicate,” Sharon says. But Tilly has been learning how to use an eye-gaze device to communicate at the special school she attends once a week in addition to nursery – eye-gaze devices allow users to make choices by fixing their gaze on icons of objects or activities on a tablet screen. Having seen how eye-gaze technology could help Tilly communicate at home, the family are now raising the £8,600 they need to buy her a device all of her own. They have already raised almost half of what they need, helped by £300 donated by Nationwide customers and staff at the branch where Sharon works and another £1,800 raised by a race night organised by local football team Boston United. You can donate online or find out more about fundraising at: https://bit.ly/2JV8fLG
THERE’S POWER IN THE UNION Taking part in this year’s TUC Congress showed NGSU delegate Katie Houghton what we can achieve when we’re part of a union. National Executive Committee member Katie was part of the three-strong NGSU delegation to the trade union movement’s policy-making body in Brighton in September, alongside General Secretary Tim Poil and President Bev Cubbon. “The biggest thing I took from it was the power of being part of a union: looking at other unions like UNISON that are gigantic really brings it home to you how you can create really great things with a bigger voice – that was really powerful,” Katie says. Because other unions organise in sectors at the eye of political storms – such as the NHS or the fire brigade – TUC Congress includes more debate about major national political issues than the NGSU Conference, which Katie attended a month later. “At our conference, we look at how what Nationwide does affects us in our
work life but at the TUC, what affects some unions in their work affects the rest of us in our lives,” Katie says. “For example, we were sat next to the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), who talked to us about the impact of Grenfell Tower on firefighters, which makes you realise the things people are fighting for are huge.” With a packed programme of fringe meetings on a range of issues at lunchtimes and in evenings, Katie attended Nowhere To Turn: Young People’s Mental Health At Work, which featured young workers from a range of unions discussing how to tackle the low pay, insecure work and bullying at work that is impacting young people in particular. “Going to that meeting showed me how Nationwide does get a lot of stuff right: I’m not dealing with people on zero-hours contracts, people who don’t know when they’re going to get their next shift or people who have their contracts broken willy-nilly,” she says. l Katie talks about her new role as National Equality Officer on p17.
GOODBYE TIM, HELLO TIM! Current Assistant General Secretary (Services) Tim Rose has been elected unopposed as General Secretary, following the retirement of Tim Poil after his 30-plus years leading NGSU and its predecessors. Tim joined Nationwide in 1986 as a trainee manager in Leighton Buzzard and Luton branches, later securing the role of branch manager in Fleet Street, London. In 1989, Tim joined what was then the customer relations department (now member services) in Northampton Administration Centre (NAC). During his time there, he worked in a variety of roles and through some of the challenging periods for complaint handling, including the period following the Nationwide/Anglia merger, ‘Bright Horizons’
and attempts to convert Nationwide to plc status. Tim left customer relations to become Employee Relations Manager in Corporate Personnel, where he worked on HR policy development and as part of the Nationwide team responsible for consulting and negotiating with the union. Since joining NGSU in 2005, Tim has used his unique experience of having been part of teams on both sides of the negotiating table to help foster good working relations with People & Culture. Tim has been elected General Secretary for the five-year period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024.
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Mike Monk was named NGSU Rep of the Year at our national conference this autumn, which also mapped out your union’s priorities for the next two years.
