In 2012, the Labour Movement disbursed over $9.7 million to its low-income union members and families, through its various NTUC U Care assistance programmes.
The U Care assistance programmes were introduced with a common aim of helping low-income union members and families improve their lives, as well as support needy children and elderly in a meaningful way. Through these programmes, U Care Fund was able to touch the lives of many low-income families, support their children’s education needs as well as enable the elderly to lead active and meaningful lives.
In total, the U Care Fund disbursed over 28,500 U Stretch voucher booklets, over 27,600 Back to School voucher booklets and over 10,800 Family Recreation & Fun Carnival packages. U Care Fund also supported over 8,400 students through co-funding of the unions’ bursary and scholarship programmes. More than 650 children and over 5,000 elderly also received assistance through NTUC First Campus Bright Horizons Fund and NTUC Eldercare Trust respectively.
In addition to helping its needy union members, the Labour Movement also does its part for the underprivileged community. The U Care CSR (Caring. Sharing. Reaching Out) Co-Funding Scheme was introduced in 2011, to encourage and support its affiliated unions and communities with their community service projects. In 2012, 24 community projects were undertaken which include excursions, festive celebrations, painting projects among others for charitable homes and Voluntary Welfare Organisations.
| U Care Focus Areas | U Care Programmes | Amount disbursed* | Outreach |
| Supporting low-income Families | U Stretch vouchers ($100 per recipient) | $2,851,200 | 39,389 families |
| Family Recreation & Fun Carnival (worth $100 per family package) | $1,087,700 | ||
| Champion for Children and youth by levelling the playing field | U Care Back to School vouchers ($125 per school-going child) | $3,454,875 | 36,757 children |
| U Care Education Co-Funding scheme (projected) | $840,440 | ||
| Donation to NTUC First Campus Bright Horizons Fund | $500,000 | ||
| Helping Seniors stay active | Donation to NTUC Eldercare Trust | $1,000,000 | More than 5,000 seniors |
| Reaching out to the Underprivileged in the community | U Care CSR Co-Funding Scheme | $14,422 | 684 beneficiaries |
| Total Disbursed in 2012 | $9,748,637 |
*Figures as at 12 Dec 2012
*Please see Annex A for more details on each programme.
Mdm Lai Yep Eng, 50, has four school-going children aged 5, 7, 11 and 17. The family has been receiving help through U Care Fund for the past seven years. She said, “To support the family of six with an income of less than $1,500 is not easy. The U Stretch and Back to School vouchers from U Care Fund have helped a great deal especially with daily necessities and school-related expenses for the children. We also participated in the Family Recreational and Fun Carnivals, which was so much fun and helped with family bonding. I’m really grateful to U Care Fund.”
U Care Back to School Fair back with exclusive deals for union members!
Today, the Labour Movement concludes its U Care efforts for the year, with a two-day U Care Back to School Fair. Organised yearly to complement the Back to School voucher programme, the fair reaches out especially to low-income members with school-going children, to help lighten their expenses for the new school year through exclusive deals and special promotions on school-related merchandise offered by participating merchants. The fair promotions are also extended to all union members.
The two-day fair from 15 to 16 Dec 2012 is held at the National Library Building from 11am to 8pm. Besides returning merchants like BATA, Evergreen Stationery, NTUC FairPrice, NTUC Unity and POPULAR, this year’s Fair also saw new merchants such as Bookaburra, HistoryTM and National Geographic participating. The fair will also feature fun-filled activities such as educational talks and workshops to engage and bond families. Other firsts for the Fair include book readings and signings by local children’s authors; interactive sessions with Team Singapore athletes like Olympian C Kunalan, shuttler Ashton Chen and footballers; and even a special U Care car racing game. Members will also be rewarded with LinkPoints (the Labour Movement’s loyalty programme) with purchases made at the fair.
U Care Fund donates $500,000 to NTUC First Campus Bright Horizons Fund
At the fair, the NTUC also presented a donation of $500,000 from the U Care Fund to the NTUC First Campus Bright Horizons Fund (BHF). The BHF offers financial assistance to children of low-income families to attend pre-school at My First Skool centres. It also funds learning assistance such as the Read-to-REACH literacy programme and the Behaviour Support Programme for children whose families require help in giving them a foundation for primary schooling.
NTUC Care and Share Director, Mr. Zainal Sapari said, “As a Labour Movement that values every member, we organise this annual Back to School Fair to extend greater value to all our members. In addition, the U Care Fund is here to provide the extra help to our low-income members so as to defray their cost of living. We value every child and believe in the importance of education. This is why our programmes have a strong emphasis in this area. With the concern of rising cost of living, NTUC is confident that U Care Fund can continue our assistance programmes and is prepared to do even more should the need arises.”
The roll-out of the U Care assistance programmes was strongly supported by contributions from 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.
