The night began with a rousing speech from Fr Steven Saxby of Saint Barnabas church, Walthamstow. He explained that the most vulnerable are going to be affected by cuts to legal aid and we need to respond and act together now. Following his call to action, leaders were provided with a briefing about how diaspora and migrant communities will be affected by the big changes to legal aid, welfare and housing benefits that have started to be introduced by the current coalition government. Leaders heard how from April 1st 2013, the government is changing the legal aid rules, which will mean that legal aid will no longer be available for lots of matters, even if a person has a low income and would have qualified for legal aid before, and from April 15 2013, as part of the Welfare Reform Act, the government is introducing a cap on the amount of benefits a working-age household can receive, capped at the level of the average earnings of a working family. Sue Lukes, the  director of the MigrationWork explained to the audience the negative impact that housing benefit cuts will have on migrant communities. Martin Williams from Child Poverty Action and Zrinka Bralo from The Forum also shared examples of the impact the changes would have. Their observations painted a bleak picture, however they did provide the context for why it is more important than ever for communities to be organised and the NCLS.

One of the most emotive parts of the evening was when Florence shared her testimony for the first time about her experience of being undocumented and how she was repeatedly exploited by cowboy lawyers. A pin drop would not have been heard as she summoned the courage to share her story. This set the scene for leaders to lay out their proposals for action.

Firstly, the New Citizens Legal Service aims to address the lack of information available and access to high quality affordable legal advice that is experienced by some members of communities. At the heart of the New Citizens Legal Service sits the referrals service, which through bulk buying immigration advice through a consumer co-operative, offer Citizens UK members, trusted below the market rate immigration advice. Amir Zaidi from Westkin Associates explained that he was committed to working with Citizens because having learnt the lessons from the world of business it was a sustainable model. He had the audience in stitches as with the best advert of the night for NCLS as he explained in relation to cowboy lawyers that marrying someone from your community makes sense but the same does not apply to choosing legal advice! Six institutions in the room agreed to be founding members of NCLS and they committed to organising a workshop and referring 10 cases each a year to NCLS.

Secondly, Zrinka Bralo from the Forum proposed that we carried out a commission in to the impact these changes are having in our communities. By the end, Zrinka had everyone in the room on their feet committing to taking action.

For more information please contact New Citizens Project Lead Carina Crawford Rolt at carina.crawford-rolt@cof.org.uk

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg praised Citizens UK saying ” really the thanks go to you. You have been extraordinarily brave…every single one of those children would not be living the free, decent, civilised life they deserve if it wasn’t for you cajoling us into action”.

Sarah Teather MP, who worked with Citizens UK to help deliver the closing of detention centres like Yarls Wood, gave an emotional speech and added: “When Citizens UK came to lobby me that afternoon they made the arguments that are core to my belief…what you gave me was food for the journey. You were the energy that helped us to carry it through”.

The Conference was shown an animated film based on the story of Barbara Nalumu, a leader with the Citizens for Sanctuary campaign, which led to Nick Clegg pledging to end child detention for immigration purposes. You can see the animation below, as well as a film of the entire action, including Nick Clegg’s speech.

Citizens Iftar
Thursday 2nd August
7:30-9:30pm
York Hall, Bethnal Green
Free Admission – ticket required 

Having been inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games which coincides with the month of Ramadan in the Islamic Calendar, London Citizens would like to cordially invite you, along with leaders from across London to join each other for a Citizens Iftar (opening of the fast).

London Citizens CitySafe Campaign has taken up the challenge of 100 Days of Peace. 100 Days of Peace recalls an ancient Olympic tradition of a truce held before and after the games so that athletes could travel safely to and from the games. Institutions from London Citizens have taken the opportunity to develop their CitySafe campaign, which aims to make London’s streets safer and neighbourhoods more connected, and with communities reclaiming their streets.

With the underlying theme of the Olympics and in the spirit of Ramadan and bringing different communities together to work for peace; our member institutions felt that this would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate three significant milestones; the Olympic Games, Ramadan and 100 Days of Peace.

Join over 1200 London Citizens, as we mark the middle point in our 100 Days of Peace with food and fellowship as civil society commits to making our institutions places of safety as a legacy for peace after the games.

We would be delighted if you could join us on Thursday 2nd August 2012, 7.30pm – 9.30pm at York Hall, 5 Old Ford Road, London E2 9PJ. Entrance is free, however as there are limited spaces admission shall be with ticket only.

To RSVP and request a ticket (or for further information) please click here.

Issues around unresolved asylum cases continue to hamper many Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom. Limits to legal aid on appeals and the administrative chaos at the UKBA has left many Zimbabweans very frustrated. The Citizens UK legal service could not have come at a better time; legal aid on appeals is being capped and many Zimbabweans have lost money and been treated inhumanely by cowboy lawyers – some of them of Zimbabwean origin.

After closure of the UKBA Legacy Cases department, all relevant unresolved cases were transferred to the newly created Case Assurance and Audit Unit. This unit is even more difficult to access than the previous department, leaving many have been in limbo. The new asylum model, created to fast tract cases, has not lived to expectation and has serious let down many seeking sanctuary in this country.

Citizens UK, through its affiliate members, including Zim Unite!, are holding a series of immigration workshops to assist with access to cheap legal services provided by Westkins advisers. Our members will be able to access this thanks to our good and continuing working relationship with, and the generosity of, this firm.

“Living in this country without status for so many years, the lack of information as to how my case is progressing at UKBA, compounded with the bad service provided by my lawyers has left me thinking there is nothing much to expect of my life any more. However, this workshop has given me new hope” said one attendant.

As an organisation, Citizens UK builds relational power through listening to each other`s life stories. We identify and train leaders, building our power based on organised communities and organised money. We bringing people from diverse institutions together, teaching them how to work collectively for the common good. It is this power that our communities use to change lives. Life is better when lived together.