NUJ extra

Current full members of the National Union of Journalists.

Former full members of the NUJ who resigned from the union when they retired or left journalism.

Dependants of deceased NUJ members, such as widows and orphans.

There are some restrictions:

• We cannot assist you if you are a temporary, student or asylum seeker member.
• Full NUJ members must have paid at least one year's contributions to the NUJ.
• Past members, we must have proof, via the NUJ's records or documentary evidence (old NUJ membership cards, NUJ life membership cards), that they paid their contributions regularly.
• We do not normally assist lapsed members, unless you can provide a reason that satisfies the trustees.
• We help current members facing short-term difficulties only. We cannot subsidise those who are unable to make a living as a journalist.

Read about members who have benefited from the charity in the Appeal of Laughter, NUJ extra publication.

Read: Handy hints for hard times.

Once NUJ extra receives your completed application form we will contact the nearest NUJ branch. If there is a local branch welfare officer, they will get in touch with you to offer assistance and they will tell us about your circumstances.

The chair of NUJ extra may be able to make a decision quickly about how best to help. We provide temporary help to most applicants, but we may offer long-term help to some dependants, making regular payments to top up their income. You can read the trustees’ guidelines at the bottom of this page. The chair's decisions must later be endorsed by the trustees.

Trustees meet four times a year. At these meetings, the trustees review recent applications and may offer further help. The trustees also review our guidelines once a year, setting the income levels we aim to provide to our long-term beneficiaries. The chair and the trustees are all volunteers, not paid staff of NUJ extra. You will be kept informed as quickly as possible.

More information on how can we help you.

• Guidelines for NUJ extra
• NUJ extra feedback policy: we welcome your feedback and suggestions - both positive and negative - so we can learn and continually improve.
• NUJ extra Statement of Investment Policy: NUJ extra aims to provide a high-quality investment service above average returns enabling the provision of grants.
• Adult dependancy guidelines
   

Members can also donate while they shop by using whichever online charity donation method they prefer. We are registered with:

Easyfundraising has 3,700 retailers, such as M&S. John Lewis and Argos, but also includes marketplaces such as eBay and Etsy.  Members can also choose NUJ Extra when Facebook suggests setting up a fundraiser. NUJ Extra is not endorsing any of these retailers, shopping schemes or social media companies. We are simply making ourselves available on as many fundraising platforms as possible.

The Journalists' Charity
The Journalists' Charity makes grants to working, retired and former journalists working across all media sectors.

Disability Rights UK
Disability Rights UK is the leading charity of its kind in Britain, run by and for people with experience of disability or poor health.

Charity Link
The charity works throughout Leicester, Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire to help improve the lives of local people facing hardship.

George Viner Memorial Fund Trust
The fund was set up by the NUJ to address the lack of Black and ethnic minority student journalists in the UK media. The fund helps provide course fees, books or travel payments.

The Printing Charity
The Printing Charity, formerly known as the Printers’ Charitable Corporation, is the second-oldest trade charity in the country, dating back to the early 19th century. Today, it extends help to all parts of the modern graphic arts and communications sector.

The Book Trade Charity
The Book Trade Charity offers practical, emotional and financial support to anyone who works or has worked in the book trade as well as their dependants.

Grace Wyndham Goldie BBC Trust Fund
Offers help to those engaged in broadcasting, now or in the past, and their dependants.

Capability Scotland
Supports children, young people and adults with a range of disabilities. It is one of Scotland’s leading disability organisations, providing a diverse range of services including community living, day and residential care, respite/short breaks, family support and activities.

Women’s Aid
National charity working to end domestic violence against women and children. Supports a network of more than 500 domestic and sexual violence services across the UK.

Galop, the LGBT+ anti-violence charity
Support for LGBT+ people who've experienced hate crime, domestic abuse or sexual violence

Age UK
The Age UK Group works to improve later life for everyone by providing life-enhancing services and vital support.

NUJ extra can provide training and support for members who become their branch or chapel’s welfare officer, including the NUJ extra Welfare Officer Handbook

“At the start of the pandemic, I was given a week’s notice on a 20 week  project, and didn’t have any money. Financially and emotionally, NUJ extra was a huge help. Money was in my bank account almost at once, and there was the security of knowing that there could be more support over the coming months. I will be always indebted to them.” Deidre Donnelly, TV and Radio Journalist

“I suffered an enormous coronary and I had multiple organ failure. It was a grim time, but NUJ Extra was there when everything else seemed bleak. I cannot overstate how important NUJ Extra was to me. It made me feel like I belonged.” Eugene Costello, freelance feature writer

“I fell between the cracks during the pandemic. I was left without income and have a small daughter. The difference it meant for me was that we could worry slightly less. You don’t know when you are going to be out on a limb, and NUJ Extra was a lifeline for us.” Victoria Mizzi, broadcast Journalist

 

“I was blown away by the generosity that NUJ Extra showed me. As a result of my former husband’s issues, I was left homeless and without most normal household items. With NUJ Extra’s help I was able to rebuild my life, look after my children and get on with my career.” Ushma Mistry, reporter and presenter

To find out how you can help you visit: www.nuj.org.uk/nujextra

NUJ extra's administrator is Leyla Yusuf. Leyla can be contacted at:

Headland House,
72 Acton Street,
London,
WC1X 9NB.

or on 020 7843 3738 or by email: [email protected]

John Barsby

• Trustee
• NUJ extra

John Barsby, an NUJ Member of Honour and former union president, is the NUJ's Hon General Treasurer and a Trustee of NUJ Extra.

John is one of the longest serving members of the National Executive and a former chair of the Finance Committee and Broadcasting Industrial Council.

