Hello everyone! I hope you are well. With the changes to restrictions and the high number of cases in Hackney, we’re going to print more flyers to promote the support available through the mutual aid group (and signpost to other things on offer in the ward).
Things have been generally quiet for us for a few months, but we’re expecting more requests to start come through.
Flyer delivery
We have a new flyer ready for delivery letting people know about how they can help their neighbours and get help during the new lockdown. If you can help deliver it (mutual aid activities are exempt from lockdown) please email shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com or join the chat WhatsApp group and let us know. Thanks!
Dispatch
Is anyone interested in joining the dispatches team? It involves checking for requests received (via gmail) and posting anonymised call out here to link a volunteer with the request. We can go through everything with you over zoom at a convenient time. It would be ideal if you could commit to being on the rota one day a week/fortnight.
I’ve been doing dispatches since March and I’ve really enjoyed helping to link so many of you brilliant volunteers to people in need of support!
We’ll give you full training and there is a WhatsApp group for support and questions.
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
We urgently need volunteers to help run the phone line. All you have to do is install and log in to Skype on your phone or computer and check the phone line for messages a few times a day. You then fill in a form that gets sent to dispatchers who will take care of the rest.
If you want to volunteers please email shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com with your preferred day to cover (pick a day from Monday-Sunday) and if you can cover it every week or want to cover that day once a fortnight and alternate with someone else.
We’ll give you full training and there is a WhatsApp group for support and questions.
About us
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Welcome to the Shacklewell Mutual Aid newsletter. We’ll send these occasionally updating you about what we are doing and how you can get involved:
Join the next meeting to volunteer for new projects
Black Lives Matter: Weekly Meetings and Resources
Summary
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support in the COVID-19 crisis with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
1. Meeting to agree new projects – Thursday 9 July at 6pm
We’re going to have a meeting to decide on some new projects as lockdown is eased. We’ve built a network of people willing to help neighbours but how can we take that beyond shopping and collecting prescriptions for people who are self isolating?
If you are interested in helping the local community, then come to the meeting to talk about what you’d be up for doing.
If you have any ideas for how mutual aid could do, how we could reach out or anything else please email or join the WhatsApp chat group and send them for discussion. All ideas and suggestions for things you can do are welcome.
Here are the working groups we were thinking of having – get in touch if you would like to join one:
Community Links: with other mutual aid groups, charities, organisations, TRAs and social prescribers Requests: dispatch and request management Communications: sharing information within our ward Active citizenship and collective action
Black Lives Matter Hackney is running a community circle every Thursday at 7pm near the basketball courts on Hackney Downs. Meet your neighbours, exchange ideas and create social change!
If you want to get involved or have an item for the newsletter then please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email. We hold zoom video calls regularly which everyone is very welcome to join. Find out more on www.shacklewell.uk
Welcome to the Shacklewell Mutual Aid newsletter. We’ll send one once a week updating you about what we are doing and how you can get involved.
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support in the COVID-19 crisis with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Food bank
Franki, Sol, Vas and Celine have been working out how we can help food banks in our area. We’ve decided to encourage everyone to give items to the Hackney Foodbank supported by The Trussell Trust. They collect food at the Safestore office at 2 Somerford Grove, it’s just off Stoke Newington High Street. You can find out what they need and their opening hours on their website. To donate, just walk through the blue drive-in entrance to the office where someone will take your parcel.
You can even contact us to collect the food you want to donate. The details of what they need (and what they don’t) are on their website at hackney.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
Here’s the poster with all the details:
Digital Activism in Time of Pandemic
Anastasia, one of our members, took part in a webinar about digital activism where she presents with other people about how people are using digital tools during the pandemic. Her segment talking about mutual aid groups and how they differ from top down volunteering efforts starts at 12.15.
Big Community Sew
The Big Community Sew has great instructions on how to get started making facemasks. Take a look at bigcommunitysew.co.uk
Renter protections
The London Renters Union have launched a campaign for people who are worried about paying rent during the pandemic and those who want to help them. You can find out more at cantpaywontpay.uk
Summary
If you want to get involved or have an item for the newsletter then please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email. We hold a weekly video call on Sunday evenings which everyone is very welcome to join. Find our contact details on www.shacklewell.uk
Welcome to the Shacklewell Mutual Aid newsletter. We’ll send one once a week updating you about what we are doing and how you can get involved.
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support in the COVID-19 crisis with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Requests
Since we began we’ve had 31 requests go through our dispatches system. We’ve done food shopping, collecting prescriptions, general errands and made friendly phone calls among other things.
