Helping us understand. What’s it like to live with dementia? Our Redhill volunteers heard today from a fellow volunteer, Debbie Self at Dementia Friends. We couldn’t have been in better hands. The main aim of Dementia Friends is that people learn a little more and find active ways to help however small. And Debbie’s session at our summer meeting was light-hearted and very informative. 850,000 people* in […]
Turning savings into savings. We now know many people are using the right to access their pensions mainly to wrest control of their savings from the pensions industry. How else to account for research showing a third of people have transferred pension savings into a personal bank account? Life after pension choices * should make the industry and its […]
Increase in unfair treatment. Visits to the pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work pages of the Citizens Advice website DOUBLED in the past year. This remarkable statistic is revealed in Sharp practice at work: maternity rights, Citizens Advice insight on the top four types of unfair treatment at work and what can be done about them. […]
Latest News. Disabled people in Surrey have a great advocate in the Surrey Coalition. Higher charges for adult social care, NHS information standards, mental health updates, comprehensive member news – all this and much more in the new issue of Coalition News. Lots of newsletters claim to be “packed with information”. This one really is (without […]
Holiday Special Edition. All you need to know to enjoy a safe and happy summer holiday. Gap years. Recalls. Duty Free. Fake charging. Compensation. Safety. Read TS Alert now.
Banstead Visit. We were pleased to welcome Councillor Keith Foreman to our Banstead office last week. As Deputy Mayor Cllr Foreman was keen to learn about the most common problems facing people who come to the bureau. Housing (particularly private sector rentals) is currently top of the list followed by benefits, debt, employment and consumer questions. Cllr Foreman, who is known for his […]
Left out. People who are disabled or have a health condition are far less likely to be in work than non-disabled people in good health. Across England and Wales, just 49% of those who are disabled or have a health condition are in work. For everyone else this figure is 80% . This is a problem that has […]
Housing tenure changes. Evidence keeps coming that housing causes many of society’s problems and divisions. This week Resolution Foundation show how far owner-occupation has fallen and why a settled home life can be so hard for low and middle income workers. Many people we see at CA Reigate & Banstead are particularly affected by the shortage of affordable houses to rent. As the foundation points out: Private […]
Policy change call. Good timing. “The current focus of Jobcentre Plus on reducing the overall number of people claiming benefits will need to shift towards helping people into secure and sustainable employment.” A Citizens Advice call for change in the direction of welfare policy must not be lost in a crowded summer news agenda. Plans to change how benefits are calculated for […]
Round-up time. Policy and campaigns. Community Liaison. Social Media. CARBS in July