Spotlight On... Hope for Justice

Hope for Justice is an anti-human trafficking charity with their Head Office here in Manchester. Their specialist investigators identify victims of trafficking for forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. They've removed 62 survivors from trafficking situations in the UK in the first five months of this year; they work with the police where appropriate but act as an independent third party for victims who may be too afraid (for a variety of reasons) to approach the authorities.

Hope for Justice also provide advocacy for survivors, once they have been taken out of their situation of exploitation by our team or by the police, and help them to secure housing, welfare entitlements, job training, civil claims and criminal injuries compensation.

Have you come across individuals who’ve had their passports taken, who haven't been paid for the work they’re doing or who were recruited on the promise of a job but found that no such work existed? Do they show signs of being controlled by someone else, are they picked up and dropped off for work or are they working extremely long hours? Have they been taken to open bank accounts but have had the card taken away from them, do they have no private area to sleep or are they offered alcohol and tobacco in place of wages? These are a few of the indicators of human trafficking.

Hope for Justice offers free training to NGOs to help frontline staff like you to identify potential victims who may be engaging with your service. You can then refer their trafficking case to our team. To enquire about free training for your team contact Sue Swidrak - sue.swidrak@hopeforjustice.org

 

If you'd like to see your organistion featured in 'Spotlight On...', send us an overview of the services you offer today!

Spotlight On..... Northwards Housing

The fabulous Tracy Panesh over at Northwards came up with a great idea for us - that a really useful feature on the blog site would be for organisations to be able to display a summary of what it is that they do and who you can call on, to raise awareness of the various types of help and support on offer. She's started us off with information on the Northwards Advice Team:

Northwards Housing is the Arms Length Management Organisation responsible for all aspects of managing Council owned tenancies within North Manchester- That’s currently about 13,500 properties.

Our Money Matters team will support any Northwards tenant with any money related matter.  This includes income maximisation, benefit claims, revisions and appeal, accessing Local Welfare Provision.  We will support them in opening bank accounts, advise on borrowing in a safe and affordable way locally, understanding priority debt and offering a bespoke debt service, offering advice, assistance and advocacy in all aspects of debt management.  Unlike many services, if our clients require it, we can offer help with form filling and personal representation at Appeals Tribunals.

This is not a comprehensive list because essentially if it’s about money we can help or, failing that, we’ll know someone who has any answers we don’t.

We are a team of 3 Money Advisers, 3 New Tenancy Advisers, a Project Lead Officer and a Trainee Money Adviser.  We pride ourselves on offering a service that is obviously free and confidential but above all else is friendly, accessible and tailored to the holistic needs of each client.

As a first point of contact, ring us on 0161 720 5884 and we’ll let you know where we are and when.

We want to make this a regular feature, but we'll need your help to do it. Please email us information on your advice/information/support services, any specialisms that make you stand out, what your team looks like and how people can contact you.