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NATIONAL AWARD FOR ST. HILDA'S ADVICE SERVICE
St. Hilda’s East Community Centre received a national advice award last Thursday for its ground
breaking Legal Advice Service in the west of Tower Hamlets.
St. Hilda’s, together with two major law firms, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and DLA Piper,
were awarded the LawWorks ‘Best Partnership’ award for pro bono advice services – at a ceremony in central
London attended by representatives of the legal world.
The presentation was made by Edward Fennell, Legal Editor of The Times newspaper. Competition for
the prestigious award was stiff with other shortlisted finalists including national law firms and the civil rights organisation
Liberty. A panel of independent judges decided that St. Hilda’s should receive the award together with DLA Piper and
BLP – Sir Henry Brook (a QC and Judge), Edward Fennell (of The Times) and Andrew Holroyd (President of The Law Society).
The award was made for St. Hilda’s East Community Centre’s tripartite partnership with
law firms Berwin Leighton Paisner and DLA Piper in providing community legal advice in west Tower Hamlets. A free legal advice
service has been provided at St. Hilda’s community centre site in Club Row, Bethnal Green, for the last five years –
with the involvement of volunteer staff from DLA Piper; while a second advice service has been running since last October
with staff from BLP at St. Hilda’s second site in Sonali Gardens in Shadwell. This combined partnership service has
been tremendously successful - well used by the community, with advice provided to countless individuals on money debt, benefits,
housing and employment, as well as small claims and family law.
Receiving the award, Rupert Williams, Director of St. Hilda’s East, said: “This represents
much deserved recognition of the fantastic commitment of volunteers from DLA Piper and BLP, assisting individuals in accessing
their rights. It is also an excellent example of partnership working between voluntary groups and the private law sector for
the benefit of the community.”
Heidi Newbigging, UK CSR Manager for DLA Piper said: "DLA Piper is delighted to win this award
with St Hilda's East Community Centre and Berwin Leighton Paisner and it is testament to what can be achieved in partnership.
DLA Piper has an extensive corporate social repsonsibility programme and has great pride in its legal advice clinic project
with St Hilda's."
Alison Klarfeld, Berwin Leighton Paisner's Corporate Social
Responsibility Manager said, "Everyone at the firm is thrilled to have won this award for our partnership with St Hilda's
and DLA Piper just eight months after Sonali Gardens Legal Advice Service opened its doors. We know that the
service will go from strength to strength."
Details of the Legal Advice Service:
Sessions at St. Hilda’s community centre site in 18 Club Row, Bethnal
Green, E2, are open each Tuesday between 6:00 and 8:00pm on a drop in basis. General advice can be given, including money
debt, welfare benefits, housing and employment. Family law advice is also available – including divorce, transfer of
tenancies and overseas marriages.
Sessions at St. Hilda’s second site at Sonali Gardens, 79 Tarling Street, Shadwell, E1, run on Wednesdays,
also between 6:00 and 8:00pm on a drop in basis. Similarly, general advice is available, including housing, welfare benefits
and debt advice, as well as small claims.
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| Sonali Garden users receiving award from Cllr. Abdul Asad |
'Jewel in
the crown' scoops major national award
A groundbreaking centre for Bangladeshi older people has scooped a prestigious national
award.
Tower Hamlets Council’s Sonali Gardens scheme has been voted top older people’s project in Community
Care magazine’s nationwide care awards - in the wake of the borough’s care services being ranked at the head
of the 3-star ratings by national watchdogs, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, in December.
The centre was
described by judges as “a lively, exciting project that is responding to the needs of the local Bangladeshi community.”
Since
opening in 2004, the Shadwell centre - a pioneering partnership between Tower Hamlets Council, St. Hilda’s
East Community Centre, the Epic Trust and Circle Anglia housing trust - has become a focal point for the borough’s
Bangladeshi community, which comprises 33% of the local population.
It not only provides day care faciltities for around
40 people a day; it also offers 40 flats for especially vulnerable older people who need intensive around-the-clock care.
