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our aims

Why advice work is important.

The Hackney Marsh Partnership is a community development organisation. We think the access, inclusion, participation, and involvement of local people in the management, development and direction of our work is vital.

Our experience suggests that, in an area where a large percentage of the local population confront problems associated with disadvantage and poverty, encouraging access, inclusion and participation is very challenging. This is one reason why advice work is so important to us.

For us, a key component of community development is advice work. Our experience suggests that when people are able to resolve their own problems, with the help of an effective, friendly advice worker, they can then consider:

• Participating in projects
  
• Taking responsibility for the development of an element of their community
  

In a context as chronically disadvantaged as East Hackney, advice work can be a vital tool in nurturing authentic community involvement. Good community work and high profile advice work remain central, and critical to the success of the Hackney Marsh Partnership.

This is why advice work is one component, rubbing shoulders with a range of other projects, services and opportunities, which the Hackney Marsh Partnership has worked with local people to develop. This emphasis will continue.

Here are 5 reasons why independent, confidential, professional advice is important.

Because the results can have an immediate and significant impact.

This brings measurable improvement to a person's quality of life. Any positive impact can lead to further benefits for the family and the wider community.

Advice work enables

people to take responsibility for problems and difficulties and lift themselves out of poverty.

Advice work helps build confidence.

Our own experience demonstrates that following a successful outcome, the expectation of an individual is raised. This enables them to consider participating in other areas of work within the community.

Advice work helps build loyalty and attachment to a community.

Because of the strong track record our advice service has local respect. This nurtures a further commitment and loyalty to the area

It's not just us saying this.

For more information about the critical role advice work has, go to the following sites:

www.lasa.org.uk/policy/exclusion.shtml

Being Distinctive

Part of Hackney Marsh Partnership, East Hackney LAW is developing a distinctive, holistic, connected, community based approach to advice provision.

This is about using opportunities presented by working as apart of the Hackney Marsh Partnership.

• Using significant local networks
  
• Developing work with diverse community groups across East Hackney.
  

Building skills and capacity

East Hackney LAW continues to:

• Support and work with other local agencies to increase theirs and our abilities to tackle unmet need
  
• Develop training opportunities enabling volunteers to increase their skills and strengthen our capacity to advise
  
• Build on existing work with Hackney Agency for Volunteering (and linking in with the Federation of Independent Advice Centres and Stepping UP) to support the training of volunteers and staff of local agencies, to increase their skills and strengthen our capacity to offer advice
  

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