With a long career in the BBC, John has represented and helped many union members facing both industrial and personal problems.

He says:

"It's so important and also rewarding to be able to assist those of our colleagues and their dependants when they need help and can turn to NUJ Extra."

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John Brophy

• Trustee | NUJ Extra

Member since 1972. First ADM was Wexford 1974. Treasurer Irish Press chapel (186 members) and Secretary Dublin Branch (500+ members).

Delegate to Dublin Council of Trade Unions. Subsequently secretary Dublin Freelance Branch. I was for many years on the Standing Orders Committee and later on the National Executive Council. I also lectured in journalism at Dublin Institute of Technology. Best time was when I proposed at ADM setting up the system of Welfare Officers.

And I've been known to play clarinet on May Day parades.

Debbie Cavaldoro

• Chair
• NUJ extra

Debbie has a long history of working with both Trade Unions and Communications. Before taking up her current role developing the strategy and campaigning arm of Nautilus, she worked extensively on the Nautilus Telegraph.

Prior to joining Nautilus in 2011, she has worked in various PR roles including for central government, a football club and the NUJ.

She has received various awards over the years for both journalism and campaigning, including the TUC Communications Awards, Transport Journalist of the year, European Association Awards and European Excellence Awards and UK Association Awards.

Barbara Casassus

• Trustee
• NUJ extra

Barbara is a freelance journalist and an NUJ life member. She has been active in the Paris branch for many years, serving as freelance and welfare officer and since March 2023 as vice chair. She was also a member of the Freelance Industrial Council. Taking up the suggestion of becoming a trustee seemed an obvious step when so many journalists are having an increasingly tough time for a number of reasons. The Covid pandemic in particular showed how quickly hardship can hit freelancers and underscored the importance of NUJ and Extra solidarity. 

Starting out as a staffer in the UK, Barbara then worked as a freelance in the Middle East, Japan and France. She has reported for newspapers, periodicals and wire services, including the Financial Times, the Economist, the Journal of Commerce, the Times Educational Supplement and Market News. While on the economic beat, she followed political and economic decision makers around Europe as they drew up a plan to prevent financial speculators from scuppering the euro at launch. As a committed European, she was glad they succeeded. She now covers scientific research, health and the book trade in France.

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Tim Dawson

• Trustee | NUJ Extra

Tim Dawson is the International Federation of Journalists’ deputy general secretary. He is a former president of the NUJ, of whose executive he has been a member for many years. A newspaper journalist by trade, he worked for The Sunday Times for 20 years.

 

Chris Frost

• Vice-chair
• NUJ extra

Chris is emeritus professor of Journalism at Liverpool John Moores University where he was head of department for many years. He has been a journalist, editor and journalism educator for more than 45 years working mainly in newspapers before his move into the academy.

He was made a member of honour of the union this year and he sits on the National Executive Committee of the National Union of Journalists and has been chair of the union's Ethics Council for many years.

He is a former President of the National Union of Journalists, a former chair of the Association for Journalism Education and a former member of the UK Press Council.

He has written several books about Journalism: Journalism Ethics and Regulation (now in its fourth edition); Designing for Newspapers and Magazines (now in a second edition); Reporting for Journalists (now in its second edition); and Media Ethics and Self‐Regulation as well as many book chapters and papers on journalism ethics and regulation. He is in the process of writing a new monograph: Privacy and the News Media for Routledge.

As well as publishing academic papers he writes articles on journalism ethics, regulation and law. He gave written and oral evidence to the Leveson Inquiry for the NUJ, has given oral and written evidence to a number of parliamentary select committees and has spoken at conferences or worked as a consultant in much of Eastern Europe, India, Asia and Africa and is a visiting professor at UiTM in Malaysia.

He says that he enjoys being an NUJ Extra trustee as helping those in need is the union’s most important duty.

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Jonathan Jewell

• Trustee | NUJ Extra

Jonathan joined the NUJ in 2009. Originally a children's burns nurse, he worked in medical journalism, digital media, and corporate journalism. In roles as editor, investigative reporter, and academic writer, his publications focus on axiology, professional regulation, and knowledge transfer. Jonathan is a reviewer for Elsevier and Wiley.

Jonathan’s twenty years of experience in the union movement - as welfare, safety, learning, equality and environment rep, and officer roles - includes service at local, regional, and national levels. He was Chair of Communications for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and England (WISE), leading public relations and communication function.

Jonathan is NUJ Ethics Council treasurer, NUJ's Public Relations and Communications (PRC) Branch, and the NUJ’s Health & Safety Committee, and PRC Industrial Council elected member. He is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

 

Tony Levene

Tony Levene is a freelance journalist and worked for the Investor Review from 1975-77, Thomson Regional Papers 1977-82, Sunday Times 1982-86, Guardian 1996-2009. From 1986-1995, Tony worked as a freelance journalist for the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Star, Sunday Mirror, Telegraph books.

Prior to his journalism career he was a French teacher.

Michelle Stanistreet

• Trustee
• NUJ extra

Michelle is the elected General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (UK and Ireland). Michelle worked as a journalist for ten years at the Sunday Express newspaper as feature writer and books editor.

Michelle was NUJ mother of the chapel at Express Newspapers, as well as the national representative for newspapers and agencies on the NUJ’s ruling NEC. In 2006, she was elected vice president of the NUJ and in 2007‐8 served as the union's President.

Michelle became the first woman in the NUJ's history to be elected as General Secretary in April 2011 and the first woman Deputy General Secretary elected in 2008. Michelle has been a Trustee of NUJ Extra for 11 years.