Day-Mer is still one of the few Turkish and Kurdish organisations registered for Quality Mark and the OISC, the quality standards which all the organisations giving advice (immigration advice in the case of OISC) must meet. Since the publication of the last Annual Report, Day-Mer's advice service enjoyed a rare period of continued funding. This had a significant impact on the quality of advice delivered as well as the development of a dedicated team of advisors and volunteers who are in charge of the day-to-day running of the service. The introduction of these quality standards, coupled with new developments affecting the migrant communities such as the introduction of a new Immigration Bill, have placed a great responsibility and pressure on community organisations like Day-Mer in that they became one of the only points of contact for advice and advocacy outside the statutory bodies and private law firms for the community in general.
 
One of the advice-needs of migrant communities has traditionally been the field of Immigration. While constant changes in the immigration system have amounted to substantial changes, it still is an ongoing issue with our community. Specifically, issues covered under immigration advice continue to be those of NASS, application for naturalisation, preparations for basic entry clearance applications and referrals to specialist help. If not to the same extent in the beginning of 90's, there are still new arrivals; however, it is also evident from our work that the majority of Turkish and Kurdish people are becoming settled. So, in terms of immigration advice, the bulk of our work has been increasingly revolving around NASS and nationality enquiries. Jointly these enquiries amounted to around 15% all enquiries in the last few years. 
 
One indicator of the T/K communities' settlement and the progress made towards integration could be observed with the amount of Housing, Welfare and Health enquiries, which jointly amount to around 50% of all enquiries. However, despite these positive indicators, the high amount of enquiries in these fields also show the extent to which problems surrounding these issues continue. These could be summarised as language barrier in accessing available services, lack of culturally sensitive and appropriate services and the problems affecting the local communities which the T/K communities inevitably share.
 
In parallel with these, the bulk of the employment and education enquiries to which our advice service attends highlight these problems; there are still substantial issues around finding schools for children or finding an appropriate course if the client is relatively mature and employment-oriented courses or training programmes. The well documented level of low-achievement amongst T/K students is also one other aspect of the kind of education advice being provided. The lack of a field of permanent and stable employment since the disintegration of the textile industry in North London still continues to be a very significant issue and enquiries for help with job search and application forms have been steadily increasing.
 
The mainly debt-related consumer enquiries also form a part of the issues relating to becoming settled in the UK. As well as incorporating issues related to gas, electricity and water services, the greater majority of consumer enquiries relate to the billing of these utility services and charges that occur. Amongst these are also issues of rent arrears, council tax payments, penalty charge notices etc. Payment arrangements between the client and concerning parties, representations to rectify various bills, appeals, updating circumstantial information are the kind of work the advice service readily provides. These enquiries amounts to around 15% all enquiries.
 
Another area of advice deeming mention is the field of special needs which incorporates issues of disability, special health needs and pensioners. In the last few years, the number of disabled clients has increased to around 20% of all clients; while enquiries related to being disabled and elderly have steadily increased to reach a proportion around 10%. The general thrust of Day-Mer's advice work on this field indicates the need for specialist help in dealing with enquiries of this kind.
 
The advice work in Day-Mer has enjoyed a period of development and expansion thanks to the continuous funding by the Association of London Government over the last few years. The further development and expansion of this service is contingent on further continuous funding. If there is one thing our advice work shows about the services targeting the T/K, it is that more comprehensive and specialist services are needed.
 
The continuous period of funding we enjoyed over the last few years lead to a rapid increase in our client group, a fact demonstrating how the community still needs permanent and specialised advice and advocacy services. The fact that Day-Mer has been taking visibly significant steps in this direction and that it provides a culturally appropriate advice service have been the source of its recent success in this field of work.

 

Engage Advice Team:

Day-Mer is running general advice and information sessions; Day-Mer is one of the Quality Mark and OISC registered community organisations which provide services to the Turkish and Kurdish Community, 5 days a week. Through the year our service sees around 1700 clients and over 900 of them Hackney residents. Since the project started we asked our advisors to give information and a leaflet to each client who lives or works in Hackney, and they have been referring clients to recycling project worker if they have any problem or questions.

Weekend Advice Stall at Day-Mer:

Day-Mer is running cultural activities as well as services and most of the cultural activities and workshops take place in the evenings and weekends. Currently Day-Mer has 2 drama classes, 3 folkdance classes and 2 saz classes. Around 100 students are registered to our classes and most of the students are accompanied by their parents, again especially by their mothers. We gave information to them about our projects and services whilst their children study in our classes. We also organise seminars, panel discussions and meetings during the weekends about community issues, and we have a breakfast club every Sunday. Many people are attending those activities during weekends. We displayed project and services information during these times to give information to those who participate in our activities.

 

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