Please can I ask if anyone can offer advice for a friend who can't speak English
Greetings dear community,
I would really appreciate your help and advise regarding a circumstantial issue I'm having. There is a person who I know who cannot speak English very well. She has been through a lot, she been abruptly divorced and has been kicked out of her house. She is now working ridiculous hours and living alone. She needs help and advice regarding her situation, which would be with HMRC and DWP, in regards to the help she can get by way of benefits, support and care. I unfortunately cannot help her due to the work that I do and furthermore don't speak her native language very well. She lives in East Ham in Essex. I have tried contacting CAB, but they they have said they cannot help with someone to support her by way of meeting with her and help with her communication needs.
Please can I ask if there are any free services she could contact where she can get someone who can come out to her speaks her language and can guide her and support her with the aforementioned activities?
I really appreciate any advise. Best wishes
DiwaliBhen
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Hiya Diwali
It may help if you could share which language(s) she speaks.
In Liverpool and Manchester (1998-2007) I taught groups of migrants (most from around Europe and the East) at the Trade Union Centres there.
In that and similar work I did with the Student's Union we always managed to find someone who could help translate and I speak a few languages. I expect the high numbers of international students in those cities was a help with that, but that's not uncommon in many larger cities.
Have you encouraged your friend to explore free online translation services? They can be useful. The internet/computers and computer-based accountancy for small businesses was what I taught there.
If you could answer my question about languages I'll see what I can find online.
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Hi
This might be of some help as it is a charitable organisation in Essex -
also
Hope one of these can help you both.
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Hello DiwaliBhen,
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's experiences. I don't live in your area so I don't know specific agencies who could help.
If your friend needs to communicate with DWP/HMRC, could you write a letter for her to take in explaining the basic situation and her need for a translator? My understanding is that this government services should provide a translator (often done through zoom) but that this doesn't always happen. My experience in Northern England/Midlands is that it can take a while for things to be set up but at least in my area, it works in the end. A quicker route would be if your friend has a helpful connection who speaks her home language and English.
If she has other special circumstances that might help you find her specific support as a way to access government services. For example, does your friend consider herself to have experienced domestic abuse? That might include financial abuse (losing your home as a result of relationship difficulties). Refuges usually have access to translation services. If your friend is a refugee, organisations such as British Red Cross might be able to help her find a translator.
With best wishes to her and you - her kind friend.
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Hello there, thank you so much for your replies. Her native language is Hindi. Unfortunately, she is not good with computers. She has lived here for a number of years.
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The local Council should have some kind of linguistic service available. Even where I work, which is not in a big city, the Council offers translation services and assistance for over 40 different languages, so that may be somewhere to start (if she's not good on the computer, there may be a phone number where she can reach someone who speaks her language).
I know that we've had situations with customers where we've had to contact a translation service to mediate conversations to housing and other benefit departments so I think that may be a possibility. In an area like East Ham, I'd be surprised if there wasn't anything like that.
Alternatively, is there anyone in the local community she knows who might be able to help her? If she's been here a while, she may know people who speak English better than she can and who can help mediate the gap.
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Sadly, even though she has been here, she doesn't have anyone in the local community. I will have a look at the council website. Thank you.
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Thank you. 😊
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I will look at those. Financially she is a tight spot, hence why I think she may be entitled to benefits.
Thank you so much
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She speaks Hindi.
Thank you.
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Just to pop in again, this may be what you/she is looking for.
Support for residents – Translating and interpreting services – Newham Council
It may need a native English speaker to contact them first to explain the situation, but it's still worth a try - there is a phone number as well as an email address.
Wishing her luck!
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