Before I started my placement at Z2K I had no experience of writing tribunal submissions but in the time that I have spent at the charity the caseworkers have been very supportive in showing me the ropes and I am now able to represent clients and help them challenge their benefit entitlement.I would encourage anyone who is interested in law, social welfare or helping to fight injustice to apply to be a volunteer at Z2K.
In KUWG's collective experience, a preliminary to casework can be just standing outside a jobcentre and/or disability benefits assessments centre, say, with leaflets and placards as 'ice breakers' and listening to people as they unburden themselves. It can be very good to talk to someone whose leaflets suggest that you are not the first person who has ever been abused by government officials. And it can be very heartening to learn that it's not necessary to go out and dispose of yourself as a huge 'saving for the public purse'. ;-) It's great to be listened to by another human being who is not out to rubbish you as the Government would have DWP employees do to service users,(2) or as professional workers burnout despair leads service users to feel they have been treated.
For further details of volunteering opportunities with Z2K go to http://z2k.org/volunteering-at-z2k/(3)
For how to get involved with KUWG, come to one of our weekly Thursday afternoon, 3:15pm to 5:20pm business meetings at Kingsgate Community Centre, 107 Kingsgate Road, NW6 2JH. Location map.(4) How to get there.(5) At present, we are planning to have a caseworkers workshop on how to deal with burnout. That is likely to take place in July 2016.
Link
- http://z2k.org/2016/06/case-study-a-year-long-esa-saga/
- http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/pcs_comment_archive.cfm/id/0BCC603C-DEE6-4F77-A7338C216969AA58
- http://z2k.org/volunteering-at-z2k/
- http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=525177&y=184362&z=0&sv=NW6+2JH&st=2&pc=NW6+2JH&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf
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