A service at the heart of the community!
‘Mohammad’ has been recovering from cancer which has been especially difficult for him since all his family lives abroad, including his wife. He was separated from his wife just months after their wedding due to war in his home country and now hasn’t seen her for seven years. ‘Mohammed’ has been granted asylum in UK.
Advocacy Now project has been helping ‘Mohammad’ with issues relating to benefits and health. He wished to visit his wife but had no money. Advocate Kalsoom took the time to write to local businesses and mosques and has now successfully raised £550 for the air fare to make a trip abroad to meet his wife.
Kalsoom told us, “We have been touched by the generosity of people. I approached the takeaways around our office at SADACCA, (Kebbabish, Dixy’s, Imran’s, Halal Southern Fried Chicken and Lahore Kebab House). Everyone made a donation. The manager at Dixys has been particularly generous, making a personal donation of £150. We also had generous contributions from the mosques we approached (Burngreave Road mosque, Wolesley Road mosque and Sufi centre on South View Road).
The project co-ordinator Fouzia Ali said that raising money for a client is not a day to day activity of the project, “…but in this particular case the client seemed to have no other recourse and we decided to do everything we could to help”.
About the Project
Burngreave Advocacy Now! is funded by BNDfC until March 2007. It is managed by Pitsmoor Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
The project currently has four half-time paid advocates and one volunteer advocate. Anyone who lives in the Burngreave New Deal area can seek help from them.
Advocates can help over a wide range of issues. They can help with filling in forms, going with you to appointments to put your point of view forward, and helping you with your correspondence.
Advocacy Now! can help if you are struggling to find a doctor or a dentist or a solicitor. They can negotiate on your behalf if you are struggling to pay your bills. They can also refer you to other services which you may not know about.
If you need help you can contact the project by:
Visiting the project office at SADACCA Floor 3, 48 The Wicker, S3 8JB.
By telephoning to make an appointment on 275 0261.
Or by attending one of the project’s outreach venues:
Burngreave Library on Mondays from 9.00am–12.30pm and Wednesdays from 2.00–3.30pm. Firs Hill School on Thursday from 11.30am–3.30pm.
Currently opportunities are available to access free training to become an advocate through volunteering for the project. If you are interested in doing voluntary work for Burngreave Advocacy Now!, please contact the Project Co-ordinator Fouzia Ali on 275 0262, to get an application pack.