NACAS and the NACW partner to give Care Workers joined up support
The National Association of Care and Support Workers (NACAS) and the Care Workers Union (CWU) have formed an innovative strategic partnership to give their members a more joined up range of support.
The NACAS is the professional body which provides career development and practical support for care workers while the CWU has been established as the only trade union solely focussed on protecting their rights. This ground-breaking collaboration between NACAS and CWU will provide holistic support for care and support workers of all kinds and promote the interests of the profession in general.
Speaking about the new partnership today, Dr Paul Chiy, founder of the Care Workers Union said today. “Carers are essential key workers who are underpaid, overworked and undervalued. They are typically classified as low skilled workers but, in our view, they are anything but. We believe they deserve better and we are here to protect their rights and help them represent themselves to employers and to the wider world.”
Conversations with members has told CWU that carers want the continuing professional development (CPD) that allows them to grow and progress in their careers as well as access to the technology and benefits afforded other health professionals. It was this that led to the partnership between CWU and NACAS. Dr Chiy added, “it is the synergy between our services which means our members and theirs are more comprehensively supported as they carry out their essential work.”
Whether they are employed or self-employed, by becoming members of NACAS and CWU, care workers will receive workplace representation and get access to training and development, discounts on essential insurances, technical solutions such as lone worker apps, and professional advice. This now gives them both the long-term support and investment in their future and the immediate support they need to protect their rights.
Founder of NACAS, Paul Featherstone, added, “Having the Care Workers Union as a partner to us means that we can give members assistance and advice with ongoing employment matters – something we’ve not been able to offer previously. This closes a gap in the industry and can only further our cause of advancing and promoting care and support workers as skilled professionals.”
“Although the services we offer are different, they complement one another,” Dr Chiy continued. ”Both our organisations have the same aim, of raising the profile of care workers so that their value to individual citizens and society as a whole can be fully recognised.”
During the pandemic, carers were recognised as an essential part of the fight to protect and save the most vulnerable citizens. “For the past two years, care and support workers have been asked to operate under incredibly difficult circumstances,” Dr Chiy explained. “Now, with rising inflation posing particular challenges for the low-waged, we seem to be forgetting these essential key workers. They deserve recognition for the vital contribution they make.”
The new partnership between the two organisations hopes to create a vibrant future for the care and support worker profession. It is career that many choose and enjoy and, to give their best, requires continuous professional development and growth as well as recognition for the important part they play in giving the most vulnerable people in society liberty and quality of life.
“By joining forces in this way, we can only further their cause. It has made perfect sense to collaborate.”
To learn more about CWU and NACAS, visit https://careworkersunion.org/ or https://nacas.co.uk/ respectively.
Notes for the editor
1. The Care Workers Union (CWU) was formed in 2021 as a trade union standing up for social care workers across the UK. No other trade union exists which focusses solely on care workers; the existing trade unions represent workers across the labour market and their focus is inevitably less targeted. The CWU therefore channels its entire firepower into advancing care workers’ rights and working conditions. It was founded by Dr Paul Chiy who is available for interview be emailing admin@careworkersunion.org
2. Founded in 2016 in by care worker Paul Featherstone, NACAS is now recognised as the social care sectors premium professional membership organisation exclusively for care and support workers in the United Kingdom. NACAS provides premium professional body membership options to help develop their careers by encouraging the uptake of knowledge, skills, conduct and best practice. You can arrange to speak to Paul by emailing enquiries@nacas.org.uk
