Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team (DAST) has changed its name to East Midlands Asbestos Support Team (EMAST) from 1st October 2024 to reflect the wide area the charity services.
EMAST provides support to those suffering from asbestos related illnesses and their families across the East Midlands and Cambridgeshire having started out over 20 years ago initially covering the Derbyshire area.
Jerry Hague, EMAST Coordinator said to Derbyshire Times Newspaper Group upon this change:
“ DAST has grown over the past twenty years to provide vital support with benefits advice and support groups across the East Midlands. We are pleased to change our name to EMAST to reflect the areas we cover and help people identify the appropriate support group to contact for help.”
Jerry added:
“ The services we provide will not change. As well as providing advice on claiming asbestos related benefits, we run monthly support groups for our service users and the bereaved across the East Midlands and campaign with other support groups on the need to remove asbestos from the workplace and public buildings.
Unfortunately, there is a continued need for groups like ourselves. Despite the use of asbestos being banned since 1999, tragically there are still around 5,000 asbestos related deaths a year and asbestos is estimated to be present in the vast majority of buildings constructed or modified after 1945 up to the 1990s”.
Published on Wednesday 2nd October 2024