We’ve only had 3 new requests in the last 10 days so the number of requests is slowing down. We think this is because we’ve set people up with helpers and people are being helped directly neighbour-to-neighbour through chat on our WhatsApp and Facebook group.
We’re trying to come up with ideas for new ways we can use the network of people to help each other. If you have an idea or want to lead on a project please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email.
Getting involved and ideas
Here are some ideas on how you can get involved:
You can volunteer to cover the phoneline, see below
If you have an overlock sewing machine you can help make scrubs for healthcare workers in North and East London – they have a great Facebook group you can contact here – facebook.com/groups/NorthEastLondonSewers – there is a pickup point towards Clapton – if you need help taking scrubs you’ve made there just ask in the WhatsApp group
You can join our Sunday evening meeting
Donate to the Hackney food bank, see below
Send ideas or things you’ve heard about for helping people during COVID-19 to the WhatsApp group
If you work in a restaurant, streetfood or similar place then Lianna in our group is looking at how a hot food delivery service could work, contact her with a message to the WhatsApp group or send us an email
The Hackney Food Bank is urgently looking for donation of tinned food, soap and toothpaste among other items. The drop off point within our ward is at the Safestore reception at 4 Somerford Grove.
The Safestore is open 8 till 5 during the week and 10 till 4 on weekends but closed for an hour for lunch from 12-1.
You can find out more including more details on what they need on their website hackney.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/ or ask in the WhatsApp chat for more details or if you need help delivering food.
We’re thinking of organising some food bank collections as some of our neighbouring groups have been doing. We’re looking for one or two people who would like to get regular food donations up and running, for the local food banks. We know some details about what is being done locally, but need someone who has the capacity to coordinate / lead this in Shacklewell. If anyone wants to lead on looking into that and be mentored by one of the existing co-leads just ask for more info in the WhatsApp group or by email.
Phone line
We have rearranged the phone line so there is only one person on the rota a day. If you want to take a day, we particularly need people weekends, let us know. It’s straightforward to do and you will take very few calls so you can be on it while you are at home doing other things. See the volunteer page at www.shacklewell.uk/info/volunteer for more information and say in the WhatsApp group if you haven’t been added to the phoneline group and want to volunteer.
Specialists
We have a lot of people in our area with specialist skills that could be useful beyond our usual tasks of picking up shopping and prescriptions. Alex can provide financial advice, Laurie can provide employment advice, Karen has been making some masks for people and some of our members are working on a document about working at home.
If you’d like help from one of our specialists or would like to offer your services please contact us through the WhatsApp chats or email. If you’d like to be featured here please email us on shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com.
We have also heard that Citizens Advice have spare capacity at the moment so if you’ve been thinking you need support they may be a good option to contact.
Photo of the week
Finally here are some pictures of one of our member’s cats. They just love volunteering!
If you’ve taken any nice photos around Shacklewell and would like to see them featured send them to our email.
Summary
If you want to get involved on the phone line or doing anything else our people have asked for this week then please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email. We hold a weekly video call on Sunday evenings which everyone is very welcome to join. Find our contact details on www.shacklewell.uk
Welcome to our newsletter. We’ll send one once a week updating you about what we are doing and how you can get involved. You can sign up to get the newsletter by email at www.shacklewell.uk/news
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support in the COVID-19 crisis with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Updates
We urgently need volunteers for the phone line, it’s straightforward to do and you don’t take many calls so you can be on it while you are at home doing other things. See the volunteer page at www.shacklewell.uk/info/volunteer for more information.
We are reaching out to the local food banks to see if we can help with coordination and volunteers. We are looking for ideas on how we can expand the help we give as we’ve put a lot of neighbours in touch with each other. For example we came across www.karshare.com where you can volunteer your car for people who need it.
If you have ideas of how we can expand what we offer then say something in the WhatsApp group or by email.
Specialists – financial advice
We have a lot of people in our area with specialist skills that could be useful. We’ll be featuring people from time to time who can offer other these services to people who contact us. Here’s some financial advice from Alex:
The lockdown and economic uncertainty has had a big impact on jobs and finances. If you’re in need of financial, tax, or accounting advice I may be able to help. I’m a qualified accountant with experience working with individuals and small businesses. I’d be happy to support individuals or local businesses who are in a difficult position on a pro-bono basis.
If you’d like help from Alex please contact us through the WhatsApp chats or email. If you’d like to be featured here please email us on shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com.
Document of the week
The privacy policy explains how we look after the privacy of people who send us their information.
