Getting Help When it is Needed in Britain

1. Britain today isaWelfare State which looks after its citizens in need: the old, the sick, the unemployed. The Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) deals with the basic welfare of all citizens. Medical care and pensions are provided, and financial help is given to those who might otherwise starve or be homeless. Welfare is paid for by all workers and their employers. They pay National Insurance contributions. In addition, the State provides money out of general taxes. Welfare services are free apart from small charges for drugs (medicines), spectacles and dentistry. People with very low incomes do not even have to pay these charges.

2. Social Security

The State also helps a citizen in difficulties; for instance, if he or she is:

unemployed,

sick and therefore temporarily unable to work,

permanently disabled,

old and retired from work,

a widow,

unable to provide the minimum of food,

warmth and shelter for him / herself and family.

He can then apply for Social Security. The amount of money, or benefit, he receives depends on the rate fixed by the government.

It also depends on how many National Insurance contributions he has paid, and on his means (his other income and capital).

3. The British like to form voluntary organizations. Someone somewhere feels strongly about something – about some cruelty or some neglected social group. A committee of sympathizers and supporters is set up. They work without payment to change the situation. There are thousands of voluntary organisations in Britain, some large, some small. Shelter is one operating on a large scale.

Getting the money for voluntary work

Although the work is voluntary, organisations need money to pay for expenses such as postage stamps and telephone calls. So an aspect of communitylife in Britain is raising money (funds) for voluntary societies, or charities. Many organisations send letters to individuals; they appeal for contributions to their funds.

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