Mike makes rep of the year
M
ike Monk, who works in the new Test Engineering Centre of Excellence in Northampton, is our Rep of the Year 2019, for making sure his members came first during the structural reorganisation of their work earlier this year. “I was shocked when I was named NGSU Rep of the Year,” Mike says. “It was so nice to be nominated by the people that I’d been supporting but to be recognised by the management team of the union when there are so many good reps doing lots of good stuff out there – I was amazed but very honoured,” Mike says. As part of the old testing regime, Mike and his testing assurance colleagues used to oversee work by third-party strategic partners supporting the internal systems that keep Nationwide ticking. But their work was restructured this spring to move towards test engineering – designing, modelling and automating testing within Nationwide. As a result, everyone in Mike’s 30-strong team was to be re-assessed for new job roles either in the new engineering space or elsewhere in the business. “I ended up being the mouthpiece for the people that were impacted
You can read all the motions debated, with the complete wording and voting outcomes, on the NGSU website
Mike Monk receives his Rep of the Year award from General Secretary Tim Poil
by the change so that nobody had to stick their head above the parapet, liaising between the team and the management to make sure people were being heard,” Mike says. Between the start of the process in April and its end in July, Mike was gathering questions that colleagues wanted answers to, discussing how the change could affect people with practice leads and offering suggestions, ideas and challenges to the management team. “We’d often have a sit-down over coffee and gather a list of questions that people had and we’d work through information we’d been given by management so if there wasn’t anything particularly clear, I could take back those questions to get an answer,” Mike says. “There were personal concerns for some people about how it would affect them career-wise, so it was a case of building up a picture of what the change was and what the options were for us all.” Mike’s good relations with management and the trust of his colleagues helped him see the process through to a successful conclusion. “I was able to have those difficult discussions and take information both ways and bring back to the team how
All together (clockwise from left): delegates vote; President Bev Cubbon addresses conference; delegates Adam Wade and Neil Warhurst speak in debates
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
ER ALL PHOTOS: CLAIRE GILLINGWAT
we could work together on things and get the best for everybody,” he says. After joining Nationwide as a cashier in 1987, Mike has been a rep since 2001. “It’s about being able to give back to people, supporting my colleagues and working with the rest of the union and – hopefully – being able to make Nationwide a better place to work.” Mike was one of 13 local NGSU reps from across the admin centres and branches who were nominated by members for their positive approach to resolving workplace issues and providing brilliant individual support.
More than 120 NGSU reps helped set our priorities for the next two years through debate and discussion at our national conference, which took place at the St John’s Hotel in Solihull in October. In total, the conference adopted policies on the 30 different motions that secured the support of at least two-thirds of delegates, including topics under the following headings: Recruitment and development l Better access to development opportunities and information for maternity leavers and temporary workers. l A commitment to upskill / retrain existing employees before recruiting externally. Employment policies l Action to ensure that grievances are investigated in a timely fashion to minimise the stress and anxiety of those involved. l Action to ensure secondments are used for development opportunities not as trial periods for recruitment. Pay, benefits and allowances l To review pay increases on internal promotion and how promotion is treated as part of the pay review. l Action to ensure that starting salaries for external recruitment is fair and in relation to existing employees. l Introduction of a motorcycle mileage rate. DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND WELLBEING l To review recruitment practices that require applications to be ‘fully flexible’ and so potentially exclude employees with parenting or caring responsibilities. l Action to ensure the redeployment opportunities are fully explored for employees who need workplace adjustments. BRANCH RESOURCING l Action to address wellbeing concerns for branch employees, including restricting Saturday working requirements to help with work-life balance; recognition of the complex non-financial transactions when determining resources; and enabling proper breaks. The NEC is now examining how best to take forward these motions and open discussions with Nationwide.
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When you take out insurance through IFSWP, they will pass 50 per cent of the commission back to you.
We can’t keep this moneysaving scheme a secret!
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hen you take out insurance through our partners at IFSWP, they will pass back 50 per cent of the commission to you. This scheme has been called one of our best-kept secrets – so we want to show you exactly how it works. Last year, IFSWP paid out an average of £501 commission rebate to NGSU members through the exclusive scheme. IFSWP can help you apply for a range of insurance policies, including: l mortgage protection l income protection l life assurance l term assurance l critical illness cover. They then pass on 50 per cent of the commission they earn to you, through their partnership with NGSU. Claiming your commission rebate couldn’t be simpler. Step 1: Start your application online or over the phone. l Either complete the short online form with your details and the insurance you need – it will only take three or four minutes to do: https://www.ifswp.co.uk/ngsu/ l Or call IFSWP and get it done over the phone: 020 8610 9811 Step 2: IFSWP then send you a Premium Comparison Document, with quotes from insurers across the market and an estimate of your commission rebate. This usually happens within a few hours. All you
Get a quote online: www.ifswp.co.uk/ ngsu Or call us on 0208 610 9811 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30 pm)
do is let them know which product you’d like to go ahead with. Step 3: IFSWP email you the application pack to complete and return. The pack includes a medical questionnaire. Step 4: IFSWP submit your application for medical underwriting. Once you’re accepted, they pay your 50 per cent commission rebate to us three months after your policy start date – and we then arrange payment into your bank account. NGSU members are already enjoying the peace of mind that financial protection can bring – with the added bonus of the 50 per cent rebate. “Really great service – a bestkept secret!” commented Laura from Hampshire. “Very quick response to my emails – everything was perfect,” said Amanda on Merseyside. This is a non-advised service but IFSWP have some case studies on the website and other useful information to help you decide on the right product for you. If you’re still unsure, IFSWP do offer an advised service but the commission rebate is then reduced to just 10 per cent. Get in touch today!