If you have any suggestions to improve please send a message on the Whatsapp chat group or email the group at shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com
Requests
Since we began we’ve had 28 requests go through our dispatches system. We’ve helped out other people neighbour-to-neighbour through chat on our WhatsApp and Facebook group.
We’ve done food shopping, collecting prescriptions, general errands and made friendly phone calls among other things.
And finally
Here’s our Shacklewell pet of the week, enjoying the sun on a roof. Send us your photos of the area to feature next time.
Summary
If you want to get involved on the phone line or doing anything else our people have asked for this week then please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email. We hold a weekly video call on Sunday evenings which everyone is very welcome to join. Find our contact details on www.shacklewell.uk
Welcome to our third newsletter. We’ll send one once a week updating you about what we are doing and how you can get involved. You can sign up to get the newsletter by email at www.shacklewell.uk/news
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support in the COVID-19 crisis with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Updates – specialists
We have a lot of people in our area with specialist skills that could be useful. We’ll be featuring people from time to time who can offer other these services to people who contact us. First up is Laurie:
This pandemic and subsequent lockdown has meant employment uncertainty for many people in our community which can be very frightening and confusing. If you are experiencing anything you feel is unlawful in your employment and don’t have anyone else to ask, I may be able to give you advice on your situation or at least tell you what organisations may be able to help you. I am not a lawyer and would only be able to give you my opinions rather than solutions in regards to employment (but not freelance work I’m afraid) but I’m happy to help where I can.
If you’d like help from Laurie please contact us through the WhatsApp chats or email. If you’d like to be featured here please email us on shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com.
Document of the week
The volunteer welcome document explains how to get involved as a volunteer, what we do, what you can expect and how to stay safe.
If you have any suggestions to improve please send a message message on the Whatsapp chat group or email the group at shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com
Requests
Since we began we’ve had 24 requests go through our dispatches system. We’ve helped out other people neighbour-to-neighbour through chat on our WhatsApp and Facebook group.
We’ve done food shopping, collecting prescriptions, general errands and made friendly phone calls among other things.
Summary
If you want to get involved on the phone line or doing anything else our people have asked for this week then please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email. We hold a weekly video call on Sunday evenings which everyone is very welcome to join. Find our contact details on www.shacklewell.uk
Welcome to our second newsletter. We’ll send one once a week updating you about what we are doing and how you can get involved. You can sign up to get the newsletter by email at www.shacklewell.uk/news
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support in the COVID-19 crisis with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Updates – DBS checks
For delivering prescriptions we need people with up to date DBS certificates. If you have one can you let Jess know in the Whatsapp Chat group and she can verify it with you.
Laura is working on understanding DBS checks and writing documents for them so if you can help with that let her know in the Whatsapp chat.
If you don’t have a DBS certificate there are still lots of ways you can help from working on the phone line rota to helping with shopping and phone calls or working on outreach and documents. If you’ve any specialist skills those would be fantastic to share as well. Follow the steps in www.shacklewell.uk/info/volunteer and send a message in the chat group to let us know.
Document of the week
We’ve written a safety document with some Mutual Aid guidelines for keeping safe during the crisis. These guidelines were developed to help ensure everyone stays safe whilst supporting each other.
You can have read this document at www.shacklewell.uk/safety please share it with anyone in Hackney who might find it useful!
If you have any suggestions to improve please message Franki on the Whatsapp chat group or email the group at shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com
Requests
Since we began we’ve had 20 requests go through our dispatches system. We’ve helped out other people neighbour-to-neighbour through chat on our WhatsApp and Facebook group.
We’ve had 5 preferred languages (English, Bengali, Polish, Turkish, Bulgarian) and we’ve done food shopping, collecting prescriptions, general errands and made friendly phone calls among other things.
People
Lots of people are involved in Shacklewell Mutual Aid, each week we’ll introduce a few people, if you want to get involved as well then check out our volunteer page at www.shacklewell.uk/info/volunteer or chat to the people below in our WhatsApp chat group.
Franki
I am Franki and am working on safety guidelines because it’s important everyone stays safe whilst supporting each other. We would love to hear from anyone who has been receiving support or carrying it out, to know if these are helpful, if there are any gaps, or you have ideas for doing more.
Jess
I’m Jess, one of the dispatchers and also currently verifying our volunteers’ DBS checks. I’m here to help because I enjoy helping out my local community in whatever way I can! I love working with the team to ensure we are helping those vulnerable in this crisis and hope it will make a very small difference!
Laura
Hi, I live on Barrett’s Grove and I am helping out with DBS information and resources. I wanted to volunteer to help out in the crisis in my spare time. I was welcomed with open arms and have been put to good use straight away. It is great to be part of this very strong, positive local community.
