Mersey Care has implemented a comprehensive strategy and taken a targeted approach to developing a financial wellbeing support offer in response to addressing the increase in cost of living and other mitigating financial issues.
To support colleagues and their families who may have gambling concerns, the trust has delivered online virtual workshops, has a dedicated web page on gambling support and awareness raising training and signposts staff to GamCare, a national provider of free information, advice and support for anyone affected by problem gambling.
In addition, the trust plans to sign the Beacons Counselling Trust’s Workplace Charter, which is designed to help organisations identify and support any gambling related issues within their workforce and to offer appropriate training for colleagues.
Mersey Care has collaborated with a financial support scheme that enables staff to apply for financial assistance, including small loans and free financial education. This scheme promotes financial education within the trust and allows the health and wellbeing team to offer further support and education to employees who are not able to use the scheme.
The trust has commissioned 75 sessions with the Citizen’s Advice Liverpool as part of the wider Citizen’s Advice Bureau, so staff can access a verified referral pathway for support. Staff have used this service for a variety of reasons including financial wellbeing.
Mersey Care's women’s network has put in free sanitary product storage boxes for their staff in the toilets across its site. The trust has put this in place stating that: “Financial pressures can affect our colleagues too and we can have difficult days, for many reasons. Hopefully, in this small way, we can make the day a bit easier”.
A benefits calculator has been implemented so staff can check if they’re eligible for any unclaimed benefits. The calculator asks questions about their circumstances and household finances before running a search to see what they are eligible for. The trust also offers support for those staff with travel expenses by providing a payment in advance, based on the last three months average of a colleagues’ travel claims.
All financial wellbeing support on offer can be accessed easily through the Mersey Care’s dedicated financial wellbeing hub. This hub can be accessed on site via local intranet pages and on personal electronic devices. To reach as many employees as possible, offers are regularly promoted through local trusts’ briefings and on social media channels