Committee

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Would you like to represent Scotland on the NAWRA committee?

Calling all NAWRA members in Scotland – could you be a rep on the NAWRA committee?

Our current rep Craig Samuel at City of Edinburgh Council is stepping down after many years service so we now have two vacancies on the Committee for Scottish reps.

As a rep, the main requirement is to attend Committee meetings which are held four times a year and last up to two hours. These are held virtually and typically discuss –

  • Communications and publicity
  • Equality and diversity
  • Policy and Campaigns
  • Finance
  • Plans for future conferences

You can see previous minutes on the website

If you want further involvement, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in campaigns, consultation responses, delivering workshops, but it is also fine if you don’t have so much time to commit to this. In Scotland, there are added opportunities to engage with the Scottish Government on devolved issues too.

Being on the Executive Committee of a national organisation is great experience, and you will be fully supported by the rest of the Committee.

If you might be interested but want to find out a bit more please email our vice chair Daphne Hall at daphne@nawra.org.uk who would be happy to have a chat.

And this is also an opportunity to send our heartfelt thanks to Craig who has done such an amazing job in the role particularly overseeing some of the development of the devolved benefits.

alanmarkey

Keep the faith

Our national Chair, Alan Markey, has recently had an article published in ‘Adviser’ magazine. In the article Alan offers his take on how the social security landscape has changed, on increasing conditionality and a hostile environment for claimants, and highlights the increasing importance of advisers in the fight against poverty.

If you don’t have a copy of the magazine, you can read his article on the Medium website.

alanmarkey

Mike Shermer

NAWRA would like to pay tribute to Mike Shermer, former committee member for the East of England region, who passed away peacefully on 17 May 2018, aged 74 years.

Mike was one of the original members of the NAWRA committee and demonstrated a commitment to the organisation throughout his time with us.  Mike was a dedicated welfare rights adviser with Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council and had also served as a Town Councillor for March in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire.  Following his retirement, Mike still kept in touch with welfare rights matters and he is sadly missed by all of us at NAWRA.

NAWRA would like to pass on condolences to Mike’s wife, Jeanette, and to all the Shermer family.

Mike Shermer
Mike Shermer
nawra

Would you like to join the NAWRA committee?

The committee directs the policy and general management of the affairs of NAWRA.  It consists of representatives from each of the English regions plus two from Wales, one from Scotland, one from Northern Ireland and one nominated by CPAG. This gives a total of 14 representatives.  The committee meet at least three times a year, either a day before a main NAWRA meeting or by telephone conference call.

The representatives of the English regions and Wales must be elected every two years at our AGM.  Our meeting in Stockton-on-Tees on 9 March 2018 acts as our AGM this year.

The regions are as follows:

  • South East England
  • London
  • North West England
  • East of England
  • West Midlands
  • South West England
  • Yorkshire and the Humber
  • East Midlands
  • North East England
  • North Wales
  • South Wales

If you work in one of these regions and would like to stand for election to the committee then please complete the nomination form and return it by Friday 16 February 2018.

Do get in touch with Kelly Smith (NAWRA Secretary) with any questions.