White Ribbon Campaign Supporters seek your assistance on 26 March!

Dear Friends....

Re: 'MARCH FOR THE ALTERNATIVE' (called by the TUC), LONDON - 26 MARCH 2011.

Chris, Steve and other Mytholmroyd 'Ribboners' are travelling down to London on the 26th to be present at the march. White Ribbon Campaign UK is concerned that government financial cuts will reduce services which provide assistance and support, in all their forms, to women affected by male violence against them.

I have prepared a WRC A5 flyer addressing our concern which we will hand out to the marchers and interested onlookers. We have 2500 copies of this flyer. It includes a section on the back for people to take The WRC Pledge. The key wording on the leaflet front reads: The government cuts will affect everyone. 60% of refuge services have no funding agreed from 1 April 2011. 72% of outreach services have no funding agreed from 1 April 2011 (source: Womens Aid Newsletter, March 2011). Women seeking advice, support and safety as a result of men's abuse and violence towards them, could find that the relevant support services no longer exist in their area, or have become drastically reduced.
2500 flyers will be difficult for a small number of us to distribute! We would be very grateful if any of you could assist with handing out these flyers. If you'll be at the march, and will help us, please contact us directly on 07941597584.

In anticipation,............I thank you.

Regards

Stuart Hogg 

London Councils judicial review: trial on Thursday 27 January

As part of the campaign against the cuts to vulnerable groups a case against London Councils has now been listed for trial.  It will take place next Thursday 27 January at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand.  It will probably start at 10.30 am and finish at about 4.30.  It is hoped to get judgment that day or the following day.  

You can find out which court room it’s in by looking on the main notice board immediately behind the info desk as you come into the RCJ from the main entrance on the Strand, or by going to this website link the day before after about 2 pm.

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/list_admin.htm

The case is called R (Hajrula & Others) v London Councils.  The Claimants are being represented by Helen Mountfield QC and Aileen McColgan from Matrix Chambers, and Jason Coppel is representing London Councils. 

Recession mapping – BAME Children and Young People

 AFRUCA and MiNet have opened a short survey to map any emerging patterns and funding cuts on organisations delivering to children and young people in London, and the impact of each. Information gathered from the survey will be used to inform a report which will be presented to children and young people commissioners and funders. Get more information or take part in the survey:http://www.rota.org.uk/pages/MiNet_RecessionSurveyMar11.aspx

Hackney Councillors campaigning against the cuts

Some Councillors in Hackney have launched a campaign against the government’s cuts to public services and funding. They would like people to visit their Facebook paga and also welcome people's comments.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Their-Cuts-Not-Ours/178128612200341

A message from Hackney Community Law Centre - fightingthe cuts to Legal Aid budget

Dear Colleagues

Some of you will have noticed the Government Green Paper which has just been published, and which proposes some £350 million in cuts to the civil legal aid budget (about 33%).

The issue is tremendously important. Over 500,000 people will lose a service, 1/3 of civil legal aid funding would be cut, and funding from (among others) most debt, all welfare benefits, all employment and about 40% of housing and 60% of immigration cases. Most ancillary relief cases would also cease receiving funding.

Recent surveys by the Law Centres Federation estimated that for every £1 spent on funding Law Centre work, up to £10 is made back in wider social benefits. These include savings such as increased payments or rent, managed debts and increased benefit uptake. By cutting this funding, the government will be increasing poverty and social exclusion by several orders of magnitude.

Last week the LCF, Unite and many others launched Justice 4 All, a campaign to stop the cuts. Please help by signing up as a supported to their website. They also have a facebook site which currently has more than 500 members.

I urge you to log onto the website and register. There is also a facebook site which currently has about 500 affiliates.  If you are on facebook please register there too. Please ask your friends and family to sign up too.

The website can be found at http://www.justice-for-all.org.uk/

Yours sincerely

Nathaniel Mathews

Hackney Community Law Centre