NB Commission rebate is subject to clawback if you cancel the product within four years. IFSWP and NGSU Commission Rebate Scheme are trading styles of IFS Wealth & Pensions Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference No. 713063. Registered in England No. 08699259. Registered Office: 45 Rusper Road, London N22 6RA.
Tim talks
Over and out I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved together while I’ve been leading this union.
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hen I first took over as leader (then called Chairman) of the Nationwide Building Society Staff Association in October 1988, I can honestly say that I had absolutely no idea (or indeed any intention) that I’d be leading this union for the next 31 years! The union was very different then. Our offices were rented rooms on the upper floor of a second-hand car showroom in West Drayton, right beside the West Coast Mainline. Every time a train passed on its way to Bristol and beyond, the whole office shook so much that we had to stand our Apple computers on a three-inch thick foam rubber mat to prevent the hard drives from being ruined! We have grown enormously since the West Drayton days. We have boosted our membership from 4,954 in 1988 to 12,873 at the end of this September. And we have increased our staffing to help service all those new members, expanding from just two employees plus the chairman (who was a secondee when I took on the role) to 18 now across the country, in addition to the seconded president. Boosting the membership combined with some sound decisionmaking has enabled us to build our reserves from just over £100,000 in 1988 to close to £1.5m in our most recent set of accounts. And the financial strength of the union has enabled us not only to escape West Drayton but to move out of the rental sector and buy our own premises in
For more info please go to our website www.ngsu.org.uk
@TimPoil
Middleton Cheney, midway between Swindon and Northampton and ideal for meetings with the Society – plus a few miles – rather than a few feet – from the nearest train line. We’ve also changed our name a few times during my time, morphing from the Nationwide Building Society Staff Association to the Nationwide Anglia Building Society Staff Association after amalgamating with the former Anglia Building Society Staff Association in 1990; and then to the Nationwide Group Staff Association three years later. We added the word ‘Union’ to our name in 1996, becoming NGSU to identify our independence from the Society. Three years later, we affiliated to the TUC for the first time and I was proud to represent NGSU and other smaller unions on the TUC General Council from 10 years from 2005. In signing off this column for the last time as your General Secretary, I want to thank everyone I’ve worked with over the past 31 years, all our members and our brilliant reps, but particularly Marian Dean and Angie Needham, who are retiring at the same time, as they have both been central to the successes we have had in my time. And finally, having worked with Tim Rose since 2005, I am absolutely confident that I am leaving the union in very good hands: with Tim as your new General Secretary, I know that you will all continue to achieve many more successes in the years ahead.
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End of an era Three key members of the NGSU team are retiring: Tim Poil, Marian Dean and Angie Needham. Between them, they have clocked up more than 70 years’ service to the union and they will all be very much missed.
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hen Tim Poil announced he was retiring as General Secretary after leading the union for 31 years, tributes from NGSU staff, Nationwide leaders and trade union colleagues all underlined the huge contribution he has made to improving the working lives of members. Tim originally joined Nationwide as a trainee manager in Portsmouth in 1979 and was first elected a branch rep for what was then the Nationwide Building Society Staff Association (NBSSA) in 1981. After progressing to central committee rep, executive officer, treasurer, liaison officer and vice-chairman, Tim won election as chairman in 1988. Two years later, Tim was appointed General Manager of what had become the Nationwide Anglia Building Society Staff Association (NABSSA) and was first elected General Secretary two years after that in 1992. He played a crucial role in the union’s affiliation to the TUC in 1999 and won 10 successive elections onto the TUC General Council from 2005. The respect he earned from colleagues across the union movement was underlined when TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady sent a special message to our national conference
Now that he’s retired, Tim will have more time to support Grimsby Town FC, watch the cricket and play some golf. A keen scuba diver, Tim will also continue to promote shark conservation and protection.