People
visiting Sonali Gardens for day-care can enjoy a wide range of activities - covering everything from entertainment and
keep-fit sessions to outings and lunches.
Among people supporting the project for the award was Stephen Ladyman MP,
the Government Minister responsible for social services at the time, who said: “If you want to see how culturally sensitive
services for ethnic minorities work, I would recommend Sonali Gardens. It’s a fabulous scheme.”
Commenting
on the award, Tower Hamlets Director of Social Services, Ian Wilson, said: “To say that this award is well-deserved
is the understatement of the year. With its pioneering approach to day and residential care, Sonali Gardens has become the
jewel in the crown of our excellent care services for the Bangladeshi community.”
Tower Hamlets Lead Councillor
for Social Services, Cllr Abdul Asad, added: “This is wonderful news for a service that has become extremely important
for local Bangladeshi elders. I would like to thank everyone who has made the centre such a remarkable success.”
Part
of the Community Care award is a £5,000 cheque - which will be spent on hiring a gardener and gardening equipment in
line with clients’ desire to make more of the centre’s gardens, as part of a long-standing horticultural project.
Food co-op
A new food co-operative bringing healthy food to a local
community was launched in Bethnal Green. The project enables people in Bethnal Green and Spitalfields to buy fresh fruit and
vegetables at affordable prices. Volunteers who run the co-op order fruit and vegetables from Spitalfields market and sell
it locally with no mark-up on the price.
“This project has the potential to improve local people’s health.
It is hoped that the project, in time, will be entirely run by local people and lower the high rate of coronary heart disease,
diabetes and cancer in the area,” said Lourdes Colclough, living healthily co-ordinator at St.
Hilda's East Community Centre.
Dorothy Lloyd, a local pensioner who visited the community centre for
the co-op launch on April 7, said: “I tasted food I’ve never tasted before and I’m 75 years old! It was
a real eye-opener. It’s good to be able to pick exactly what you want when you live on your own so none of it gets wasted.
I’ll definitely be interested in coming again.”
The co-op operates on Thursdays from 11am until 1pm at
St. Hilda's East Community Centre, 18 Club Row, Bethnal Green.
For further
information or if you are interested in volunteering for the project contact Lourdes on 020 7739 8066 or lourdes@sthildas.org.uk
Legal
Team Awarded
The legal advice service based at St. Hilda's East Community Centre has won a prestigious national award. St. Hilda's came first in the DLA Paul Nicholls Memorial Award.
St.
Hilda's Director Rupert Williams said: "We are delighted that our legal advice service has received this national
recognition. St. Hilda's is very grateful to the volunteer law firm staff who
give their free time to meet a very real demand for advice. This is a well used service that brings together the expertise
of the legal profession with the needs of the community".
For details of the weekly legal sessions at St. Hilda's East Community Centre call Jubeda Begum on
020 7739 8066.
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| St. Hilda's East Annual Report 2007 / 2008 |
Click here to view St. Hilda's East Community Centre's Annual Report 2007 / 2008
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a copy of Acrobat Reader?
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| Painting of St. Hilda's (Gale Pitt 1993) |
Our Aims and Values
St Hilda’s
aims to meet the diverse needs of the local community by providing good quality services that promote social inclusion, and
help and empower individuals. In meeting these aims we
will try to:
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Provide the highest standards of service
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Actively involve users in agreeing priorities and setting standards
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Make the best use of resources
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Continually monitor and improve our performance
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Achieve equality of opportunity at all stages of the Centre’s activities
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Monitor and develop staff to achieve their full potential
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Work in partnership with other organisations to pursue common objectives
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Work with and understand the needs of the clients and service users
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Be accountable for our actions
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Research the needs of the local community and learn from their diversity
Support Us
St. Hilda's East Community Centre relies on the support of individuals,
companies and charitable organisations to fund its activities. There are many ways you can help us both financially and otherwise
to continue as a successful charity and to expand further in the future.
Online
Donations can be made using the Charities Aid Foundation's or Charities
Trust's secure online payment system.
Please click one of the buttons below to make an online donation.
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