Greater Manchester Poverty Action Group

Greater Manchester Poverty Action Group send out a regular news update to keep people up to date with the headlines which affect their client group, as well as their own work and events. In the latest issue, you can find out more about their upcoming week of action, 'Tackling Food Poverty Together' which will be launched at a business breakfast on 10th October....The Alliance will be there, so we hope to see some familiar faces! Find out more, and read the full newsletter here:

http://www.gmpag.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/GMPAG-September-Newsletter-2014.pdf

Last Weeks - Your Weekly News Round-Up

We have gathered up some more enthralling news for you to read!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kGQrsDFP8IbGNkZjlpVkZvRzQ/edit?usp=sharing

Do you know about the British Gas Energy Trust?

Listed below is the help available through the British Gas Energy Trust Team at Manchester Citizens Advice Bureau.

The aim of the Trust is primarily to reduce fuel poverty by awarding grants to clear arrears on gas/electricity accounts (for all providers excluding Npower and EDF). The Trust does however also have a limited budget for further assistance payments and can apply for ONE of the following:

• White goods- washing machines, cookers and fridge freezers
• Funeral payments (refused application/ shortfall from DWP or clients are ineligible for help through DWP)
• DRO and bankruptcy fees (from Money Advice Caseworkers ONLY)
• Boilers (for home owners who are ineligible for government schemes and have severe health issues)

NB. Clients DO NOT need to be a British Gas customer to apply for Further Assistance Payments  

Experience shows that clients who are most likely to receive an award from the Trust would need to have some degree of vulnerability either in terms of their health or personal situation and have no disposable income. Examples of applications that have been successful have come from clients who have:

• Health issues
• Had a drastic reduction in income leading to financial hardship
• Have been in a domestic violence situation
• Troubled family situation
• Supported by drug and alcohol services
• Have been homeless

The above list is not exhaustive and each application is looked at on a case by case basis.

There are regular appointment slots at Wythenshawe, Moss Side and The Ben Brierley in Moston - if you have any questions please contact Jo, Vicky or Kamil on 0161 493 2753 or email:  energy@manchestercab.org

Your Weekly News Round-Up

There have been some really interesting news this week which have catched our attention, have a read..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kGQrsDFP8IakRELVNQVUNMTUU/edit?usp=sharing

MC-UK Feedathon

MC-UK are getting ready for their annual feedathon which will take place over a two week period from the 9^th -26^th October 2014.  If you know of any individuals or organisations  who deal with vulnerable elderly,women,young people or the homeless please do put them in touch with the scheme – they are hoping to distribute 1kg bags of raw lamb meat (to be collected from the MC-UK office on Burnage Lane on Monday 6^th October) or a small box of pilau rice - one per person – which will be dropped off by staff/volunteers between 9^th-26^th October.  Once final numbers have been confirmed, organisations will be contacted by Tuesday 30th September to confirm how many bags or containers they have been allocated. 

All organisations who are interested in this project must let MC-UK know by Friday 26^th September so that they can plan and confirm allocations per organisation.  There is no cost for this project however, they will need to take photos or video/written testimonials from either service users or staff/volunteers to show to donors how their donations have benefitted people on the ground.

Please email tazeem.shah@mc-uk.org for further information or call on 0161 7131892.

Your Weekly News Round-Up

We have gathered up some interesting pieces for you to read, have a look..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kGQrsDFP8ILUR4bjlSd0o5a0U/edit?usp=sharing

Fantastic Opportunity through GMIAU

GMIAU are pleased to announce that they have been offered the opportunity to provide a two-year funded training contract by the Legal Education Foundation to encourage committed social welfare lawyers of the future. In GMIAU’s case this will be to someone with an interest and commitment to immigration, asylum and human rights. There are other opportunities in other areas of social welfare law.

Applications are invited from Monday 8^th September until Tuesday 30^th September 2014. For full details please see the front page of their website www.gmiau.org This may not be an opportunity for you, but if you know of someone who could benefit from this, please pass it on.

Eligibility for Fellowship

·         The applicant must have completed and passed the Legal Practice Course or for Govan Law Centre the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice by 30th September 2014
·         The applicant must be willing and able to commit to serving a two-year term as a Fellow commencing in January 2015
·         The applicant must have a demonstrated commitment to social welfare law. We are particularly interested in students who wish to effect change in the legal community, such as members of public interest and/or pro bono organisations on campus and those who have dedicated time to serving low-income or less privileged communities either during or prior to law school
·         The applicant must be in good academic standing at their law school

CPAG Conference 2014

Remember how we said that if there were events you couldn't make it to, we'd go for you and report back? Well that's exactly what we did with the CPAG Conference held in Manchester last week...took ourselves along, made some notes, and here they are for you so you can get a picture of what went on, what was talked about etc.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPWG9HQW5hS04zbWM/edit?usp=sharing

If there any other events, meetings, or conferences which you can't get to but think would produce valuable information for forum members, let us know and we'll do what we can to be there for you!

Forum Dates 2014/15

We've revised the forum dates a little from the original dates we gave you waaaaay back when we started, so just to keep you in the loop, this is what we're now looking at:

October 16th
December 11th
February 12th
April 23rd (slightly late to account for school holidays)
June 18th
August 20th

As mentioned in our previous post, please let us know if you have any suggestions for future meeting topics and/or speakers by either commenting here, or on the message board.

September Forum - Dealing With Destitution training

At your request, we moved the August forum into September, and put on training covering Dealing with Destitution. The session was delivered by CPAG, and was a highly informative, in-depth and valuable look at how to support people through sanctions, appeals, and other complex decisions which make them highly vulnerable.

We'd love to be able to post full information from the day, but you'd be here til next week trying to read it all, plus we don't want to rip off someone else's training! Still, we've captured a lot of the salient points for you, as well as the Forum discussion results, so we hope you'll find these useful. If you have anything to add regarding future forum topics, please comment below, or use the message board to keep us informed!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1aWoCJw0ptPMlN4bVM3Z1l0WUk/edit?usp=sharing

Your Weekly News Round-Up

Some really intriguing news that caught our attention this week. Have a read..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kGQrsDFP8IVWV4eHRhcmZReE0/edit?usp=sharing

Your Weekly News Round-Up

A bit late but here's last weeks news round up, some really interesting news..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kGQrsDFP8Iam12LUdSSVlMc0U/edit?usp=sharing