02/11/2009 – Lasa’s training delivers return on investment for welfare rights officer
According to the latest research from Lasa, one in five charity organisations would like to have more training for their staff. If return on investment has never been more important to organisations during economic recession, it is difficult to understand why training budgets are often the first to be cut.
Lasa, a leading training provider of ICT and advice services for the voluntary and charity sector, has recently seen a significant decrease in organisations' training budgets when it should be the key to tackling issues such as lack of staff.
One of Lasa's regular training attendees, John Butterworth, Welfare Rights Officer of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, was feeling the pressure when he was left on his own with 300 clients across 16 mental health wards. Luckily, John was supported by his employer to attend a series of training sessions to strengthen his expertise in claiming the additional benefits that his clients needed and were entitled to.
As a result, John and his employer were pleased about his decision to invest in training, which has brought an average of more than £40,000 per month in benefits claims for his clients.
"I am able to do a lot more for my clients without spending so long on each case, thanks to the training," John explained the benefits of training, "for example, I used to spend a lot longer on appeal procedures, but now with the comprehensive notes and resources provided to me at the training sessions, I am able to cut the time right down. The amount of time I save from regular research can be as much as several days per month, which means that I can help more clients with this new found capacity."
In order to encourage third sector organisations to see the high return on investment benefit from training, Lasa is offering 25% discount to the first 25 people who book onto one of its November courses, including:
- Pension Credit 04/11/09
- Welfare Benefits Overview 12/11/09
- Social Fund 17/11/09
- DLA & AA advanced 19/11/09
- Income Support & Income based JSA 24/11/09
- Representation at First Tier Tribunals 26 & 27/11/09
The offer is in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the charity. Applicants simply have to quote 25ANN when processing the registration.
If you would like to hear more about John's training experience or to speak to him directly about the benefits of his investment in training, please feel free to contact Zoe Amar at zamar@lasa.org.uk or on 020 7426 4488.