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Sources of help and information

Benefits advice

Most local authorities or big cities have benefits advice services, where you can get expert advice on state benefits.

For example, if you live in Lancashire, you can approach:-

Lancashire Welfare Rights

PO Box 162, East Cliff County Offices

Preston PR1 3EA

Tel: 0845 053 0013 or

01772 533 504

e mail: infowrs@lancashire.gov.uk

Support Groups

Support Groups will help you apply for government benefits.

They also campaign very effectively about issues affecting people with mesothelioma and their families.

Manchester
Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group
Windrush Millenium Centre
Unit 2.5
70 Alexandra Road
Moss Side
Manchester
M16 7WD.
Tel: 0161 636 7555
E mail: asbestos.gmavsg@virgin.net
Web: www.asbestos-victims-support.org

Barking/Dagenham
Barking & Dagenham Asbestos Victims Support Group,
Hampstead Town Hall Centre, 213 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 4QP.
Tel: 0207 794 5999
E-mail: mail@lhc.org.uk
Web : http://www.badasbestos.org.uk/

Barrow
Barrow Asbestos- Related Disease Support,
St Mary's Hospice, Ford Park, Ulverston, Cumbria LA12 7JP.
Tel: 01229 580305
Fax: 01229 583072
Email: info@stmaryshospice.org
Web: www.stmaryshospice.org

Bradford
Bradford Asbestos Victims Support Group,
UNISON Offices, 2nd Floor, Auburn House,
Upper Piccadilly, Bradford BD1 3NU.
Tel: 01274 393949
Fax: 01274 393949
E-mail: hazards@what-bohp.freeserve.co.uk

Web : none

Cheshire
Cheshire Asbestos Victims Support Group,
3 Fryer Street, Runcorn, Cheshire WA7 1ND.
Tel: 01928 576641
Fax: 01928 576649
E-mail: cavsg@btconnect.com
Web : www.cavsg.co.uk

Derbyshire
Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team,
C/o TRUST, 70 Saltergate, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 IJR.
Tel: 01246 231441
Fax: 01246 551529
E-mail: mail@asbestossupport.co.uk
Web : www.asbestossupport.co.uk

Hampshire
Hampshire Asbestos Support & Awareness Group (HASAG),
79 Radstock Road, Southampton, Hampshire SO19 2HT.
Tel : 07792 543426 and 07940 328637
Email : diane@hasag.co.uk
Email : lynne@hasag.co.uk
Web : www.hasag.co.uk

Merseyside
Merseyside Asbestos Victims Support Group,
Suite 32, 2nd Floor, Oriel Chambers, 14 Water Street, Liverpool L2 8TD
Tel: 0151 236 1895
Fax: 0151 236 1895
E-mail: gfr15@dial.pipex.com
Web : www.asbestosdiseases.org.uk

North East
Northeast Asbestos Support & Awareness Group,
Trade Union Centre, 119/121 Marton Road, Middlesborough TS1 2DU.
Tel: 01642 240044
e-mail: information @nasag.org.uk
Web: www.nasag.org.uk

Northern Ireland
Justice for Asbestos Victims,
12 Elaghmore Park, Derry BT4 88DX.
Tel: 2871352090
Email / Web :none

Northern Ireland
Justice for Asbestos Victims,
523 Antrim Road, Belfast BT15 3BS.
Tel: 02890 770770
Email : jav_ire@hotmail.com

Web : none

Ridings
Ridings Asbestos Support & Awareness Group,
50B Armley Town Street, Leeds LS12 3AA.
Tel: 0113 231 1010
E-mail: information@asbestos-action.org.uk
Web: www.asbestos-action.org.uk

Scotland

Clydebank Asbestos Group,
8 Crown Avenue, Clydebank G81 3BW.
Tel: 0141 951 1008
Fax: 0141 562 0045
Email : clydebankasbestos@supanet.com
Web : www.clydebankasbestos.org.uk

Scotland
Clydeside Action on Asbestos,
245 High Street, Glasgow G4 OQR.
Tel: 0141 552 8852/5928
Fax: 0141 552 8352
Email / Web: none

Sheffield/Rotherham
Sheffield and Rotherham Asbestos Group,
The RAIN Building, Eastwood Lane, Rotherham, S65 1EQ
Tel: 01709 360 672
E-mail: sarag@rainbuilding.org.uk

