Beneficiaries' stories - Case studies 13 - 18

Help for Derrick and Pamela

Much of EEIBA's welfare work in providing help, support, advice, encouragement and funding, comes at an enormous cost to the charity.

Wherever possible, to defray these costs, EEIBA Welfare Officers are briefed to look for suitable beneficial links in the working background of those in need.

So often the cost of EEIBA's help is eased by benevolent funds that have been set up to assist people who have worked at some time during their career, but that are not necessarily connected to the industries that EEIBA serves.

Also, many areas of the electrical industry, in particular the power generation companies, provide help to those who at some stage during their working lives have been an employee. Recently EEIBA and RWE npower have done just that.

For example Derrick and Pamela Chung (pictured above) who live in Harwell, Oxfordshire, are both in their seventies and were in need of help.

Derrick had worked in the services department at Didcot Power Station from 1972 until 1989 and is now not in the best of health having severe emphysema and heart problems with Pam being his full time carer.

They contacted the EEIBA and the Regional Welfare Officer investigated their problems. They discovered that Derrick is very poorly, their house had been classified as unsafe by their electricity supplier and needed an urgent rewire.

Pam needed the opportunity to recharge her batteries with a short break that would enable her to continue with her caring responsibilities.

Contact was made with RWE npower who were able to fully fund the house rewire, a week's respite in a local nursing home for Derrick and a short holiday for Pam with her sister on the Isle of Wight.

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