Health BOCS Update July 2018

Welcome to the Health BOCS Update, the monthly update on Health and Wellbeing activities at the Brothers of Charity Services in England.

Click here to view to BOCS Health and Wellbeing Calendar from 2018/2019.

June Promotion

Disability Awareness Week

Disability Awareness Week 2018 aims to spread the word about the problems people with a learning or psychical disability can face in getting good healthcare in hospital, and how we can change this.

They want to involve NHS staff in the Treat Me Well campaign- giving them the chance to hear from people with a disability and to think of the minor changes they can make which would make a huge difference to those with a disability.

They are aiming to give individuals with a learning/psychical disability and NHS staff to celebrate and share good practice, and to work together to improve care that isn’t good enough.

Click here for more information.

National Volunteers Week

This year, Volunteer’s Week is about volunteering for all- celebrating the huge range of people who give their time in so many ways. As well as helping others, volunteering has been shown to also improve volunteers’ health and wellbeing too.

When thanking any volunteers this year, take a moment to remember each and every one of them. For trustees and campaigners to carers and fundraisers, this is a great time to think about the effort and contribution volunteers make.

Click here for more information

Volunteers from our Lancashire Services took part n their annual Volunteers Walk on Tuesday 5th June 2018. The 6 mile walk took them across Cuerden Valley Park to the Chapel at Lisieux Hall. Read more about it here.

Diabetes Awareness Week

Diabetes is predicted to become a huge crisis for the future health of the UK’s population. It is a health condition that can have major impact on someone’s life and once at an advanced stage, diabetes can cause a host of other health complications. The disease affects more people in the UK than any other serious health condition. There are 4.6 million Type 1 sufferers and an estimated 12.3 million people that are potential type 2 diabetics.

Raising awareness of diabetes and what changes people can make in order to reduce their risk is the main aim of the charity. They are also involved with campaigning, funding research and offering support and advice to current sufferers. Diabetes UK has many resources for professionals who are involved in diabetic health care, including information on best practice and up to date research findings.

Click here for more information.

National Carers Week

National Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges carers face and recognise the contribution they make the families and communities throughput the UK.

The campaign is brought to life by thousands of individuals and organisations who come together to organise activities and events throughout the UK, drawing attention to just how important caring is.

This Carers Week, we are coming together to build communities that support health and wellbeing carers. Around 6.5 million people in the UK are carers, looking after a parent, partner, child or friend. A carer is someone who provides unpaid care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, illness, mental health problem or who need extra help as they grow older. Caring can be a hugely rewarding experience but sometimes carers find it challenging to take care of their own well-being whilst caring.

Click here for more information.

Heritage Day

Brothers of Charity Service’s annual Heritage Day was held at Thingwall Hall, Broad Green on 29th June, from 10am to 2pm.

The day included the football final between Thingwall Warriors and Gardening FC, musical performances, food, stalls and much more, whilst celebrating the heritage of the Brothers of Charity Services. The Staff Awards then followed this event, and started at 3pm and finished at 5pm; celebrating everyone’s achievements over the past 12 months.

Click here for more information.

July Promotion

As part of Health BOCS, the Brothers of Charity Services’ health and wellbeing programme, throughout July, we will be promoting: Busy Bees Childcare Vouchers and Medicash/Staff Benefits.

Busy Bees Childcare Vouchers

The Brothers of Charity Services offer Childcare Vouchers to their employees. The childcare vouchers scheme is a fantastic money-saving solution to help working parents save money on their childcare costs.

What are childcare vouchers?

As a working parent, you can use Childcare Vouchers to pay for your childcare costs and by doing so, you could save up to £933* per year, helping to make childcare more affordable.

Childcare vouchers can be used to pay for any registered childcare for children up to the age of 16**, including: nurseries, child minders, play schemes, pre -schools, nannies, activity camps, before and after school clubs, holiday clubs and independent schools.

How do they work?

Simply exchange part of your salary in return for the same amount of Childcare Vouchers. Childcare Vouchers are deducted directly from your wages each pay period before PAYE and National Insurance is calculated, which is how you make your savings as you pay tax and National Insurance on the amount after the deduction.

You can choose to deduct up to £243* per month (£55* per week) depending on which tax band you fall into. Vouchers are then placed in your online Busy Bees Benefits account to be paid directly to your childcare provider.

Factors such as Working Tax Credits, Child tax Credits, Universal Credit, Statutory Maternity Pay and other employee benefits can affect how much you are entitled to have in Childcare Vouchers.

Register for Childcare Vouchers:

If you would like to take advantage of the savings available to make your childcare more affordable, simply follow the link below and enter the password provided. You will need to have a recent payslip to hand to complete registration.

Payroll Frequency- 4 Weekly- Thursday

URL- http://bbblogin.com/Register/GMCWMAME

Password- Urban68

*Subject to individual circumstances

**A child qualifies to Childcare Vouchers up to the end of the week containing the 1st September following each child’s 15th Birthday (16th birthday for children with a disability)

Medicash/Staff Benefits

Your Medicash healthcare plan covers yourself and up to 4 children (until their 24th Birthday in full time education)

You can receive cash back on every day healthcare bills such as dental and optical. Cash back is also available on a range of treatments, therapies and much more.

Medicash covers every day essentials:

  • Routine Dental Treatment- per adults: £55/ Per child: £27.50 (Half of the annual limit can be claimed towards dental care plan fees. Medicash will only pay dental care premiums where paid for by the individual)
  • Dental Accident and Injury- per adults: £150
  • Optical- per adults: £55/ per child £27.50

Making a claim (once completed probation)

Ask for receipt from your practitioner after you have received and paid for your healthcare treatment. You can then either:

  • Complete a claim form by filling the form in online, printing it out the posting it to Medicash along with your receipts.
  • Make a claim through the Medicash app- removing the need to post your receipts!

Your claim can be paid directly into your bank or by cheque. As well as the app staff can now access their Medicash via https://www.medicash.org/customers/boc

Skip To Main Site