Surrey Welfare Rights Unit

News

August 2011

Our training programme is now set from Autumn 2011. See our training page for further details.

There is a new version of the Carers Booklet which includes April 2011 rates, new information about Housing Benefit if you need a carer to stay over, and entitlements or carers who also have a disability. You can download a copy here.

June 2011

The staff at the Unit are delighted to congratulate our trustee Chair, Mike Hughes, who was awarded a MBE in the Queen's birthday honours. Mike has been Chair of the charity for 10 years and has brought sense, sensibility and humour to the task even when we faced difficult times ahead. Maria, Carol, Maureen, Maggie and Liz thank him for everything - and well done!

The Unit submitted evidence to the Public Bills committee who have just finished their scrutiny of the Welfare Reform Bill. The report was drafted in partnership with many local voluntary sector organisations who provided valuable case studies and expertise. You can read the report here.

December 2010

The dates for February and March training courses are now on the website here.

We still have a few last boxes of Money Matters for Every Child - A Guide to Entitlements for Families in Surrey. If you would like some then please contact us on 01483 776713.

October 2010

The Unit has sent a response to the Government's consultation 21st Century Welfare. You can read our comments here.

Copies of our new booklet "Entitlements for Families in Surrey" are now available to organisations. We are currently distributing supplies but if you would like one urgently then we are happy to send out single copies. Just email campaign@swru.org . You can also view the booklet online here.

January 2010

We are delighted to have once again passed our Citizens Advice membership audit. Every three years external Citizens Advice auditors visit and apply the bureau membership scheme which each CAB must comply with in order to remain a member of the organisation. The audit does not only look at governance and quality issues but also assesses our social policy work which is one of our twin aims.

Training dates from January 2010 are now on the Training Pages. There is a new course State Pension Changes from 2010, which is essential for advisers who need to know about the Pension Act 2008 changes which are introduced this April. We are also running one FREE course, Benefits for Families, which is funded by the child poverty campaign, Money Matters for Every Child.

Money Matters for Every Child is now offering free workshops for parent groups. If your organisation runs any parent groups, or if you are organising a one-off event for parents then you may wish to consider booking one of these workshops. There is a choice of two Managing Money Better (Financial Capability) and Benefit Entitlement for Families (Income Maximisation). We have a whole team of advisers who are trained to run these workshops which last about an hour in length. Please contact the Unit on 01483 776713 if you want to find out more. We may also be able to run either of the workshops for staff who need to have a very basic outline understanding of these two areas of advice.

August 2009

The Autumn training programme is now available. All course details can be found on our training pages. Fees remain static for the third year running. We look forward to seeing you.

Money Matters for Every Child is the child poverty campaign for Surrey that the Unit is coordinating. First steps are now underway with a short programme of information sessions for staff and volunteers who wish to find out more about the campaign and how to advise vulnerable families. As the campaign grows and extends its reach we will keep you informed of progress. Look out for information in Autumn when we launch a Freephone referral line for specialist confidential advice on income maximisation.

March 2009

We are delighted to let all of you know that Surrey County Council agreed to pay the Unit a special grant for 2009/10. This grant means that we are no longer facing the threat of closure for the coming year. We will be working hard to secure income beyond next March but would like to thank all of supporters who lobbied on our behalf and got the County Council to recognise how important it was to fund these services for vulnerable clients.

The new Spring/ Summer training programme is now available. Once again we have tried to meet new demands from advisers and changes in legislation. We have three new half day courses on offer: Help with Mortgage Costs, Made Redundant? and Recently Arrived in the UK.

April 2009 posters and pocket cards have now been sent out to subscribers. If you want to enjoy these resources then please consider subscribing to our services which now also include exclusive access to the Specialist Advice Line. Online subscription is available here.

Last updated August 2011

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