Refugee Week 14th – 20th June 2021

With Refugee Week taking place in June, a few facts and figures about refugees feels timely.  The following information has been provided by the Refugee Council, and much more can be found on their website: (https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/)

The truth about asylum

The same old myths and scare stories about refugees and people seeking asylum are peddled again and again.  However, if you take a look at the facts and figures below – how often are these accurately reported in the news or on social media?  Help spread the truth about refugees and asylum seekers.

Read on

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Queen Honours 241 UK Organisations with Awards for Voluntary Service

Civil Society have reported that the recipients of the 2021 Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service have been announced, with 241 organisations honoured across the UK. This year’s winners include Bradford Immigration and Asylum Support and Advice Network (BIASAN) and Asylum Link Merseyside, which both provide support for asylum seekers. Read the article here.

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Equalities, Inclusiveness, Diversity and Organisations

Equalities, diversity and inclusiveness has gained prominence over the last year with the Black Lives Matter agenda.  There is also much talk of community focused, inclusive, bottom up, co-production, and person centred approaches in service design and delivery, whether in the statutory or voluntary sector. This issue also applies to how organisations are run and managed.

Some simple questions to pose for service providers include:

  • Are beneficiaries of services consulted?
  • Are beneficiaries involved in the design of the service?
  • Is the service reaching all those who could benefit from the service?
  • Is the service meeting actual or current needs?

Simple questions in the running of an organisation:

  • How diverse is our governing board /management committee?
  • How diverse is our workforce?
  • Do we look after the health and wellbeing of our employees?
  • Do we have an inclusive approach with all staff in decision making and management of the organisation?

These are some of the questions that need to be posed for any organisations delivering effective and relevant services. Without understanding or involvement of beneficiaries, services delivered will be less effective and worst case scenario irrelevant. In terms of organisational management, a rigid hierarchical organisation with a lack of diversity and inclusiveness will result in less cohesive workforce and poor service delivery.

Sobus is in the process of developing training modules to address these areas and we welcome any feedback that will go towards the design and delivery of such training. Please forward comments or feedback to shad.haibatan@sobus.org.uk

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Vaccination Pop up & Bus Operational Management Plan

Overview of the plan:

•Plan to increase capacity for vaccinating in low vaccination uptake areas by setting up walk–in Pop–up (fixed sites) vaccination hubs in community centres & deploying a vaccination bus

•Initial 4 week programme

•Creating additional vaccination capacity to bolster Novotel mass vaccination site pax

•Targeted comms to residents in surrounding area, mainly council estates•Buses/Pop ups to stock Astra Zenica(due to clinical governance issues with storage of Pfizer on buses) until authorised to stock & distribute Pfizer

•Clinical & admin staff provided by the NWL Clinical Commissioning Group•Security, marshalling, Site management, operational planning organised by H&F Covidresponse team

Read more here

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Public and Patient Engagement

NHS England and NHS Improvement have organised and facilitated a serial of Co-Production public and patient engagement webinars and workshops, for the details on how to register and booking, please follow the link below

Click Here

 

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The Ultra-Low Emission Zone is Expanding from 25 October 2021. Have you Checked Your Vehicle?

Air pollution is not just a central London problem, with many areas still exceeding the legal limits for pollution across the city.  That is why from  25 October 2021, the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ)  is expanding  to create a single, larger zone up to the North Circular Road (A406) and South Circular Road (A205). The North and South Circular Roads themselves are not in the zone. This is part of the commitment by the Mayor and TfL to help every Londoner breathe cleaner air.

The ULEZ will continue to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends (except Christmas day), with a £12.50 daily charge for vehicles that do not meet the required emissions standards.

Cars, motorcycles, vans and other specialist vehicles (up to and including 3.5 tonnes) and minibuses (up to and including 5 tonnes) will need to meet the required ULEZ emissions standards when driving within and into the expanded zone, or pay a daily charge.

Four out of five cars already meet the ULEZ emissions standards, but we need owners of the remaining older cars, motorcycles, lighter van and minibuses to take action.

Call To Action: Check your vehicle meets the ULEZ emissions standards and the interactive map of the zone. Visit tfl.gov.uk/ulez-2021

The two year ‘sunset/ exemption’ for minibuses run by/ on behalf of ‘not for profit groups’ – info is here https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/discounts-and-exemptions#on-this-page-7

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DanceWest National Carers Week

 

Free live dance classes for adults with Dementia and their carers:

Flyer

 

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Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre Service Updates

Hannah Lennox has recently taken up the post of Child Poverty Solicitor with Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre until August 2021, with the hope of further funding.  We are therefore able to increase our welfare benefits advice service and are emailing to share details of:

  1. The Welfare Benefits telephone advice line we operate on Thursdays between 2pm and 5pm – claimants and advisers are welcome to call 020 8148 5272 to obtain advice about a welfare benefits matter.
  2. Our Welfare Benefits form-filling clinic – available by appointment only on Wednesday afternoons, and currently taking place remotely, volunteers can assist with the completion of application forms for Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Universal Credit.

If you would like to discuss a complex case, please contact Hannah via the Welfare Benefits advice line on Thursday afternoons or by emailing Hannah.lennox@hflaw.org.uk

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