Story
Here for Good was founded by two young law graduates who wanted to stand up for the rights of vulnerable EU citizens. Now theyre asking you to stand up too.
In the aftermath of the EU referendum, Tahmid and Isabella researched through the night to see what free immigration advice was available to EU citizens. What they found was shocking: there are 35,000 EU citizens for every free provider of immigration advice.
Since then, the charity has been committed to one simple goal: empowering EU citizens to ensure that they can stay here for good.
Can You Help?
Now we're fundraising to hire caseworkers across the country who can provide free legal services to the most vulnerable EU citizens and their families - especially in areas with high numbers of EU migrants but relatively few providers of free, or even affordable, immigration advice.
£10,000 will contribute towards hiring one fully qualified caseworker for a year, who will change the lives of hundreds of families. The more money we raise, the more caseworkers we can employ and more impact we can have - it's as simple as that.
£20 will provide one family with with written advice on how to secure their status
£50 will support an EU citizen with a complicated case ensure they can submit a strong application
£100 will pay a caseworkers salary for one day
£300 will support one family with a particularly complex case, such as those with disabilities or victims of domestic violence
£500 will pay a caseworkers salary for one week
£1,000 will pay for the administration costs of a caseworker for one year
£2,500 will pay for a caseworkers travel for 6 months, allowing them to regularly support EU citizens living in hard-to-reach communities with complex cases
Its vital that we have full-time, dedicated caseworkers to help the most vulnerable EU citizens and their families. You can find out why, and what Here for Good is already doing, below.
Please contribute now and share this page on Facebook and Twitter. We can't do this without you.
What Have We Done Already?
We're also committed to supporting EU citizens at large as well as those who are most vulnerable, and started our journey by commissioning a free and comprehensive self-help immigration guide: ACT NOW.
Co-authored by two leading law firms - Bindmans LLP and Wesley Gryk LLP - the guide is designed to ensure EU citizens know where they stand. It is regularly updated, making it arguably one of the best sources of information for EU citizens.
Our Volunteer Network of immigration advisers have already been advising families on their rights. Taking on these challenging cases pro bono, they are already changing the lives of EU citizens for whom the UK is home.
We have also used our research to identify immigration services across the country. Working with the3million, we were awarded a major contract by the Mayor of London to map support services for European Londoners. There are many organisations already doing fantastic work in supporting EU citizens living in the UK, and were keen to support them in their outreach as best we can.
The EU Londoners Hub has already gone live in its beta form, and we will continue to develop it over the coming months. Here for Good and the3million are also working to replicate this mapping research across the rest of the UK.
What Happens Next?
With the Government rolling out its EU Settlement Scheme (for 'Settled and Pre-Settled status), three things are becoming clear:
For some people this will be an easy process, but some citizens will fall through the cracks - just like the Windrush generation before them, there will always be citizens who have worked and earned a living in the UK, but whose applications will still be rejected
There arent enough lawyers to defend them when citizens do fall through the cracks, there might not be anyone to help them. Citizens who cant afford legal advice or who have existing vulnerabilities may lose everything.
We are running out of time the EU Settlement Scheme is already being rolled out, and we need to make sure we have everything in place ahead of the UKs departure from the EU in March 2019. That gives us a very short window to get the money together to start paying full-time legal caseworkers to protect the most vulnerable EU citizens.
The Windrush scandal has left EU citizens feeling even more vulnerable. Not only are these people dealing with huge uncertainty, but they have seen the Windrush community lose their homes, their jobs and even their families.
We believe that EU citizens are more than just immigrants; they are more than just job statistics or tax contributions. We understand the value of everything they bring to our country: from the church hall to the football pitch, and everywhere in between.
If you share our belief that EU citizens are #MoreThanABargainingChip, then we need to you stand up and join us.
With your support, we will help EU citizens stay Here for Good.
