Arthritis Care joins forces with the Bank Workers Charity

Arthritis Care and the Bank Workers Charity have joined forces to provide a tailored support service to retired bankers in need, who are either directly affected by arthritis or have a close family member who is.

Key to the partnership is a new dedicated client manager who will be able to offer one-to-one guidance on the services that are available to clients with arthritis. This will include helping people who have substantial unmet needs to apply for financial assistance through the Bank Workers Charity.

Phil Baker, operations director at Arthritis Care, said: ‘Arthritis Care is delighted to partner with the Bank Workers Charity in offering support to people in need from the UK banking community. With an estimated 280,000 former and current employees affected by arthritis, this is a wonderful opportunity to reach out with our proven information, help lines and peer-support services to a large number of new people who can benefit from them.’

Ailsa Hamzic, head of marketing at the Bank Workers Charity, said: ‘Meeting someone from Arthritis Care’s membership who had arthritis really made me appreciate what people with the disease go through and how important a support network is. That is why we are so pleased to be working with Arthritis Care to bring a dedicated service to retired bank workers and their families.’

To find out more about the service or to apply, please contact Adele Bagg, client manager at Arthritis Care – email IBF@arthritiscare.org.uk or call 0800 138 6511 (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 9.30am to 4.30pm).

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For media enquiries, please call the Arthritis Care press office on 0207 380 6550.

Notes to Editors

About the partnership

• On 1 March, the Bank Workers charity (BWC) and arthritis Care launched a new support service.  This partnership is designed to provide help and support specifically to retired and ex-employees from the banking community, whose lives have been affected by arthritis.
• If you, or a dependent family member, have arthritis and have worked for five years or more in the banking community, you can now get a range of invaluable information and support direct from Arthritis Care.  This new programme combines Arthritis Care’s unique understanding of the needs of people with all forms of arthritis, developed over nearly 65 years of supporting people to live better with the condition, and the proud 127 year-old tradition of BWC of helping people in need from the banking community.
  

About Arthritis Care

• Arthritis means inflammation of the joints. Most people with arthritis will experience pain and difficulty moving around. Around 10 million people in the UK have arthritis. There are over 200 kinds of rheumatic diseases – the word rheumatic means aches and pains in joints, bones and muscles. Two of the most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
• Arthritis Care is the UK’s leading charity working with and for people with all forms of arthritis. We offer people with arthritis the information and support they need to make informed choices about managing their arthritis, to reach their potential in society and to fully participate in their communities. We believe that people with arthritis are entitled to receive the best available treatment and medication, and to have their voice heard in decisions affecting their health.
• Information and support on how to cope with pain is available by calling the Arthritis Care Helpline free on 0808 800 4050, emailing Helplines@arthritiscare.org.uk or by visiting the website www.arthritiscare.org.uk
  

The BBF is The Bank Workers Charity

• The Bank Workers Charity (BWC), is the occupational benevolent fund for the banking sector and is a forward looking, innovative charity, passionate about making a bigger difference to banking families in need.
• Working with specialist partners where appropriate, BWC deliver information, advice, services and grants that genuinely meet the needs of people in the banking community.
• Following three years of development BWC are launching a new operating model to better support people in the banking community with a wider and deeper set of services. Changing the working name to the Bank Workers Charity and adopting a new visual identity in May 2011 to reflect the organisation better whilst building a range of exciting new services which will be launched over a three year period. www.bwcharity.org.uk