The Board of Directors of the Prison Service Trust decided to equip our volunteers who phone clients monthly and visit them in their homes with the knowledge of the Benefits System which is available in Northern Ireland. The Board engaged Advice NI to deliver the training course over a two-day period. Twelve of our volunteers took part in this course at the PST office at Hydebank Wood Belfast.
The first day of training took place on 17 January 2023 and our volunteers were introduced to their tutor, Ryan Fitzsimons, from Advice NI. The volunteers were introduced to the Universal Credit Benefits system advising them how much a person is entitled to based on their earnings. Ryan’s presentations were exceptional, and he made the subject so interesting that everyone wanted to become involved. Following the morning session, we had a break for a buffet lunch provided by the catering staff from the College at Hydebank Wood. The afternoon session was again an interesting subject where our volunteers were introduced to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Attendance Allowance and Bereavement Payment. Many of our volunteers had no experience in relation to these benefits and were not aware that some of these benefits even existed.
The second day of training attracted two additional volunteers on 24th January 2023 and Ryan briefly recapped on what our volunteers had covered in the previous day’s training. Ryan explained to our volunteers that you can’t learn the benefit system in a few days and in fact he has been working at it for years and he’s still learning. The purpose of this course was to educate our volunteers who can then signpost the clients of the Trust as to where they can seek help in relation to what benefits they are entitled to claim. Following lunch our volunteers were introduced to the benefits of Employment Support Allowance (ESA) which many of our clients wouldn’t be entitled to claim, however it was useful for our volunteers as it advised them how to fill in the questionnaire which is attached to this benefit as it is similar to the questionnaire for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Overall, the afternoon session was a lively debate amongst our volunteers whose thirst for knowledge of the Benefits System was amazing.
The Board was delighted to learn that this course provided to our volunteers was a huge success. The real success of the Trust is the dedication and commitment of our volunteers who contact clients regularly on the phone, call at their homes, if need be, make submissions to the Board of Directors on their behalf and accompany clients on social outings. As Chairman of the Board of Directors it is an honour and privilege to know that the Prison Service Trust is supported by a group of individuals like our volunteers. However, whilst the success of the Trust is based on our volunteers, without the guidance and commitment of the Board who set the standards and ask nothing for their services and insist that all money received from the grant from the Northern Ireland Prison Service is spent on clients.
The Board of Directors would like to thank Advice NI who made it possible and the excellent tutor Ryan Fitzsimons for his input. Thank you also to the Manager, Michelle, who organised the event and the excellent lunch provided by the catering staff at the College.
