22 May 2010
1. The Labour Movement U Care Fund announced its target of $10 million for the year 2010 at the May Day Family Fiesta held at Downtown East today. The U Care Fund was set up last year to consolidate the fundraising efforts of the Labour Movement and aims to assist lower-income members and their families in times of need.
2. The NTUC’s Care and Share has been distributing between $4 million and $7 million to lower-income members and their families each year since 2005. However, when our economy faced a global inflation in 2008, the Labour Movement doubled its efforts and raised $13.4 million to help workers defray the high cost of living. And again, during a global downturn in 2009 which affected many workers, the Labour Movement launched the U Care Fund which raised a total of $23.2 million with the help of NTUC-affiliated unions and associations, NTUC social enterprises, management and its tripartite partners. This year, with a more positive economic outlook, the U Care Fund will resume past efforts in continuing to provide assistance to our lower-income members.
Fund-raising efforts thus far
3. The first fundraising in 2010 was organised through the annual May Day Dinner on 29 April where all dinner proceeds were contributed to the U Care Fund. The collective efforts by NTUC-affiliated unions, social enterprises and companies raised a total of $925,900 through the Dinner.
In addition, at the May Day Family Fiesta today, the Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF) pledged their commitment to the U Care Fund by donating $3.5 million for 2010. Together with another $500,000 from NTUC, the total amount raised to date for the U Care Fund is $4,925,900.
4. The Chief Executive Officer of SLF Ms Adeline Sum said, “The Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF) is fully committed to extend a helping hand to less privileged union members and families, in partnership with the Labour Movement’s U Care Fund. SLF is happy to contribute $3.5 million this year or about one-third of the overall fund-raising target for 2010.”
5. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)’s Care and Share Director, Mr Zainudin Nordin said, “Last year, the Labour Movement recognised that our members required more assistance during a downturn, so we raised more funds than in a typical year. With the current optimistic economic condition, we feel that this year’s target of $10 million will adequately meet the needs of our lower-income members. We will also review the economic situation periodically, and extend more assistance should they need more help. To date, we have reached the halfway mark of this target with about $4.9 million raised so far. This is a good effort to kick-start our fundraising and we hope to receive more support from our Labour Movement family and partners.”
6. This year, the U Care Fund will broadly go towards helping lower-income members and their families through assistance schemes to support their living expenses such as through discount vouchers, education-related vouchers, and the Scholarship/Bursary Top-Up Scheme which enable unions to increase their support to the children of lower-income union members. It will also support the elderly and children through the NTUC Eldercare Trust and the NTUC First Campus Bright Horizons Fund. More details of upcoming programmes will be announced at a later date.
