Woodlands Meed staff can take advantage of a comprehensive range of benefits and wellbeing services, including:

• Membership of the SAS premium staff wellbeing package, which provides free access to physiotherapy, counselling, GP and nurse support, and many other health and wellbeing features.
• Access to Health Assured, an employee assistance programme offering practical and emotional support, such as legal advice and counselling through a confidential online and telephone helpline.
• Access to West Sussex Choices, an employee benefits platform offering discount vouchers and other savings.
• Access to Wisdom, an app to support health and wellbeing.
• Access to Salary Finance, offering financial wellbeing support and advice as well as low-cost borrowing options and simple savings accounts. 
• A cycle to work scheme, offering significant savings on bike purchases through a tax-free salary sacrifice arrangement.
• Access to Easit Network, a sustainable travel network offering discounts on travel.
• A half-termly newsletter detailing current offers and schemes.

Flyers providing more details of these schemes are available at the bottom of this page.

Staff are also eligible to participate in various independent schemes that offer membership to school staff and public sector employees, including:

• Blue Light Card - £4.99 membership for two years, provides access to big savings on the high street and across many well known brands.
• Boundless - £40 annual membership for public sector employees, unlocks many exclusive benefits, including free entry for members and their children to Wakehurst, a TasteCard, access to Kids Pass.

The following free wellbeing resources, tools and services are available for everyone to access via the internet:

• Headspace has become one of the most popular apps for mental wellbeing. It offers a variety of guided meditation and mindfulness techniques that help develop positive and healthy habits. Whether you’re looking for help getting to sleep, ways of relieving everyday anxiety or stress, or just to be more present, Headspace features a wealth of content to help boost mental wellbeing including guided meditations, mindfulness exercises, as well as a range of helpful tips in the form articles, videos and animations.
• The NHS has a library of free-to-listen audio guides promoting mental wellbeing. These short guides have been created with doctors to help boost the mood of the listener and cover everything from coping mechanisms for depression and low mood, to anxiety control training and confidence building.
• Calm is a great mobile app that encapsulates different forms of self-improvement, including improving the quality of your sleep, reducing stress or anxiety, improving focus and more. It typically costs £28.99 per year to access all of this content, however they have also made a library of free-to-access mindfulness content available on YouTube. This includes a guided meditation series called ‘Daily Calm’, a library of videos for helping with sleep, as well as stories from stars such as LeBron James, Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes on how meditation has changed their life.
• Insight Timer is a free app for better sleep and alleviating stress and anxiety. It boasts more than 100,000 guided meditations from some of the best teachers in their field, and you can even be guided by famous names such as Russell Brand and Armin van Buuren.
• My Possible Self is an app created in partnership with world leaders in mental health, offering a variety of clinically certified content from Priory Healthcare using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It helps to identify habits you want to change, manage and reduce stress, anxiety and depression, improve sleep or reduce stress. It does this by giving simple tools that enable users to learn how to reframe their negative thoughts into positive ones, helping identify triggers of anxiety and building awareness of how and why you might fall into negative thoughts.

Pension Advice

Staff are eligible to join either the Local Government Pension Scheme or the Teacher Pension Scheme, dependent on their role. 

My Money Matters is a free-to-use platform offering financial support to public sector partners’ workforces to achieve financial wellbeing in all aspects of the financial journey, and beyond just retirement benefits and planning.

Financial Support for School Staff

Staff working in schools who are experiencing financial difficulties may be able to access support from a range of charities, trusts and trade unions. Whether facing unexpected expenses, illness, redundancy, bereavement or other challenging circumstances, help may be available.

Teaching Staff Trust (TST)

The Teaching Staff Trust provides hardship grants to individuals who work, or have worked, in the education of children and young people under 19 and have at least five years of service in the sector. Grants can help with unexpected costs such as energy bills, fuel vouchers, housing costs, essential household items, travel expenses and other financial pressures arising from unforeseen circumstances. The Trust also works with the Lightning Reach portal to help individuals identify and apply for additional sources of support. 

NEU Trust Fund

The NEU Trust Fund supports education staff whose careers have been interrupted or ended through circumstances beyond their control, including illness, redundancy, bereavement or family breakdown. The fund aims to provide confidential financial assistance to help individuals manage difficult periods and regain stability.

UNISON – There for You

UNISON members may be able to access support through There for You, the union's welfare charity. Assistance may include one-off grants, cost-of-living support, help during periods of illness and emergency financial assistance for members experiencing hardship.

NASUWT Benevolent Fund

The NASUWT Benevolent Fund is available to eligible NASUWT members, former members and their dependants who experience financial hardship through no fault of their own. Support may be available for those affected by chronic illness, bereavement, accidents, redundancy or other unforeseen circumstances. The fund also provides access to confidential debt advice services.

Finding Additional Support

Staff looking for wider sources of financial assistance may wish to use Lightning Reach, a free online portal that helps users find and apply for grants, benefits and other support from multiple organisations in one place. 

Useful Links

• Teaching Staff Trust: https://teachingstafftrust.org.uk/ [teachingst...ust.org.uk]
• NEU Trust Fund: https://neu.org.uk/about/neu-trust-fund
• Education Support: https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/ [educations...ort.org.uk]
• UNISON There for You: https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/services-support/there-for-you/
• NASUWT Benevolent Fund: https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/contact-us/legal-support/benevolent-fund.html [nasuwt.org.uk]
• Lightning Reach: https://lightningreach.org/ [teachingst...ust.org.uk]

Remember: If you are struggling financially, seeking support early can make a significant difference. All of the organisations listed above provide confidential advice and assistance and are committed to supporting education staff through difficult times.