to thank him for all his work. From Nationwide itself, Deputy Chief Executive Tony Prestedge thanked Tim for the independence, tenacity and resilience he brought to negotiations. Assistant General Secretary Tim Rose, who will succeed Tim in the new year, emphasised Tim’s brilliance as a negotiator. “Tim lasered in on the heart of the issue, saw through the numbers and came up with great solutions – and just when I thought we were done, he would throw in a curveball that made things even better for our members,” he said. ADVOCATING FOR EQUALITY Marian Dean, who is retiring after 22 years as Assistant General Secretary (AGS), is proud of everything that the team has achieved for NGSU members throughout that time. “I honestly believe that people would not have the employment policies and the framework that they have today without NGSU,” Marian says. She points to the huge improvements in maternity pay and leave that the union has achieved since she herself was pregnant with the first of her two children in 1978
“For over three decades, Tim has been a brilliant general secretary, building your union into a powerful force for good for 12,000 Nationwide workers. And for ten years, he played a major role on the TUC’s General Council, really raising the profile of the NGSU and the work you do. He’s also quite possibly the only scuba-diving, shark-loving, Grimsby Townsupporting trade union general secretary there’s ever been! So on behalf of the TUC, and the whole trade union family, thanks for everything Tim!” TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady
“I’ve been very lucky to work with such an amazing group of people – my colleague Tim Rose has been incredible and Tim Poil is always there for you and a great guy to turn to. I’ve played my part – but you’re only ever as good as the people around you.”
Tim Poil (right) and Marian Dean with John Monks (left), who was general secretary of the TUC at the time NGSU first affiliated
WORKING FOR FAIRNESS Individual Cases Officer (ICO) Angie Needham, who worked with members and reps in Northampton, has retired after more than 20 years working for NGSU. After starting as a research officer, Angie moved into a member support officer role mostly advising members over the phone, before progressing to the ICO role, where she worked with Northampton reps for many years promoting the union and building our membership. “Angie has a strong sense of fairness – it’s part of everything she works on,” says Assistant General Secretary Marian Dean. “She considers the individual and their personal needs first and has respect for managers who treat their people as they would want to be treated.”
JESS HURD/REPORTDIGITAL.CO.UK
while working as a cashier in a North London branch. Back then, mothers had to leave 11 weeks before their due date, return within 40 weeks of the birth and were only entitled to the legal minimum of six weeks’ maternity pay at 90 per cent of their salary. “Over the last 12 months, we’ve moved the agenda forward even more in terms of maternity pay – allowing women to stay in work until virtually the birth of their child if they are well enough; to take 12 months off if they are able; and be paid at 100 per cent of pay for much of that – which is huge,” she points out. Originally becoming a rep after the birth of her second child, Marian progressed as a central committee rep and national executive officer before being elected President in 1992. She chaired the first national conference of what was then the Nationwide Group Staff Association in 1994. After three-and-a-half years as President and a short time back in the business afterwards, Marian secured a seconded role as an Individual Cases Officer (ICO) before she was appointed AGS in 1997. Marian has been a staunch advocate of all the issues that come under the equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) banner, and played a key role in the advisory committees that NGSU set up before the Society established its own networks. “It’s an area I feel really passionately about,” Marian says. However, she remains adamant that every step forward has been achieved as part of a team effort. “It’s been a privilege to support a team of ICOs who are so committed to their job of ensuring members are treated fairly every single day,” Marian says.
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No, it’s not all about too much sugar Ever since NGSU Rep Alice Rekesius joined Nationwide through the graduate scheme five years ago, she’s been clearing up some widespread misconceptions about her Type 1 diabetes.
