In 2014, the Labour Movement disbursed $8.89 million to its low-income union members and families, through its various NTUC U Care assistance programmes. Since its inception in 2009, the NTUC-U Care Fund has disbursed over $67 million in total as it marks its 5th anniversary this year.
The U Care assistance programmes aim to help low-income union members and their families lessen their financial burden, as well as support needy children and elderly in a meaningful way through the use of the NTUC-U Care Fund. Many low-income union members and their families have benefitted from the fund, which has aided them in areas such as supporting their children’s education costs and stretching their dollar in daily necessities at selected NTUC’s social enterprises like FairPrice and Unity Healthcare.
In 2014, the U Care Fund assisted some 24,000 union members with U Stretch Vouchers; and over 9,800 low-income families participated in six runs of Family Recreation & Fun Carnivals. The fund also supported some 26,000 members’ children with U Care Back to School Vouchers and about 8,600 students through our affiliated unions’ bursary and scholarship programmes. In addition, the U Care Fund also donates to the Bright Horizons Fund to help 1,210 needy children attend quality pre-school at My First Skool centres. Not forgetting the more vulnerable groups of the elderly in our midst, the U Care Fund also makes donations to the Eldercare Trust every year
|
U Care Focus Areas |
U Care Programmes |
Projected Amount Disbursed1 |
|
Supporting low-income Families |
U Stretch Vouchers ($100 per recipient with dependents in the same household in Singapore; or $50 per recipient with no dependents staying in Singapore) |
$2,108,800 (24,420 members) |
|
Family Recreation & Fun Carnival (worth $100 per family package) |
$981,000 (9,810 families) |
|
|
Champion for Children and youth by levelling the playing field |
U Care Back To School Vouchers ($125 per school-going child) |
$3,325,000 (26,600 school-going children) |
|
U Care Education Co-Funding Scheme (*Total awarded by Unions: $1,433,630) |
$920,000* (8,600 children) |
|
|
Donation to NTUC First Campus Bright Horizons Fund |
$520,000 (1,210 children) |
|
|
Caring for the Elderly |
Donation to NTUC Eldercare Trust (Supporting seniors in 10 Day Care Centres) |
$1,000,000 (10 daycare centres) |
|
Reaching out to the Underprivileged |
U Care Caring.Sharing.Reaching-out Co-Funding Scheme (^Total amount: $81,365) |
$40,000^ (33 CSR projects) |
|
|
Total Disbursed in 2014 |
$8,894,800 |
1Figures as at Dec 2014
Please see Annex A for more details on each programme.
To complement the U Care Back To School Vouchers, the annual year-end Back To School Fair (refer to details of the fair in Annex A) provides a one-stop place for parents to get their children ready for the new school year. Besides exclusive deals and promotions, there are over 25 exciting programmes, educational talks and fun workshops for both parents and children alike.
In conjunction with the Fair, NTUC also organised a one-day symposium, targeting youths aged 13 to 19 years. Titled “PROJECT 1319” , this symposium held on Friday, 12 December aimed at getting youths to understand the importance of setting their life aspirations early, through a Draw Out the Best in U workshop conducted by the creator of Mr Kiasu and 《跳班》comic series, Mr Johnny Lau. A panel of mainly young speakers also shared their personal stories on how they had achieved their goals in life despite the challenges faced which served as an inspiration to the participants, as well as talks on teaching the youth about building their personal branding and how to communicate effectively.
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and Director, Care and Share Department, Zainal Sapari said, “The NTUC-U Care Fund has been helping our low-income union members and their families over the years. We are happy to be able to do our part in making a positive difference and touching the lives of our many beneficiaries. Besides providing them with financial assistance, we hope that through the educational programmes and talks during the U Care Back To School Fair and our new Project 1319 initiative, we are equipping our beneficiaries with knowledge and skillsets that will help them in a more holistic manner. In so doing, we want to engender a greater sense of belonging and give them hope for a brighter future.”
The roll-out of the U Care assistance programmes was strongly supported by contributions from all 61 NTUC-affiliated unions and association, the Singapore Labour Foundation, NTUC Social Enterprises such as NTUC FairPrice Foundation, NTUC Club, NTUC Income and NTUC Choice Homes, management and tripartite partners as well as corporate donors.
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