(more…)

Hammersmith United Charities holds regular network meetings for our grant holders, where people can come together, learn from one another and collaborate for the benefit of the community.

Our last meeting included a presentation about refugees and asylum seekers, led by West London Welcome. The charity discussed current refugee and migrant issues around the country and support services in our area.

There are at least 13,700 asylum seekers in London and 41% of people who live here were not born in the UK. West London Welcome recognises that, while refugees, migrants and asylum seekers may need support with essentials such as housing and health needs, they also deserve to experience the everyday things that make life enjoyable, from lunch with friends, to music, exercise and creative hobbies.

The charity was formed by a group of Hammersmith residents in 2017. Today, it has a team of 10 staff members and 135 local volunteers, together representing 70 nationalities. A wide range of activities are held at its community centre, including English lessons, cookery workshops and yoga classes.

One of West London Welcome’s aims is to help dispel the myths surrounding people from a migrant and refugee background, so its presentation included points such as:

• Seeking asylum is a legal right. With so few safe routes available for people fleeing war and persecution to come to the UK, many people have little choice but to undertake a perilous Channel crossing by boat if they wish to seek asylum here.
• Asylum seekers are not allowed to work or to claim benefits. Those living in hotels receive aeroplane-style meals and £9.95 a week.
• Fewer than 1% of the world’s refugees live in the UK.
• People arriving by small boat account for only 5% of total migration to the UK.

Download West London Welcome’s myth-busting resource for more information.

Other organisations offering support

Refugees are disadvantaged in many ways, so they’re often entitled to support from other organisations in the borough, including a number of our current and previous grant holders. For example:

• Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre provides legal advice and representation to people in need. Much of its work is around immigration and the seeking of asylum.
• Lawyers4Learners runs free public speaking workshops in schools to help build children’s confidence. Many of the children it supports speak English as a second language.
• Hikayetna brings refugees and migrants together for mutual support and help in specific areas such as training and mentoring in the creative industry.
• Intergenerational Music Making uses the international language of music to bring people together from across the whole of the community.
• The Kulan Foundation supports adults and children from a migrant background to gain skills and qualifications.
• Somali Parents works with migrant families to support children’s education.
• FORWARD is working to end the faith-based and ritual abuse of African women and girls. 

Find out more

You can read a case study on West London Welcome here. For more information about the charity’s services, please visit its website: www.westlondonwelcome.com

Some children look forward to a fun-filled summer holiday. They might be at a sports club one day, a drama club the next and out playing with friends the rest of the week.

However, many children will barely leave their homes. If your parents are struggling to cover the essentials, it’s unlikely that they’ll have money spare for ‘fun’ things. It’s hardly surprising then, that children from low-income households are far less likely to take part in organised out-of-school activities.

What’s more, as these children are less likely to have a garden or easy access to green spaces, they have fewer opportunities to play outdoors, especially if they live in urban areas. As a result, children from a low-income household are more likely to experience social isolation over the summer holidays, as it’s harder for them to meet up with friends.

It’s not just their mental health that suffers over the school holidays. With no free school meals to fall back on, they’re less likely to eat nutritious meals. One in five parents worry about being able to feed the whole family over the summer break.

Thankfully, some schemes do offer fully funded or low-cost activities over the school holidays, mainly through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. School-age children who receive benefits-related free school meals are automatically eligible, and places are often also available to other children. Free healthy lunches are available at many of the clubs.

Fully funded summer clubs in Hammersmith & Fulham

H&F’s HAF programme gives children the chance to try a wide range of activities, from animal care to sports, graffiti art, DJing and more. Many of the clubs are led by our current or former grant holders:

• Fulham Reach Boat Club offers Free Water Sports Weeks over the summer. As well as water-based activities such as kayaking, teenagers can try boxing, tennis and other sports.
• Bubble & Squeak‘s Summer Holiday Club runs from 10am to 2pm every weekday. Activities include sports, gardening, cooking, crafts and free play.
• The Sulgrave Club runs both a junior and senior holiday club. Both include outings and other activities.
• DanceWest holds dance classes at Sands End Arts & Community Centre for children aged seven to 12.
• Solidarity Sports works with 250+ children who are recovering from traumatic experiences. Its summer club sees 30 children go on a PGL adventure holiday in Dorset.
• Urbanwise’s Summer Holiday Club gives children the chance to enjoy being outdoors, playing sport, trying STEM activities and more.

Some of the clubs above are now full. However, there are many others to choose from at www.lbhf.gov.uk/holiday-activities-and-food-programme. It’s also worth registering to go on the waiting lists.

Stuart’s life changed significantly when he suffered a stroke in 2020, aged just 56. He explains, “I woke up one morning and phoned the doctors to say something was wrong. They told me that I’d better get to the hospital, as they thought I’d had a stroke. When I got there, the doctor said, ‘You’ve got nerve damage,’ and sent me home. I got a call from the stroke unit the next day. They said, “You need to come in now because they shouldn’t have discharged you.” So, it was a stroke, but I also have nerve damage.