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hen Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood called a contestant’s Chelsea Buns “diabetes on a plate” in one episode this season, he was serving up one of the most common misconceptions about the condition: that it’s all about eating too much sugar. He swiftly apologised when many viewers living with the condition used social media to post pictures of dishes filled with all the medication they have to use to show what “diabetes on a plate” really looks like and the remark has been edited out of repeat broadcasts. But all of us who lag behind in our understanding of the condition urgently need to catch up. The number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK is increasing so fast that there are already more than 4 million living with the condition today – and that figure is set to rise to 5 million in the next six years. NGSU rep Alice Rekesius, who was diagnosed with diabetes when she was just eight years old, knows all about the ways in which many of us misunderstand the condition because she’s had to educate managers
Diabetes.co.uk is a community of people with diabetes, family members, friends, supporters and carers, offering their own support and first-hand knowledge
about it since she joined the Society through the graduate scheme in 2014. “I’ve always been very open about having Type 1 diabetes and very keen to educate people about the condition, especially because there are some misconceptions out there, particularly about the difference between Type 1 and Type 2,” Alice says. “With Type 1, we know it’s genetic: something in your genes causes you one day to wake up with diabetes, so eventually your pancreas stops producing insulin and you become dependent on injections. With Type 2, it’s usually down to a mixture of genetics and environmental factors (eg, diet) but your pancreas still produces some insulin so you can usually look to control it through diet and tablets.” Alice, who currently works as a risk partnering consultant for digital services in Swindon, has found that managers are open to being educated
about the realities of the condition – how it can affect her working day, involve longer recovery from illness and require time off for regular hospital and eye appointments. “My managers have been really understanding: some have had knowledge of diabetes, some have had none, but I’ve never had any issues, which has been great,” she says. However, nobody wants to be the person who has to start a new job by talking to their boss about all the things that might impact their work, Alice points out. “When you’re having to talk to a new manager every six months on the graduate scheme, for example, that can feel a bit like you’re coming in with a bag of problems and having to prerequisite all the things that might happen – and that’s not the kind of thing you want to do on your first day in a new job,” she says. That’s why Alice is excited about the possibility of introducing a medical passport scheme at Nationwide along the lines of the carers’ passport scheme already in operation (as was discussed at NGSU conference in the autumn). This would mean people could draw up a document with hints and tips about how a medical condition they live with might affect them at work and this would travel with them wherever they moved within the business. “Rather than me having to sit down with each new manager about my condition, they would have a document they could review themselves that would contain all the information they need: that would be a fantastic step forward for people with conditions like mine and plenty of people with other
Diabetes UK aims to prevent Type 2 diabetes, campaigns for and supports everyone affected by diabetes and funds research for a cure: www. diabetes.org.uk
conditions,” she says. As an NGSU rep for the past two years, at a time when there have been major changes in the way the business works, Alice has enjoyed helping union members with a range of workplace issues (including supporting colleagues with more recent diagnoses) and continuing to raise awareness. “Diabetes now affects nearly one in ten people worldwide, so most people will know someone among their family and friends that has the condition: it’s important to raise awareness, especially on prevention and living with diabetes, because the more awareness there is out there, the better,” she says.
PAINTING THE TOWN BLUE World Diabetes Day has been marked on 14 November every year since it was first launched in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to raise awareness of the ever-increasing numbers of people living with the condition. On the day, campaigners and fund-raisers often wear blue (the international colour of diabetes) while taking part in their activities, while iconic buildings and monuments , including the London Eye, have been blue-lit to mark the day. The IDF and WHO chose the date to mark the birthday of Canadian scientist Frederick Banting, who identified the hormone insulin in partnership with his student Charles Best in 1922. Although Banting alone was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the breakthrough the following year, he himself split the honour and the award money with his colleague.
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& Q
A
In each edition, we answer your questions on a different issue…
Holiday policy I’m part-time and I’ve been told that I have to use some of my annual holiday entitlement to cover the all the public holidays that fall on days I work – is that correct? As you’re part-time, you’ll receive a pro-rated public holiday entitlement, which can mean you don’t have enough entitlement to cover all the public holidays that fall on days you work. This is likely to be the case if your working pattern includes Monday, as normally, more public holidays are on Mondays. You will need to make-up the ‘deficit’, which can mean using some of your annual holiday entitlement. However, the Holiday Policy explicitly states that you can include early starts, late finishes and Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) in making-up the deficit, in addition – or as an alternative to using your annual leave. I’m currently absent from work and claiming Prolonged Sickness Benefit (PSB). As I won’t use all of my annual leave entitlement in this calendar year, can I carry it forward to next? If you’ve been prevented from taking annual holiday leave because of sickness, you can carry forward some holiday, depending on the circumstances. This will be limited to a maximum of four weeks, minus holiday that you have taken and minus public holidays. Like other employees, you’re
entitled to carry over two days (pro-rated if you work part-time) but you must use them by the end of January. You can ask to take holiday while you’re on PSB – this would mean you’d receive full-pay for the days taken as holiday. You can download the Holiday Employee Mini Guide as well as the Holiday Policy on our website.
