We also provide people with information on benefits
We want to be more geared towards getting people out of a dependence culture
and welfare. Our welfare caseworkers attend seminars on benefits, covering any changes, the levels of benefits, where people need to go to get help, and what they need to do. We include information on our website about
bereavement and the process that you need to go through, because there are various issues that need to be taken into consideration when dealing with the official side of a bereavement.
ECA Today: Do you organise counselling services too? Val Austin: Yes, we are trialling something with an organisation where we are hoping to provide counselling to people who need to change certain behavioural traits that result in them being dependent or vulnerable. This is aimed at trying to sort out the cause rather than the symptoms. We also coordinate things such as basic debt counselling with the Citizens Advice Bureau and other debt collection agencies. We are also trying hard to get people back on their feet, and I am looking at providing access to an employment programme. This will help those out of work develop their CVs, look at their interview techniques, and research the organisation they are having an interview with. We also have some very good partnership schemes, so we can put people in touch with an industry body that might be able to help them. We are getting our associations involved. It might just be helping an individual attain some membership that will help them have an accreditation on their CV that gets them through the door. We are looking at all sorts of ways and means. And we are looking at trends to see where we can broaden the services we offer.
ECA Today: How has the economic downturn affected the EEIBA? Val Austin: I think our services are needed much more now. We are seeing an increasing demand, and we’ve also noticed that in certain areas in the country it is much harder to raise funding than it used to be – as you would expect in the harder-hit areas of the country in terms of the economic downturn. A significant change I’ve noticed is that organisations are less willing to sponsor, because where they are retrenching and making people redundant, they can’t be sponsoring an event or donating thousands of pounds. So we are now looking to work with organisations in different ways. Supporting the EEIBA is a reciprocal relationship,
though, as we can help raise a company’s profile and awareness of their work, which can increase their order book and help their business grow.
ECA Today: The welfare of the industry is obviously a key objective at the EEIBA. What changes would you like to see at a government level for the industry, and are there any campaigns you are supporting? Val Austin: The government talks a lot about carbon reductions and emissions and providing sustainable energy solutions, but then they cut back on some of the programmes. I would like to see more of a commitment
38 ECA Today March 2012
to these initiatives in the future, as they could provide a significant opportunity for our industry in terms of growth. From solar panels to electric cars, this is work that could be phenomenal for the industry across the country. It’s helping to give the industry new skills and capabilities. And where the EEIBA would like to be involved in that is where you have some long-term unemployed people; we would help fund those people to get those new skills and be part of that growth.
ECA Today: How do you feel about the government’s disability benefits reform that will replace the current Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with Personal Independence Payments (PIPs)? Val Austin: The DLA has been around for some 20 years now and hasn’t changed very much in that time. I actually welcome the fact that the government is overhauling the benefits system. For the EEIBA, it means it is actually going to be easier to provide people with advice as to where to go, because they will be going to just one place – the Department of Work and Pensions. There won’t be so much time involved trying to get to grips with all the different benefits and how we advise beneficiaries to apply for them. There are 30 different types of benefits available at the moment, so a universal credit makes sense to me. But I have certain caveats about the reform as well. I’m on a housing association board, and part of this reform will mean that housing benefit will go direct to the beneficiary as part of the universal credit, rather than the housing association. This will most likely increase rent arrears, again increasing the vulnerability of people with poor financial skills.
There is a lot of concern, quite rightly, for people with disabilities who had an automatic entitlement and are now going to have to go through an independent medical examination that might result in them losing their benefit. While on the one hand it is making things easier, I think only time will tell us what the real impact is going to be. There is probably going to be an impact for this charity
because people who have not passed the examination may have to turn to charities like ours for help. We have more scope to look at alternatives, and can therefore help people affected by this change.
ECA Today: What are your goals for the future of the EEIBA and how will it continue to move forward? Val Austin: Our goal is to raise our revenue over the next 18 months, so that we can divert more funds to the services I previously mentioned. We are looking at working more closely with corporate organisations, helping to raise their profile whilst at the same time supporting their industry charity. We are an important and worthy enough charity to be their charity of choice. We are also looking to improve the services that we provide. So, as I mentioned previously, we want to be more geared towards getting people out of a dependence culture into being independent – sustainable welfare. We want to assist people, so when they are having financial difficulties, we do more for them then just merely helping them out of their current fix. We give them the tools and the skills to avoid getting into that fix again.
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