If you would like to, you can donate to our Just Giving page here.
On Friday 16th November, 25 Jackson Lees employees are taking part in a mass sleep-out at Goodison Park. It is our third year participating in the Everton in the Community (EitC) event, which aims to generate awareness of homelessness and raise money to help combat the growing issue in the local area. Our involvement is part of the ongoing work we do to ‘Make a Positive Difference’ to our clients lives and the wider community.
Whilst we are proud to have been involved in this event from the beginning, we are most proud of our Housing & Social Welfare team who have dedicated over 20 years to supporting vulnerable people, when the government and council have failed to do so.
The homeless problem in Liverpool is worsening, in January this year the Liverpool Echo reported a fivefold increase in the number of people sleeping rough on the streets of Merseyside since the Conservative party came into power. If you, or someone you know, are at risk of becoming homeless we can help force the council to house you in suitable accommodation. On the worsening homeless crisis, a member of our Housing & Social Welfare department, comments:
“We represent tenants exclusively and also deal with issues of homelessness. Legal Aid is still available to help individuals challenge councils who do not comply with their legal obligation of duty of care. This however, is becoming increasingly difficult due to government welfare cuts as vulnerable people now have little-to-no access to legal advice.
It is important to remember that there is no one face of homelessness, we help people from all walks of life because of the many factors that can cause someone to lose their home.”
BBC News reported on 22nd October that Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, has called for rough sleepers to be protected by law, classifying attacks on them as a hate crime. It goes without saying that people on the streets need protection, but does this really tackle the issue? Nina says:
“We need to stop deflecting away from the real issue and our action to be preventative. Introducing fines, forcing people into hostels and focusing on attacks is missing the point: they should not be there in the first place. We need to challenge the government over their persistent welfare cuts and call for more funding in areas such as housing, mental health and welfare to support the most vulnerable people in our society.
EitC are doing amazing things to support young and vulnerable people in Liverpool it really is inspiring…”
The Goodison Sleep Out is part of a wider campaign named ‘Home is Where the Heart is’ that aims to prevent young people from ending up on the street. Last year we raised £4000 and our efforts contributed towards buying a house that gives young, vulnerable people a place to stay with the care and support of EitC staff.
Looking forward it is difficult to remain optimistic as government cuts to public funding and legal aid show no sign of stopping. However, with organisations like Everton in the Community and passionate solicitors like Nina fighting for the right to a secure and decent home, we remain hopeful that homelessness will soon be a thing of the past.
If you would like to, you can donate to our Just Giving page here.
Sleep Out 2016 & 2017
From Left to Right: Chris Topping (Law Society Human Rights Lawyer of the Year 2016), Darren Carter and Michael Davies at the first year of the sleep-out in 2016.
The Sleep Out team 2017.
Last year we decided to do something a little different to raise money. We hosted a football tournament named 'The Jackson Lees Trophy'.