There are over 13,000 survivors of Ireland’s mother & baby homes living in Britain. “Philomena’s Law” seeks to remove a barrier to many survivors seeking the redress that they are entitled to by protecting redress scheme payments from being calculated within means-tested benefits & social care arrangements. Our Midlands Irish Survivors Service supports former residents of institutional abuse in Ireland. As part of this work, we are involved with Philomena’s Law, which will hopefully be passed in the coming months. Many of you may be familiar with Philomena Lee, who this law is named after. The story of Philomena’s search for her son Anthony (who she gave birth to in a Mother and Baby Home in County Tipperary) was the basis of the Oscar-nominated film Philomena, which stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Labour MP Liam Conlon has introduced this draft legislation in the House of Commons in an effort to get a fairer deal for Survivors of institutions. The current redress scheme for Survivors enables former residents to receive financial compensation from the Irish government for the time they spent in Mother and Baby Homes. As it stands, any Survivor who is receiving means-tested benefits when they receive a compensation payment from the scheme is in danger of losing these benefits. This has a huge impact on Survivors who are yet again being denied the justice and kindness they deserve. If this legislation is passed, it will stop these benefits from being affected, and some cases, ceased altogether. Getting this law passed would change the lives of so many. As a charity, we are aware of many Survivors who have prolonged accepting the redress payment, or who have simply felt unable to accept it at all due to a fear of being penalised for using these funds. We have been working with Liam Conlon, and with other organisations supporting Survivors to try to raise awareness and to promote support for this law, so that it has the best possible chance of being implemented. The most effective and important way to support this law is to write to your local MP and ask them to publicly back Philomena’s Law. We would urge you to use the below email addresses to contact your local MP in Coventry: Zarah Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South: zarah.sultana.mp@parliament.uk Mary Creagh, Labour MP for Coventry East: mary@marycreagh.co.uk Taiwo Owatemi, Labour MP for Coventry North West: taiwo.owatemi.mp@parliament.uk To get the best chance of your MP seeing your email, you should add ‘Constitutent Request’ in the subject of this email. We hope you will lend us the support we need to get justice for Irish Survivors. If you have any questions, do get in touch with Manisha O’Malley (Survivors Co-ordinator) at manisha.omalley@covirishsoc.org.uk or call us on 02476256629. You can follow the link below to download a free letter template, which you can send to your local MP in support of Philomena's Law.

Mental Health Support Worker (Post is for a one year contract - further funding might be available after one year subject to additional grant aid). Salary: £10,000 per year – 15 hours per-week 10-4pm Monday, Wednesday and Thursday (excluding lunch). Location: Eaton House, 1, Eaton Road Near Coventry City Centre. Established in 1993, Coventry Irish Society (CIS) is a Charity providing a wide range of community health and support services to the Irish community in Coventry.  The Coventry Irish Society requires a Mental Health Support Worker to set up, organise and run a half day per-week Dementia Support Group and a half day per- week Walking Group for the local Irish Community.  The role includes working with Carers and increasing mental health awareness to support the local Irish community.  The charity predominantly supports older Irish but also supports Second and Third Generation Irish, Irish Survivors and Irish Travellers. . Please email your up to date CV with a cover letter clearly detailing your relevant experience in line with requirements of the role. A CV without an accompanying cover letter will not be accepted. simon.mccarthy@covirishsoc.org.uk or email Simon for further information. Actively interviewing. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early. We are obliged to ask all successful applicants to complete a DBS Disclosure form