More details can be found on the NGSU website www.ngsu.org.uk
The Holiday Policy states I can carry over two days of annual leave but it works out as less time that my actual working days. Is that fair? The carry forward provision is calculated on a pro-rated basis. The means full-time and parttime employees can carry over the same proportion of their annual entitlement. It also means that all part-time employees working the same number of hours receive the same entitlement to carry forward holiday, irrespective of their working pattern. The Holiday Policy states that you can take one day of annual leave over the Christmas period – what is the Christmas period? The policy guarantees that you can take at least one day of annual leave over the Christmas period but you’re not limited to one day – you can take more subject to your manager’s agreement. The Policy doesn’t specify set dates but the Society and the union have an understanding that the Christmas period covers the school holidays.
Your passport to holiday savings
toolbox
You could save the cost of your monthly union subscriptions by using the NGSU Travel Club for all your holiday arrangements. How does the NGSU Travel Club work? Just contact us with your holiday wish list and we will do the rest. Our professional and highly trained travel agents will find the perfect trip for you! Alternatively, if you have seen a price online or from another travel agency or tour operator we will try and beat their price. Why should members use the Travel Club? Even before the recent Thomas Cook crash was announced, we had spoken to every one of our members affected to advise, help, re-assure and then re-book. We are large enough to cope but small enough to care for everybody on an individual basis. We will always go that extra mile for you – we even have a 24-hour helpline for you to use in times of trouble while you’re away. And we are ABTA bonded and ATOL protected on the flight elements we sell. ABTA protection is designed to enforce standards and provide insurance for holidaymakers in the event of financial problems for travel companies, while ATOL is a UK financial protection scheme that protects most air package holidays sold by UK-based travel businesses. Isn’t it always cheaper to book holidays online? No! Many on-line sites are either
Contact the NGSU Travel Club: enquiries@ benchmarktravel. co.uk
Book your travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday to avoid losing money if sickness or accident force you to change your plans before you go or while you’re away. When booking a holiday, make sure your passport has at least six months left on it from your return date of travel.
comparison sites or don’t have access to the latest fares. They try and attract you with yesterday’s price and then upsell you once they have your card details or have you on the phone. At the Travel Club, we give you a genuine discounted price. And no-one else is as committed as we are to trying to save you money – as, unlike us, they have no reason to. What else does the Travel Club website offer? Although you can’t book holidays online on our website, you can book all your extras directly: airport parking, airport lounges, car hire, transfers and taxis, holiday insurance and attractions. You can also get holiday inspiration with our destination guides, plus visa advice, Home Office travel advice, as well as the latest competitions and much more on our member pages.
BOOK EVERY TYPE OF HOLIDAY
IMAGINABLE WITH THE NGSU TRAVEL CLUB
PACKAGE HOLIDAYS We Guarantee to Beat Package Holiday prices with Jet2. With many other Operators our prices are usually better than their Internet or other Travel Agencies. So whether its all-inclusive in Turkey, half board in Barbados or self catering in Ibiza - let us find the right holiday for you at a saving!
TOURS & TAILOR-MADE Organised or Independent we can find just the right Tour for you. Adventure, Cycling, Food & Drink, Hobbies & Interests, Rail, Safaris, Solo, Sports, Wellness and of course Groups ! The options are endless! Our own Specialist Benchmark Tours include our Murder Mystery in Guadeloupe, Sherry Masterclass in Spain, Prosecco in Italy and many more!
CRUISE, LUXURY, & WEDDINGS Whatever kind of Cruise: Alaskan, Caribbean, Croatian, Dubai, Med, River or Trans-Atlantic we offer a discount. Want a Luxury Holiday? We know somewhere just right for you. Want help with Weddings Abroad, Honeymoon Packages/Romantic Breaks? – we do them all at a saving to you as a Member!
EVERYTHING ELSE! The NGSU Travel Club also book Disneyland Paris/Disney Florida, Fly-Drives to the USA/OZ/NZ & Europe, Hen/Stag Do’s, Ski, Villa Holidays plus of course Attractions & Sightseeing options – UK Breaks like Hoseasons & Haven, and also Car Hire, Airport Hotels/Parking & Lounges - all bookable at a saving! Try us Today!
WHY BOOK WITH THE NGSU TRAVEL CLUB? All NGSU Members & their families can book through the NGSU Travel Club We can usually beat all other genuine Internet or Travel Agency prices ABTA Protected Great Service & Peace of Mind 24 Hour Helpline
ENQUIRE OR BOOK TODAY! 01422 847 847 www.ngsutravelclub.co.uk
enquiries@benchmarktravel.co.uk www.benchmarktravel.co.uk
WHENEVER OR WHEREVER YOU WANT TO GO - WE CAN ARRANGE IT!
travel club
When it comes to equality, diversity and inclusion, Nationwide gets a lot right. Katie Houghton wants to help the business do even better.
