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.
You can read it at www.shacklewell.uk/privacy
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