Picture link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdawunion/48715863801/in/album-72157710794230223/ Caption: Paddy Lillis congratulates Christina Distefano on her TUC Youth Award.

Christina graduated Usdaw’s Academy, recruiting over 1,000 members to the union and assisting young workers, helping them to achieve fairness at work. She has run successful campaigns on mental health awareness, advising and helping members, and has responded to high crime rates by promoting Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear campaign, which seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against shopworkers. Christina is also active in her local community as part of the ‘Action for Stannington’ group and has worked with local probationary services and the police to provide activities for young people.

Christina Distefano says: “Receiving this award really did show me that hard work does pay off. There’s so many things going on in the world at the moment that drives a wedge between people and I find that doing small acts can bring us together. I volunteer to help people, whether at work through Usdaw or in the community with ‘Action for Stannington’. Being an Usdaw rep and a community volunteer is just like being part of a big family. I’ve had so much help from so many people in the union and my community, they have really made me the person I am today.”

Paddy Lillis - Usdaw General Secretary says: “Lay reps are fundamentally crucial to the union and Christina is a shining example of what they can achieve. She has really brought her community organising skills into her workplace and Usdaw to help and support our members. We were delighted to present Christina with an Usdaw  most promising new activist award last year. So we are all extremely proud that she has now gone on to secure a national TUC award.”

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 410,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion