Latin American Women’s Aid

We caught up with Connect Hackney partner, Latin American Women’s Aid (LAWA), to find out what they have been doing during the pandemic.

What services are LAWA currently providing?

LAWA continues to offer the refuge provision for women and their children fleeing domestic violence. The Advice Centre is still working online and by phone, offering an array of support – mainly related to violence against women and girls, but also information on women’s rights, access to benefits, immigration status and more.

The Growing Together project continues to support the elderly members of our community. The project maintains the important role of combating isolation, as well as offering practical support such as getting appointments with the GP, answering letters, and looking for food parcels for the ones in need. We are giving support with translations because all our members are Spanish speakers.

What is the situation like for LAWA and your members?

We have given our members one to one IT sessions since December, and now all of them are able to use their smartphones. We are having two weekly regular sessions on Thursdays and on Saturdays for Zumba classes and meditation, via Zoom.

Your group has been making face masks. Please tell us more.We have two members who are seamstresses and they are making videos, teaching us how to make face masks. Also one of them has made face masks which they have donated, so now we all know how to make a face mask.

Contact Latin American Women’s Aid for more details

This article originally appeared in Connect Hackney’s  Hackney Senior magazine. 

Click here for a PDF of Hackney Senior .