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Since the beginning of 2012 the Northern TUC Asbestos Support and Campaign Group has offered support and advice to 98 asbestos victims and their families across the region, helping 63 of them to claim benefits/compensation totalling £240,593.00.

date: 15 November 2012

embargo: for immediate release

Northern TUC Asbestos Group has won nearly £250,000 for asbestos victims and their families

Since the beginning of 2012 the Northern TUC Asbestos Support and Campaign Group has offered support and advice to 98 asbestos victims and their families across the region, helping 63 of them to claim benefits/compensation totalling £240,593.00. Almost £85,000 worth of these entitlements has been awarded since 1st September this year. The recipients of the funds are suffering from a range of asbestos-related diseases including Mesothelioma, Asbestosis and Lung cancer.

One of the main functions of the Group is to offer support, advice and information (including help with benefit claims) to people living with the effects of asbestos poisoning, employing two dedicated members of staff, Maggie Fitzsimons and Maggie Bailey. Working out of the Wallsend Memorial Hall and People's Centre in North Tyneside they cover the whole northern region from Northumberland to Tees Valley and over to north Cumbria and work with Health professionals, trade unions, law firms, Macmillan and Welfare Rights staff to offer a comprehensive and personal service to sufferers.

The benefits accrued are comprised of several areas, with the majority from the Workers' Compensation Scheme and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, supplemented by things like Attendance Allowances and Carers Allowance to help fund necessary day-to-day care.

Kevin Rowan, Northern TUC Regional Secretary said, 'With much talk about clamping down on welfare benefits these results show that there is actually large scale under-claiming and these individual cases show how important the welfare safety net is to vulnerable people in our communities.

'This is exactly why the Asbestos Group was set up - to deliver for the people who need it most. These are people who are often too ill and incapacitated to expend valuable time and energy on what can be a complicated process. The service that our Group and partner organisations offer is literally a lifeline for the people who use it and will only be in increasing demand over the next few years.'

Stephen Guy, Macmillan Development Manager for North East said: 'It is imperative that victims of workplace cancers have their rights protected by experts. It is marvellous to learn that the group's efforts are beginning to deliver outcomes of this nature for victims, their families and carers.'

Maggie Bailey, Welfare Rights Adviser said, 'I have been working very closely with Macmillan professionals to set up a referral system to the project so now anyone recently diagnosed with a work-related cancer in the area which we cover should be automatically referred to us for help. I'd urge anyone in that position to speak to their Macmillan nurse or call in at the Macmillan Information Centre who will advise you.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- Northern TUC press releases www.tuc.org.uk/northern national releases www.tuc.org.uk and www.twitter.com/tucnews

- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

- For TUC advice and information on the world of work www.workSMART.org.uk

Media contacts:

Kevin Rowan, Regional Secretary T: 0191 232 3175 M: 07766250074 E: krowan@tuc.org.uk

Neil Foster, Policy and Campaigns Officer, Northern TUC T: 0191 227 5554;

E: nfoster@tuc.org.uk

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