Developing the equality agenda
N
ew National Equality Officer Katie Houghton is passionate about working with NGSU reps to continue to improve how Nationwide looks after all its staff through the development of the equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) agenda. “Making sure people are treated fairly because of their protected characteristics is so important to me,” says Katie, who took on the new role in what is her second term on the union’s National Executive Committee. “We work for a really good company that looks after people really well but doesn’t always get it right even if it has the best intentions: I’m passionate about supporting them to be able to get things right for people.” Keen to acquire more knowledge and skills about putting the ED&I agenda into practice in the workplace, Katie has enrolled on a TUC Equality Reps course delivered by City of Bristol College this autumn. “Our strategy includes developing really effective equality reps, which made me ask myself, Do I know what an effective equality rep looks like in Nationwide?” Katie says.
Every Mind Matters is the campaign encouraging everyone to understand more about mental health, how to look after it and how to support others. You can find full details about the campaign on the Mental Health First Aid England website, where you can also try the self-care digital tool to help manage your own mental health: https://bit. ly/32OwMII
Katie is also passionate about developing the mental health agenda in Nationwide, after her first-hand experience in the wake of the sudden unexpected death of her father at the age of 51 nine years ago. “I suffered seriously as a result of the massive shock and the grief: until you go through something like this and you’re struggling, you have no idea how hard it is,” Katie says. “I was very lucky, Nationwide were fantastic, but that’s not always the case for everyone. We have such a responsibility to do the absolute best by people but how can managers support someone if they have no experience and no training.” That’s why Katie’s excited to be part of a team developing a project as part of the Arthur Webb Challenge that aims to train a cohort of Mental Health First Aiders from across the country who can act as points of contact for staff struggling with anxiety, depression and other issues. “Whatever happens, we will go through the programme to become accredited Mental Health First Aiders, so even if we don’t get to the final, even if we don’t win, we will still get to be that great first line of support for people, which is amazing,” Katie says.
18 94 NOVEMBER 19
PRIZE WORDSEARCH
WIN £25 voucher One lucky winner will receive a £25 book or iBook token. Simply find the words that are all related to pantomimes and their characters. Send your completed entry to Middleton Cheney by Friday 24 January with your name and membership number filled in below.
ALADDIN BUTTONS CAPTAIN HOOK CINDERELLA KING RAT MOTHER GOOSE
PETER PAN PRINCE CHARMING ROBIN HOOD SNOW WHITE TIGER LILY UGLY SISTERS
Name
T I G E R L I L Y D K I N G R A T
S U A T I E C I N D E R E L L A U
L N O B M O T H E R G O O S E G Q
A Z O C A P T A I N H O O K L Z I
J N D G S F W L GW D A H K Z F X L N B H H H U B S Y T F S RM Y J
A J M N O H V L T B T I I F C D K
L B W Y Y N I R Y T S F E I P L Z
A W C A K S H T O T M C W B W M I
D E G Q I E K N E Q B Q M N H W J
D O D U Z N S R R O B I N H O O D
I N R J M P WR X I Q N S C P E E C T H E A R R P M A I N N MG R T
I C X B U L Q Q F J U Z R J R G I
Membership number
Please return to: NGSU, Middleton Farmhouse, 37 Main Road, Middleton Cheney, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX17 2QT
YOU COULD WIN UP TO £15,000! It’s easy to enter our monthly subscription draw and give yourself a chance of winning up to £15,000. Simply complete a prize draw form and let us know how many £1 chances you would like to buy every month (between one and ten). 75 per cent of the total paid in every month is returned in cash prizes to members, while the rest is put towards the day-to-day running of the union – helping to keep membership rates low. With around 30,000 draw entries a month, the odds are much better than the National Lottery! Download the Monthly Draw Form: https://bit.ly/2tu17Nf or call us for more information: 01295 710767 LATEST FIRST PRIZE WINNERS OCTOBER 2019 136135 £14,680 Tina Stratton SEPTEMBER 2019 081264 £14,682 Matthew Boulton AUGUST 2019 137272 £14,543 Hilda Zinoun JULY 2019 092717 £14,414 Sandra Thorpe
Pensioner Member Nationwide House NAC Ashford Branch
£251,881
Total prize money won by NGSU members in 2019
Rapport
November 2019
Editorial board Bev Cubbon (President), Tim Rose (Assistant General Secretary) Editorial Martin Moriarty martinmoriarty@mac.com Design & production The Design Mill www.the-design-mill.co.uk Printed in the UK Banbury Litho www.banburylitho.co.uk
PICK UP A QUICK READ! If you’re one of the 30 per cent of UK adults who don’t ever sit down with a good book but want to get back in the habit, look out for the launch of the latest batch of Quick Reads in February next year. The set of six engaging and accessible books by best-selling authors aim to inspire people who have little time or have fallen out of the habit to re-discover the joys of reading for pleasure. Each paperback is around 100 pages long to ensure it lives up to the title of the series and costs just £1 in bookshops. The new titles offer a bit of everything, from comedy to crime. Clare Mackintosh, whose debut novel I Let You Go was a millionseller worldwide, has written a new psychological thriller, The Donor, while crime writer A.A. Dhand introduces Bradford-based detective DI Harry Virdee in Darkness Rising.
