This week is a very important time. It’s a chance for all of us to celebrate the great love of all our lives. You guessed it – trade unions.

It’s Heart Unions week, a time when we tell the stories of why unions are vital for everyone at work and encourage people who aren’t yet in a union to join – and this one couldn’t be more personal for me.

Trade unions, and the trade union movement, have shaped my life and the lives of those I love for the better.

They protect my Mum from abusive customers on the shopfloor, stood up to bullies in my sister’s workplace, and even looked out for my Dad when he became terminally ill with cancer. When I worked in retail, Usdaw intervened when a former employer tried to force me out for being gay. It’s mine and my families’ experiences of having a union in our corner when we needed them most, that are why I am such a loud and proud advocate for them today.

Fighting discrimination and abuse is just one part of why we should all love trade unions.

Unions continue to this day to stand up for their members when no one else will, in more ways than we can ever appreciate.

When my former employer refused to furlough zero-hours workers during the pandemic, I signed up the majority of the workforce to GMB who gave us all the advice and support we needed.

Community union sprang into action for all its members too – including people like me who had seen their financial security disappear overnight.

Introducing the Community Member Support Fund, Community was offering grants to members who had fallen through the cracks of government support, helping people to meet their living costs. I applied for help the day it launched, and it was in my account just days after I applied.

The grant paid for my food that month, and without it I would have been in serious difficulty.

I could go on and on, but the point here is that what trade unions have brought to me, and those around me, is endless.

So, this Heart Unions Week, why not encourage a friend or colleague who isn’t in a trade union yet to join one? No matter what their profession, industry or employment status may be, the benefits of trade union membership are endless, and there really is power in a union.