“After a while using a manual wheelchair, I developed carpal tunnel syndrome, so I now use an electric wheelchair. I can only stand for a minute as I have a compression fracture of the spine. I get pain on a daily basis. You don’t get used to it, but you cope with it.”

Stuart was in between jobs when he had his stroke. Unable to continue his career in childcare, Stuart moved into temporary accommodation but was evicted and housed in a hotel for several months. Luckily, we were able to offer Stuart a place at John Betts House. Three years later, needing a larger flat to make it easier to manoeuvre his wheelchair around, Stuart transferred to Sycamore House.

He told us, “My new flat is really nice. It’s a lot more spacious. All the doors are bigger and it’s more free flowing, so I don’t have to twist and turn. Someone came to check the water the other day and said, ‘Oh, your flat is amazing.’ I’ve been creative with the décor and have some unusual houseplants, which are thriving.

“The garden is a nice quiet space. It’s lovely to sit out in. I can’t do much gardening, but I can offer advice!”

A carer comes to support Stuart every day, but he likes the security of having staff onsite at Sycamore House. “We also have Careline here, so if I do have a fall or if I need an ambulance, I can just pull the cord and they’ll deal with it. I’m not alone.

“It’s a lovely little community at Sycamore. We do a lot of socialising. There are events going on that you can get involved with and people know your name. We’ve got an LGBTQ+ party coming up, which is open to everyone. I’m doing the music for it.”

Stuart also appreciates the location of Sycamore House, as he’s able to reach the shops and cafés using his mobility scooter.

While Stuart grew up in South Africa, he’s lived in Hammersmith for almost 30 years now and is very settled at Sycamore House. “I can’t see myself moving again. This is home.”

Founded in 1834, BlindAid supports 1,200 blind and partially sighted people every year, around 100 of whom live in Hammersmith. The charity offers a range of services, including small grants, home visits, phone calls, and free cookery, art and yoga classes.

Richie Walden is BlindAid’s Operations Director. He says, “Many blind and partially sighted people don’t need support because they’re independent, employed, and have a wide social group. However, the people our service is aimed at tend to live very isolated lives. They’re usually older and may also have mobility or health issues.”

Reducing social isolation

Losing your eyesight can be incredibly scary and it’s a difficult change to adapt to. Richie says, “People’s worlds can shrink quite rapidly. More than half of our service users don’t leave their homes unless they have support. I once visited a lady who spoke so rarely that it took her 20 minutes to be able to speak properly to us because her vocal cords weren’t working.

“Where people have no friends, no family, no one coming in to see them, we will always prioritise them for home visits. People who do have some support, we’ll prioritise for phone calls and the occasional visit.”

BlindAid’s Sight Support Worker in Hammersmith, John, has been in post for 18 years. Richie says, “That continuity is vital to how we deliver our services, because it can take time to develop relationships and build up trust. It also means that if, for example, some free tickets come up for an accessible theatre production, we’ll know exactly who might be interested.”

As one service user shares, “BlindAid helped me re-connect, to socialise and feel normal again.”

Practical support

As well as helping to reduce loneliness and social isolation, BlindAid supports people with more practical needs. Richie explains, “We give people time; they choose how they spend it. For some people, their isolation is their overriding need, and they just want to talk. Others might want us to help them fill in forms, install an app on their phone or set up a direct debit.”

While assistive technology can be transformative, it can also be expensive. What’s more, some services still send out physical letters or forms. Richie shares, “People often get sent a letter with the date of a hospital appointment. Because they can’t read the letter, they miss the appointment, come off the list and have to go through the whole process again. As well as reading letters aloud, we’ll often call people the day before a hospital appointment to remind them about it. We can also book them Dial-a-Ride or hospital transport.”

One key role of Sight Support Workers is referring people to other relevant services. That might mean arranging for an occupational therapist to visit, for example, or connecting people to community organisations. Richie adds, “We set people up with things like Sainsbury’s telephone shopping service, so they can order over the phone rather than online.”

Volunteer support

BlindAid relies on a team of 120+ volunteers to offer extra support. In many cases, the only time a service user will leave their home is when they’re accompanied by a volunteer. They might go for a walk to the local park together or visit the shops or a café. Richie says, “We try to match people with similar interests. So, for example, we’ve got people who go to the cinema together, people who go to the theatre together, or concerts together.”

Hammersmith United Charities’ grant

We recently provided BlindAid with a £5,000 grant to help support 100 people in Hammersmith. Richie shares, “We can’t run our services without external funding. We had to close services in a couple of boroughs last year, because we just couldn’t get funding for them.

“It’s hard to access grants for blind and partially sighted people because they don’t have a strong collective voice, so organisations aren’t really aware of what they’re experiencing. The fact that Hammersmith United Charities funds us is absolutely fantastic. It results in real, tangible support for people who are living in extremely isolated circumstances.”

Find out more

• You can refer yourself or someone you know to BlindAid through the charity’s website or by calling 0207 403 6184.
• If you have time to spare and are interested in volunteering, BlindAid can provide full training and support.