LTB 231/25 - CWU National Welfare Fund - Regulations
- Angela Wright CWU Branch Communications Officer
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
No. 231/25
TO: ALL BRANCHES
Dear Colleagues,
CWU NATIONAL WELFARE FUND – REGULATIONS
Branches will be aware that following their election in the latter part of 2024, the National Trustees started their term of office from the beginning of January 2025.
Having now had ten months in their role, the Trustees in conjunction with the Finance department, have dealt with numerous applications for claims from the National Welfare Fund.
During this period, it has become apparent that some of the applications have not been in line with the previously circulated CWU Welfare fund regulations.
The main issues concern the following:
Cases where insufficient supporting evidence is provided making it difficult for the Trustees to make an informed decision
Applications where no evidence at all has been provided to support a claim.
Requesting payments for members in extreme levels of debt without directing them to other organisations who can assist.
Claims for members not actually suffering any genuine hardship.
Requesting payments to replace the stoppage of money by the employer without using the agreed internal process to rectify the problem.
Each of the above not only results in additional workload but causes a delay to those claims where a payment is necessary.
Branches will be aware that the current CWU Welfare Fund regulations were last circulated ten years ago, during which time many new Branch officials have been elected. The result is a variety of experience in relation to submitting claims to the National welfare fund, with some Branch officials not being as experienced as others.
The Finance Department and CWU Trustees have therefore conducted a review of the CWU Welfare fund regulations, to ensure they are brought up to date, are unambiguous and are reflective of the purpose for which the fund was established. Branches will be aware that the CWU as a Trade Union is not authorised to give financial advice to any member as part of the Welfare Fund application process. This point is reiterated in the amended regulations.
At a meeting on 22nd//23rd October the NEC endorsed the attached revised set of CWU Welfare fund regulations. Branches must now operate in line with these regulations when considering and submitting applications to the National Welfare fund. In addition, the list of contacts for support and advice has also been updated and is also attached to assist in signposting these organisations to members.
The NEC hope that both documents will provide useful reference points that Branches can check prior to submitting future claims to the CWU Welfare fund, thereby ensuring claims are not unnecessarily delayed.
Any enquiries should be addressed to dwilshire@cwu.org or on 0208 9717 368
Tony Kearns
Senior Deputy General Secretary
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