{"id":21585,"date":"2020-12-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=21585"},"modified":"2020-12-15T14:47:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T14:47:28","slug":"unite-phone-buddies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=21585","title":{"rendered":"Heroes of the year – Unite phone buddies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Every day over the festive period, UniteLIVE will highlight a different \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hero of the year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00c2\u00a0Today we honour Unite retired members who are always there to help their communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in May, we highlighted the Unite Phone Buddies initiative devised by a Unite retired members branch in Glasgow which helped members keep connected during the first lockdown. Find out more in the feature below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNITE PHONE BUDDIES<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At no other time in living memory have so many people been so isolated from one another for so long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social isolation even at the best of times is damaging to our mental and physical health \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one study found loneliness is just as lethal as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, with people who are chronically lonely being 50 per cent more likely to die prematurely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isolation during a pandemic can be even more anxiety-provoking \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially for the elderly or those with health conditions who are being asked to shield and so cannot leave their homes at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a difference between choosing to spend time alone and being thrust into loneliness \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and something as simple as a phone call can help people who cannot meet their friends and family feel connected and stave off the worst effects of social isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite retired members are doing just that through a new Unite Phone Buddies initiative. It was the brainchild of the Unite Retired Members Glasgow Branch and interest has since spread to other branches and regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was a simple one \u00e2\u20ac\u201c retired member activists volunteered to contact 10 to 20 other retired members in their local area to check up and see how they were coping. While the branch developed an initial script, which asks members about the level of support they have now and the level of support they might need, the branch discovered that most people were well supported with logistical needs such as shopping and medication \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but all were grateful to have someone else to connect with.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe do not follow the script because most members are so pleased to hear from us that they just want to talk,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite Glasgow Retired Members branch secretary Mick Rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mick explained how his branch set up the Phone Buddies system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe downloaded the membership database for the branch and then sorted it so that we just retained those members who had registered a phone number with Unite. We have nearly 2,400 of these in our branch. We then grouped these members by a postcode sort to get them listed on a neighbourhood basis,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt seemed to me that being able to sort out the phones listings on an area or neighbourhood basis, would mean that whichever volunteer phoned our members would either live near or even know the person they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve called so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that sense of instant connection.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mick noted that the retired members they have contacted often will simply just want to chat about, for example, their working days or when they were younger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn other instances where there have been issues, the phone buddy will escalate it up to me \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in one case I had to phone up the police to check and see if there was an issue at a particular address. And they did.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe also have people beginning to ask questions about union services, for example Retired Members Plus or accessing a death grant they are entitled to as a member after the death of their partner or spouse which can be quite complicated. We are also using the exercise to try to get email addresses so that we can contact more of our members by email,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEveryone I spoke to wanted to take down my telephone number for future reference should they need it. All our members without exception were delighted that the union branch had bothered to contact them to see how they were coping.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Unite Phone Buddies system is now only a retired members initiative, Mick believes the idea could expand to become a unique and vital communication tool for Unite \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s organised by rank and file members for the benefit of all members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGiven that during this pandemic, we will have a substantial number of our members at home, unemployed, with a massive recession looming in the future, we need to find new ways to keep in contact with our members. What often happens is when people lose their jobs and are unemployed, they will simply just drop out of the union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you are able to open a new way of communicating with these members, then all sorts of possibilities arise. The strength of our union has always been determined by the resilience of rank and file organisation. Unite Phone Buddies, as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already seen, is a two way communication \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the union can use it to communicate their latest information, and it can also become the ears of the union. Feedback direct from the members will ensure our leadership stays focused.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Mental Health Awareness week this week, the theme is kindness, and Mick says kindness \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of which the Unite Phone Buddies initiative is a brilliant example \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is now more important than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHuman solidarity, which is what kindness essentially is, is the key to civilisation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we are going to beat this pandemic and we want to emerge stronger, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about people recognising that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to work together in harmony. And not just in their local area, but nationally and internationally as well.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Hajera Blagg<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every day over the festive period, UniteLIVE will highlight a different \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hero of the year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00c2\u00a0Today we honour Unite retired members who are always there to help their communities. Back in May, we highlighted the Unite Phone Buddies initiative devised by a Unite retired members branch in Glasgow which helped members keep connected during the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1295,404,928,1109],"wps_subtitle":"Glasgow retired members phone buddies initiative keeps people connected","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21585"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27116,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21585\/revisions\/27116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}