Web : none

South East
South East Asbestos Awareness & Victims Support Group,
C/o 24 Shalfleet Grove, Langney, Eastbourne BN23 8DU.
Tel : 01323 769487
Email : pauline@southeast-asbestos.wanadoo.co.uk

Web : none

Wales
Asbestos Awareness Wales,
20b Marine Parade, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan.
Tel: 07775 815 705
E-mail: asbestosawarenesswales@yahoo.co.uk
Web : none

Wales, North West
North-West Wales Asbestos Victims Support Group,
19 Lon Dinas, Cricieth, Gwynedd LL52 OEH.
Tel: 01766 522238 and 01766

Other sources of information

Macmillan Cancer Support

0808 808 0000

http://www.macmillan.org.uk

cancerbackup
National charity providing information and counselling for people with cancer
Cancer Information Service Mon-Fri 9.00 to 19.00
Tel: 0808 800 1234
http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Contactus/Cancerenquiry

Cancerlink:
Cancer information helpline:
Freephone 0800 132 905
Asian helpline 0800 590 415

Action Mesothelioma Day Website:http://www.actionmeso.info

Cancer Research UK
P.O. Box 123, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX
Tel (Supporter Services): 020 7121 6699
Tel (Switchboard): 020 7242 0200
Fax: 020 7269 3100

http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=4388

British Lung Foundation
Head Office, 73-75 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7ER
Tel: 020 7688 5555
Fax: 020 7688 5556
Web site: www.lunguk.org

Publications

The British Asbestos Newsletter, a quarterly publication, has been covering asbestos issues since the early 1990s. Whilst the initial focus of the newsletter was on UK asbestos victims' issues and information, coverage, in recent years, has been extended to include news from Europe and the rest of the world. Costs £40 a year, covers all asbestos disease, health, and safety issues. Well worth subscribing and reading.

PO Box 93, Stanmore HA7 4GR.
Tel : 020 8958 3887
Fax : 020 8958 9424
Email : ban@lkaz.demon.co.uk
Web : www.lkaz.demon.co.uk

Hazards Magazine

PO BOX 4042

SHEFFIELD

S8 2DG ENGLAND

WWW.HAZARDS.ORG

The magazine covers asbestos and other work related issues in great depth, is very well written and has been involved in all major campaigns supporting asbestos victims and people injured or killed at work. Well worth subscribing to, and reading.

Defending the Indefensible

The Global Asbestos Industry and its Fight for Survival

Winner of the Wadsworth Prize in Business History 2009 awarded by the Business Archives Council

Defending the Indefensible
The Global Asbestos Industry and its Fight for Survival
Jock McCulloch and Geoffrey Tweedale
344 pages | Figures and tables | 234x156mm
978-0-19-953485-2 | Hardback | 24 July 2008
Price: £27.50

The seminal account of the Asbestos industry, and its attempts to defend the product, by two expert historians of the subject
First book to provide a global survey of the asbestos controversy, with detailed accounts and evidence from around the world
Compelling account combining careful research and analysis with the tragic stories of the victims of asbestos poisoning
Highlights the current and future problems likely from the continued defence of asbestos

In the early twentieth century, asbestos had a reputation as a lifesaver. In 1960, however, it became known that even relatively brief exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma, a virulent and lethal cancer.

Yet the bulk of the world's asbestos was mined after 1960. Asbestos usage in many countries continued unabated.

This is the first global history of how the asbestos industry and its allies in government, insurance, and medicine defended the product throughout the twentieth century. It explains how mining and manufacture could continue despite overwhelming medical evidence as to the risks. The argument advanced in this book is that asbestos has proved so enduring because the industry was able to mount a successful defense strategy for the mineral - a strategy that still operates in some parts of the world. This defence involved the shaping of the public debate by censoring, and sometimes corrupting, scientific research, nurturing scientific uncertainty, and using allies in government, insurance, and medicine.

The book also discusses the problems of asbestos in the environment, compensating victims, and the continued use of asbestos in the developing world. Its global focus shows how asbestos can be seen as a model for many occupational diseases - indeed for a whole range of hazards produced by industrial societies. The book is based on a wealth of documentary material gained from legal discovery, supplemented by evidence from the authors' visits and researches in the US, the UK, Canada, Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, Australia, Swaziland, and South Africa.

Readership: Social scientists; Labour, Business, and Medical Historians; Professionals involved in Public Health, Industrial Safety, Environmental Hazards, and Public Policy