IlonaM

Have you sought legal advice? You might get try the Shelter Advice Line - they have telephone advice and advice by email - they might have some ideas: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/how_we_can_help/housing_advice_helpline 'Housing advice helpline Call Shelter's free housing advice helpline on: 0808 800 4444 It's open 365 days of the year from 8am ? 8pm on weekdays and 8am ? 5pm on weekends. Our housing experts will advise you, no matter what your housing situation. Our helpline does get busy, but keep trying if you can't get through. Calls are free from UK landlines and all major UK mobile operators. Our webchat service is usually open 9am ? 5pm, Monday to Friday. You can also talk to a face-to-face advisor in one of our Shelter advice centres ? service opening hours vary.'

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/can-you-hear-me-phone-scam-fraud-us-britain-police-pennsylvania-florida-uk-a7597106.html 'If someone calls and asks, ?Can you hear me??, hang up the phone immediately. A major phone scam from the US is set to cross the pond and hit the UK imminently. But police and call-blocking companies are warning the public about the dangerous phone call in the hope of preventing innocent people falling victim to the scammers. Here?s how it works: You receive a phone call from a local number The voice on the end introduces themselves and the company they supposedly work for They then ask: ?Can you hear me?? Your answer is recorded, and if you say ?yes?, your response will be edited to make it appear as if you?ve agreed to a huge purchase. You?re effectively being tricked into signing a verbal contract, much the same as clicking ?I agree? to terms and conditions online. Voice signatures like these are legitimately used by companies doing business over the phone, but this is being exploited by scammers who have conned many Americans already, predominantly in Florida, Pennsylvania and Virginia. CPR Call Blocker has seen the scam rise in frequency and the company believes it?s only a matter of time before Brits start being targeted too, according to the Sunderland Echo. ?In our experience of working across the US and UK, scams spread quickly across the pond,? says Kris Hicks from CPR Call Blocker. He adds that it?s sensible for Brits to be on their guard ?as we have no doubt that fraudsters operating in the UK will soon start using these tactics.? The scammers may try and charge you for products or services you?ve never used, and if you try and argue with them, they?ll play back their recording of you saying ?yes? and threaten to take legal action if you don?t pay up. Another version of the scam sees the criminals using the person?s voice recording to authorise a stolen credit card. The public is being advised either to hang up straight away upon being asked ?Can you hear me??, or just not pick up at all if you don?t recognise the number. And if you do think you may have been caught out by the scammers, contact your bank or card provider as soon as you can.'

No-one is suggesting using a normal electric heater in the bathroom. You can easily heat up a bathroom from outside by directing a fan heater through the doorway before using the bathroom, turning it off when you go in to wash etc. The manner and tone of EA's response was unnecessary, rude and unsympathetic. There are ways and means of offering advice. EA let him/herself down.

Elphinstone's Army Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > challenging or not, there is no one who will lend > you an electric heater to put in your bathroom, > especially if you have small children, it isn't > even cold out, have strip washes like anyone else > does when their trusty boiler fails, and toughen > up it is a matter of days, these things are sent > to test your mettle ......... There speaks someone without empathy. If you have nothing helpful to contribute, don't say anything at all. DizzyVB - have you found a solution yet?

Just been sent this about the checks on President's tweets: http://www.lawfareblog.com/thoughts-strange-day%E2%80%94and-very-strange-presidential-tweet

One very lucky and happy swan!!! Glad that there are people like you around to save the day!!

Also Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS) may be very grateful. The main office is based at the Copleston Centre (www.sdcas.org.uk).

Update on the petition delivered today to Downing Street: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/11/theresa-may-under-increasing-pressure-to-restart-dubs-scheme

Posted by Dana Airapetjana 0pc on February 09, 2017 Source: http://www.citizensuk.org/dubs_downing_action?utm_campaign=dubs_ldn_event&utm_medium=email&utm_source=citizens Theresa May has decided to shut down the Dubs Scheme - a promise by the Government to bring the most vulnerable refugee children to safety in the UK. Our country has a proud tradition of welcoming those most in need. We stepped up to rescue 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi persecution. Lord Alf Dubs himself arrived in the UK by the Kindertransport. Now more than ever we must stand by our values. Thousands of children we promised to help are still in danger. Please join Alf Dubs and others on Saturday to oppose the ending of this safe passage to sanctuary! WHEN February 11, 2017 at 12pm - 12:30pm WHERE Whitehall, opposite Downing Street London SW1A 2AA United Kingdom Google map and directions CONTACT Beth Gardiner-Smith