Marc
I’m Marc, I live in the converted warehouse above Beyond Retro and I’m a website and database developer. I’ve worked for Room To Heal and Open Barbers in Hackney. I got involved because I think it’s great for neighbours to support each other and it’s been nice to get to know people in my area while working on the website and newsletter. The Shacklewell group is very friendly and positive, which I love. If you have ideas for what should go on the website or in the newsletter let me know in the Whatsapp Chat. It’d be great to have someone to help out updating and writing them.
Summary
If you want to get involved on the phone line or doing anything else our people have asked for this week then please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email. We hold a weekly video call on Sunday evenings which everyone is very welcome to join. Find our contact details on www.shacklewell.uk
This is our first newsletter! We’ll send on once a week updating you about what we are doing and how you can get involved. You can find out more on our website at www.shacklewell.uk
Mutual aid connects neighbours who need support in the COVID-19 crisis with neighbours who want to volunteer. We’re helping people in and around the Shacklewell ward in Hackney, East London.
Updates
Liam has been printing and helping post leaflets in our area so people know we exist and how to contact us. The last of 4848 leaflets were distributed yesterday. There are still more leaflets left over if anyone would like to put them in a local public place such as a shop or park, please get in contact through www.shacklewell.uk
Document of the week
As well as helping people on the phoneline we’ve been compiling information on the local area.
The outreach team have put together an amazing document with information about specialist services that you can refer people to, including food delivery services, hackney council services, housing, mental health, etc. We cannot provide specialist support, so if you feel requests goes beyond neighbours helping neighbours, please explain this and direct them to organisations that can help.
You can have read this document at www.shacklewell.uk/services please share it with anyone in Hackney who might find it useful!
If you need help navigating this document or if you have any updates and suggestions, please message Anastasia on the Whatsapp group or email the group at shacklewell.volunteers@gmail.com
Requests
Since we began we’ve had 13 requests go through our dispatches system. We’ve helped out other people neighbour-to-neighbour through chat on our WhatsApp and Facebook group.
We’ve had 5 preferred languages (English, Bengali, Polish, Turkish, Bulgarian) and we’ve done food shopping, collecting prescriptions, general errands and made friendly phone calls among other things.
People
Lots of people are involved in Shacklewell Mutual Aid, each week we’ll introduce a few people, if you want to get involved as well then check out our volunteer page at www.shacklewell.uk/info/volunteer or chat to the people below in our WhatsApp chat group.
Amy
I’m Amy and I’m working on Dispatches because I thought it was the best way for me to use my skill set to help others. It’s a pleasure to be organising with my Shacklewell neighbours and I hope we’re making a small difference to those in need.
Anastasia
I’m Anastasia and I co-lead on Outreach to help our group connect with other groups and services in our area.
Anne
My name is Anne and I am a co-lead for the phoneline, which means organising volunteers to pick up the phone to people calling with requests. We always need more volunteers to fill the rota. I am involved because community has always been really important to me and Mutual Aid is a way of growing that. Let’s make a little difference in people’s lives!
Felix
I’m Felix, I’m one of the dispatch co-leads, that means I match volunteers with those in need of help, and support that helping process to go smoothly. I’m here because I have time and ability to help and I want to do as much as I can during this crisis to make things better for my community, especially those who are more vulnerable than myself. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know my neighbours through this process and wold encourage anyone to join us, the more the merrier!
Liam
I’m Liam and live on Pellerin Road and I’ve been organising leaflet distribution. I’m looking to help out and build links in the local community for solidarity in and after the crisis.
Lianna
Hiya – I am Lianna and joined the Shacklewell group a couple of weeks ago. I have been involved in allsorts community and charity over the years and sat at home sick in the second week of March, I felt like after 10 years living here, the time was now to finally get involved in something local. I have been working on volunteer management (You will probably have filled out our form to register). We currently need a couple more people to support the phone line rota, would love to hear your ideas for things we can be doing locally to support people, and will be having a think this week about how we might be able to utilise this groundswell of people wanting to get involved and support the Mutual Aid movement here in our locale – get in touch with your ideas!
Robin
I’m Robin and I’ve been chairing meetings and doing general co-ordination and admin. I really enjoy seeing everyone contributing and working together. We need volunteers who are committed to seeing this crisis through as a community.
Summary
If you want to get involved on the phone line or doing anything else our people have asked for this week then please get in touch on the WhatsApp group or by email. We hold a weekly video call on Sunday evenings which everyone is very welcome to join. Find our contact details on www.shacklewell.uk
