Scope of Assistance
The Fund's principal objective is to alleviate financial distress, and there are no hard and
fast rules defining the amount of assistance that may be offered. The requirements of
each case are considered in the light of individual circumstances. People may qualify for
assistance whether or not they are eligible for State Benefits. However, most of our
beneficiaries have limited means, although we would expect that all statutory entitlements
are being received by individuals prior to seekingadditional support from the Fund.
Generally, assistance will be in the form of a non-repayable one-off grant. Regular help
may be available for the elderly in the form of a monthly grant but such grants are
dependent upon net income levels.
Eligibility
In order to gain assistance from the fund you must meet the applicable below criteria:
If you are employed by Royal Mail, Post Office Ltd, Parcelforce Worldwide or General
Logistics you willneed to have completed 6 months service, either on a part time or full
time basis, before being eligible for help from the Fund. We are not able to help casual
workers.
If you are retired you need to be in receipt of an occupational pension, either in your
own right or as a widow/widower.
If you left the organisation before retirement age you must be a deferred pensioner to be
eligible for help. That is you remain a member of the pension plan, and will receive a pension
on reaching retirement age.
We are also able to help direct dependants of the above.
Applicants must be UK residents.
Advice and Support
We work very closely with Royal Mail Group’sadviceline HELP who can provide advice in a
number of areas, notjust financial advice. For example they are able to provide advice on
benefit entitlement.HELP is a completely independent andconfidential service and is available
to serving and retired staff. They act as our caseworkers and are the contact point for both
staff and pensioners. If you are in need of financial support and think you might be eligible
for assistance from the Fund then please contact HELP on 0800 6 888 777.
If you know of a work colleague or Royal Mail Group pensioner who you think may be in
need of financial support, do let them know about the Fund and how we can help those in
times of need.