Invest in someone's future by contributing anything you can to our SOAS Sanctuary Scholarships Crowdfunder! View this email in your browser SOAS Sanctuary Scholarships Fundraiser! *We have launched a crowdfunder for the SOAS Sanctuary Scholarships.* At a time when borders are closing around the world, and people are turning their backs on the displaced and dispossessed, SOAS is determined to take a stand to support these vulnerable people. We can play our part by helping ensure a generation of people does not miss out on higher education. We have launched the *SOAS Sanctuary Scholarships *, to give people affected by forced migration who cannot access student finance, the opportunity to enter higher education in the UK. It is imperative that our whole university works together in demonstrating meaningful solidarity by creating an inclusive and diverse space, that allows people to flourish both personally an academically.We must collectively take a stance against social exclusion, racism and xenophobia and sit on the right side of history with ordinary people who are living through extraordinary times. *Please donate anything you can and invest in someone's future who is systematically being blocked! * *https://sanctuary.soas.ac.uk/?ref=24557 * Please Donate Now -- Dr John R Campbell Reader in the Anthropology of Africa and Law Sociology & Anthropology School of Oriental & African Studies Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXG

Update from Citizens UK campaign: 'Yesterday, MPs from all parties stepped up to challenge Theresa May?s decision and say that more must be done. There is a real chance she will move on this. You?ll wake up to hear that Barbara Winton, has written to Theresa May asking her to keep the scheme open. You can read it below. I know you?ll join Barbara and me in proclaiming: ?Every single child?s life is worth every single thing we can give.? Please share Barbra?s letter. Britain is better than this. Rabbi Janet --- Dear Prime Minister, Donald Trump?s refugee ban echoes the terrible failures of the human spirit that, on the eve of the Second World War, saw country after country close its borders to Jewish refugees in urgent need of protection. My father Sir Nicholas Winton knew that each and every one of us share in a responsibility to our fellow men and women, a responsibility to offer sanctuary those fleeing persecution. ?If it?s not impossible? he used to say, then surely something could and something must be done. His efforts saw 669 children rescued, a part of the Kindertransport programme that saved 10,000 lives. Lord Alf Dubs, who brought an amendment last year providing for unaccompanied refugee children in Europe to once again be brought to safety in Britain, was himself one of those 669. The government has now announced the total figure of children to be helped through Alf?s amendment and, sadly, has announced a close to the programme. Barely 200 children have been helped to date and Citizens UK?s Safe Passage Project and Help Refugees teams are coping with the fallout in Greece and Italy following the news that the government will only commit to helping 150 more. Every single child?s life is worth every single thing we can give. That the country has taken any of these children show my father?s spirit lives on. As my father's MP I know he deeply valued the relationship he had with you towards the end of his life, and at his memorial you very generously described him as "an enduring example of the difference that good people can make even in the darkest of times? and said ?I hope that his life will serve as an inspiration for us all?and encourage us to do the right thing?. As the world once again teeters on the edge of dark times, I ask you to remember those words. Yours sincerely Barbara Winton -=-=- CITIZENS UK ? 112 Cavell St, London E1 2JA, United Kingdom '

I think we have to hold the Government to account. This is Liberty's view: 'In the noise of yesterday?s Brexit vote, you may have missed the Government quietly closing the door on thousands of lone child refugees in Europe. It was just eight months ago that the Government committed to the Dubs scheme, pledging to provide a safe haven for vulnerable children who had escaped war-torn countries only to be trapped in violent and unhygienic refugee camps. By working in coordination with local councils, these children would be resettled in the UK. Through Liberty and Help Refugees?s campaign, we saw hundreds of councillors ? from Cornwall to The Highlands, Norwich to Belfast ? sign our statement of support. Each pledged to welcome refugee children if central government provided the essential funds necessary to settle them in the community. Yet despite this widespread display of local support, the Government has decided that only 350 children will be brought to the UK. We are deeply disappointed by this shamefully low number and the shirking of responsibility by our Government. Our campaign partners Help Refugees are in the process of taking the Government to court over the implementation of the Dubs scheme and the Government?s failure to properly consult local authorities. The charity Citizens UK have launched a petition asking Theresa May not to abandon the Dubs Scheme. Please sign it and spread the word. In the face of an ever-growing crisis and increasing hostility to refugees across the Atlantic, Liberty will continue to call for our government to play its part in easing the suffering of children forced to flee their homes. Thank you for your support. Larry Larry Holmes Head of Campaigns and Strategy'

