Many of my regular readers will know that more than 20 years ago I ran a non-profit Law Centre. What was Coventry Law Centre and is now Central England Law Centre, has grown and expanded since then to meet the growing needs of ordinary people facing discrimination, disadvantage and unfair treatment at the hands of more powerful bodies and institutions. It is one of the organisations that shares 5% of my annual profits (scroll to bottom) and most people agree that my only real contribution was to get out the way so that Sue Bent
could become CEO. Many organisations are struggling during the pandemic and there is no need to ask who has it worst. Suffice it to say that the Law Centre's clients need all the support that they can get right now. This short blog by Emma from the Law Centre tells you how they are coping. And after the blog I tell you how you can support them right now and in the future by doing very little at all. Time for action.
What role can a Law Centre play in a pandemic?
Since lockdown we’ve changed the way we support people to meet emerging need. Many of the people we normally help have no internet, no smart phones and often very little credit on their pay as you go phone. Many are not sheltering at home with close family and enjoying down time together. They are living in insecure, unsuitable accommodation, sometimes completely alone, sometimes with people whose behaviour is risky. They deal in cash and have quickly run out of that, and also run out of food.
The extreme need meant we decided to set up a special helpline for the public, and for other professionals supporting people with Covid 19 Problems. We’ve distributed leaflets with food parcels to make people aware that we’re here and we can help. The task is simple: answer the phone and see if there is any aspect of legal rights that can be applied to help that person with their problem.
We’ve talked to 80 year olds with no internet, living alone waiting for food parcels; single parents with nowhere to sleep that night; women fleeing domestic violence; patients undergoing chemotherapy; young men in temporary accommodation afraid of being moved to yet another hostel; migrants settled in the UK, but finding themselves with very limited finances; employees worried they’re going to be made redundant; families who have lost a loved one; carers under increasing pressure to work but trying to support a shielding relative; and more people than you can count who simply do not have enough money to support themselves or their family through the next week.
The person on the other end of the phone can be calling about anything from expiring Fiancée Visas, to ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders; and they can be sad, angry, anxious, frustrated or relieved. Running a legal service entirely by phone when people are in extreme need has been a steep learning curve: working out quickly which questions to ask, how to support people in complex situations, how to quickly draw in support from our team of legal advisors who patiently and skillfully share their knowledge and experience to uphold people’s legal rights.
The stark fact is that almost every single person who has called has been ‘helpable’ in some way. And in many cases, while their situation has been exacerbated by Covid-19, they have endured months or years of living in difficult circumstances which could have been alleviated earlier if they had known they had legal rights that gave them some protection.
Free, fast access to legal advice via the Law Centre helpline helps the person to discover, understand and use their rights. It doesn’t remove the threat of Covid-19, but it can make their circumstances better.
If this reminds you how important non profits like Central England Law Centre are, I want to ask you to make a small change to shopping habits. I am not asking for your money. If you shop at Amazon, switch to Smile Amazon (or Smile Amazon US
if you are in the US and want to be nice to an English charity) and choose Central England Law Centre as your charity so that they get a tiny % of all that you buy through Amazon. Its not much but if you all do it then it adds up. Just install the Smile Amazon app and delete your normal app. Shopping this way is not difficult - other than the warm glow you get that makes it ok to shop shop shop!
And second, choose to shop elsewhere through EasyFundraising. This just needs to be your home page for shopping - then choose the shop you want and follow the link. You can set it up to give a small donation to Central England Law centre each time you shop. It soon mounts up!
If you do this please drop me a mail and let me know
and I will make sure my fabulous friends at the Law Centre know you have helped out - so long as you happy for me to share your name/e-mail.. Or you can e-mail Sue Bent here.
Go shop! Law Centres matter.