Candice Carty-Williams (author of the Sunday Times bestselling novel Queenie) brings Romeo and Juliet bang up to date with Notting Hill Carnival: A West Side Story. By contrast, romantic novelist Milly Johnson contributes a story of a life-changing hen weekend in The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe. Comedy writer Adam Kay has adapted his number-one bestseller This Is Going To Hurt for the new set of titles, while the sixth book is short story collection from writers including Sophie Kinsella, JoJo Moyes, Adele Parks and Ian Rankin. It was JoJo Moyes, author of the international best-seller Me Before You in 2012, who rescued Quick Reads by donating three years’ worth of funding when corporate sponsorship evaporated two years ago. Find out more on The Reading Agency website: https://readingagency.org. uk/adults/quick-guides/quick-reads/
SAVE MONEY THIS XMAS WITH OUR NEW SHOPPING DISCOUNTS SCHEME If you’re thinking about Christmas presents or simply want to save money on everyday shopping, then take a look at this great new scheme to see how you could save through NGSU Extras, our benefits and discount website that provides a great package of high street savings and other fantastic offers. Here’s what’s included in the shopping discounts scheme: l Instant discount codes: including around 100 instant discount codes offering savings of up to 12 per cent on shopping, days out, holidays, electricals and dining out. Codes are emailed to you instantly and you can use them in conjunction with other store offers and sales prices too.
l Shopping cards: access to a variety of shopping cards that make great gifts or can be used to save up to 20 per cent on your everyday shopping, holidays and dining out. They’re reloadable, too, so you can keep saving money all year round. l Online shopping: access to an online shopping marketplace that brings together SHOPPING thousands of goods CARD from some of the top retailers across the UK, all conveniently together in one place. Sign up or login at: https:// ngsu.salary-extras.co.uk
NGSU Commission Rebate Scheme Insurance providers pay us commission for arranging your insurance policy. Due to our unique relationship with NGSU, we are delighted to be able to give you an exclusive 50% commission rebate.
Receive an exclusive 50% rebate of all insurance commission
Get your commission rebate in four easy steps:
1
Request your quotes online It takes three minutes to send us a quote online: www.ifswp.co.uk/ngsu We offer quotes on a range of products including: Life cover/mortgage protection Income protection Critical illness Redundancy cover
2
Receive your quotes by email Check your quotes and estimated commission rebate for each policy. Just reply to let us know which quote you have chosen.
£501
the average rebate to members in 2018
3
Complete application pack Paperwork is emailed to you with easy instructions to follow. This includes a medical questionnaire.
4
Submission and Commission Rebate We will submit your application to the insurer for underwriting. Once accepted, your Commission Rebate will be paid to NGSU three months after your policy start date. Case Study: Sarah & John takes out a Legal & General Life with Critical Illness plan to protect their £150,000 mortgage. Monthly premium of £62 and they received an exclusive commission rebate of £670!
IFSWP and NGSU Commission Rebate Scheme are trading styles of IFS Wealth & Pensions Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference No. 713063. The NGSU Commission Rebate Scheme is a non-advised service.
Call: 020 8610 9811 Monday to Friday 9am-5.30pm