Theresa May: Do not abandon the Dubs Scheme for refugee children Theresa May has decided to shut down the Dubs Scheme - a promise by the Government to bring the most vulnerable refugee children to safety in the UK. Our country has a proud tradition of welcoming those most in need. We stepped up to rescue 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi persecution. I myself arrived in the UK by the Kindertransport. Now more than ever we must stand by our values. Thousands of children we promised to help are still in danger. Britain is better than this. Sign to keep the Dubs Scheme alive. Yours, Lord Alf Dubs Find out more and sign the petition here: http://www.citizensuk.org/dubs_petition Please spread the word

Have pm'd you.

See: http://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-abroad/winter/ Italy Winter tyres ? RECOMMENDED* - Between October and 15 April or, at other times if conditions dictate Snow chains ? REQUIRED* - Between October and 15 April or, at other times if conditions dictate *Note: Some parts of Italy can introduce their own legislation making the use of winter tyres and snow chains compulsory.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/petition-calling-for-donald-trumps-state-visit-to-be-banned-smashes-100000-signatures-hours-after-a3452646.html Sign the petition here if you are minded to: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171928

If there is a suspicion that someone is doing it deliberately, report it to the police as criminal damage.

Update: Barrister and immigration law expert Colin Yeo has published a short series of ebook guides aimed at EU and EEA nationals wanting to apply for residence documents here in the UK. They are updated and expanded versions of his existing ebook on EU applications, and have been separated out into different guides to try and keep the length and complexity to a minimum. The guides are intended to help as many people as possible. Each is available as a pdf for general access and as an epub version for looking at on a phone or tablet. Find links here: http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2017/free-ebook-application-guides-eu-citizens

Hi Annie5, Not a stupid question at all! I use Freeview Play which needs an internal or, ideally, an external aerial. In my old place I had Freesat with a dish, but sadly there are too many trees here. Freeview Play/Freesat entail the initial expense for the box and dish (for freesat) but after that there is no subscription. Have a look at the websites to see if either might suit you www.freeview.co.uk & http://www.freesat.co.uk/. I'm afraid that is the limit of my knowledge. I did vaguely look at subscription services, but I have been very happy with these two over the years. I'm sure others will also have some good advice.

A google search for homelessness and bereavement counselling came up with CARIS Islington which offers both bereavement counselling and a cold weather shelter for the homeless in Islington: http://www.carisislington.org/, CARIS Islington The Annexe, St Mellitus Church, Tollington Park, London N4 3AG tel: 020 7281 5200 Not local as such, but they may have knowledge of similar charities locally. More locally, Bench Outreach (http://www.benchoutreach.com/about_us) is based in Lewisham and works with the homeless.

Hi, having had issues with noisy neighbours in the past I really feel for you. I suggest getting some legal advice as the Housing Officer does not appear to be assisting both of you to resolve the issue in this situation. Cambridge House Law Centre (tel: 0207 358 7025, http://ch1889.org/our-work/law-centre/) is very good, but you could also contact the Shelter Advice line (tel:0808 800 4444, http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/how_we_can_help/housing_advice_helpline)- they can take on cases as well.

You could contact Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS) [www.sdcas.org.uk]. They have a lot of mums with young children at their centres. The main office is at the Copleston Centre [tel: 020 7732 0505 (staffed Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays) or e-mail: [email protected]]. They are a super charity.

You could approach Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SDCAS) [www.sdcas.org.uk]. They have a creche at their centres and would welcome donations.

Hi, You could see if Crisis is still taking applications for Christmas: http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/volunteer-for-crisis-at-christmas-in-london.html I also came across this charity the other day: http://communitychristmas.org.uk - you can search for local events. I am sure you'll find something.

I agree wholeheartedly. Both Victor and Carl are super and have helped me several times now to turn my new flat into a home.