Recourse.org.uk

The UCU Congress in Manchester on 30 May saw the relaunch of College & University Support Network as Recourse: Supporting Education Professionals.

Called Recourse: the charity, which was formally the College and University Support Network (CUSN), will provide a range of support services for staff confronting some of the greatest challenges the adult, further and higher sector has ever faced.

The backdrop to the relaunch is an education sector in crisis. Unprecedented funding cuts have led to job losses, increased workloads, financial worries and the complex stresses associated with working within an atmosphere of insecurity.

Recourse will address these issues by providing:

• Practical financial support including the awarding of grants to staff in financial trouble and expert practical advice from trained advisers

• Free confidential 24/7 Support Line staffed by experienced professional counsellors around the clock, every day of the year – 0808 802 03 04

• Online Support from an experienced coach with a wealth of experience in the education sector

• Online self assessment tools to help users focus on areas in their home and work life they may want to improve

A recent survey looking at the wellbeing, work-life balance and stress levels of more than 2000 higher education staff found they were dissatisfied with their working conditions, the pace of change within their sector, control at work and described themselves as feeling stressed at work.

Research author Simon Easton found that investing in the promotion of wellbeing could be highly cost effective citing figures from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) that found that the typical annual cost of mental ill-health to an organisation with 1000 employees can be estimated at £753,950.

In a 2008 London School of Economics report titled The Value of Rude Health, calculated that if the education sector brought its absence rate down to the average UK level of 3.7 per cent, £248,562,000 could be saved.

Recourse joins the Teacher Support Network group of charities. Group Chief Executive Julian Stanley said: “We know from our own research that workers in the post-16 education sector are facing serious wellbeing, health, status and financial issues. It is no coincidence that as financial belts are tightened we awarded more than £56,000 in grants to people from this sector who were in desperate financial need.

“With the mounting challenges facing workers in the adult education sector including funding cuts, job losses or the threat of job losses, increased workloads and the rapid pace of change, it is vitally important that workers feeling these pressures have somewhere impartial, confidential and supportive to turn to.

“The importance of health and wellbeing is better understood in the pre-16 education sector but we are hoping that Recourse will quickly establish itself as the place where the post-16 education workforce can get expert help and support.”

UCU General Secretary Sally Hunt said: “Staff in universities and colleges are facing the biggest crisis in a generation. In addition to course closures and redundancies, staff are under ever more pressure to deliver for students who are themselves increasingly hard-pressed. Recourse provides a valuable and important service for those who need help and advice about personal issues working in tandem with UCU to the benefit of the sector.”

Recourse is funded by donations from those working in post-16 education (adult, further and higher education). This includes donations from members of the University and College Union via their monthly subscriptions.