Local Help and Resources
N.B. This wiki needs a spring clean and the information on this page may be (considerably) out of date.
It's not always obvious how to get good reliable help in a timely fashion, particularly for people new in town or new to the country. Please add to this with your own tips and solid links where local people can get good help and support.
Getting Help Fast
Emergency Services - 24 hour
- Dial 999 for the Emergency Services - Police, Fire, Ambulance, Coastguard, Bomb Disposal
- Police Non Emergency number is 101
- NHS (National Health Service) Non Emergency number is 111
Feeling Down / Depressed - 24 hour
The Samaritans (*phone 116 123 - 24 hour listening ear 365 days of the year*) - "Talk to us any time you like, in your own way, and off the record – about whatever’s getting to you."
Finding Somewhere to Sleep - 24 hour
- Street Link (phone 0300 500 0914 - *24 hour*) - help if you are sleeping rough tonight or you know someone else is.
- Shelter (phone 0808 800 4444 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday; 8am to 5pm at weekends) - advice for people with nowhere to stay right now
- No Second Night Out - charity aiming to ensure people don't have to spend a second night sleeping rough in London.
- SPEAR (phone 020 8404 1481) - Richmond and Merton Charity helping homeless people find temporary accommodation (contactable during office hours)
Other help - not 24 hour
Citizens Advice
Citizens Advice aims to provide the advice people need for the problems they face and improve the policies and practices that affect people's lives. They provide free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities.
Food
- Food Bank Finder - from The Trussell Trust
- Richmond Food Bank - Foodbank vouchers can be obtained from Citizen's Advice
- Kingston Food Bank - - Foodbank vouchers can be obtained from Citizen's Advice
- Approved Foods - shop stocks things nearing sell by date - cheap online food shopping
Free Stuff
Freecycle has a mission to "build a worldwide sharing movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community."
It works well but in busy areas it's good to think how to make life easier for a person selling something, turn up when you say, and make a good case for why you want something. It's also good to be seen on the network as someone who gives things as well as asks for things.
- https://groups.freecycle.org/group/richmonduponthamesfreecycle/posts/all
- https://groups.freecycle.org/group/freecycle-kingston/posts/all
Bartering Skills and stuff
- Richmond LETS - Richmond Local Exchange Trading Scheme
- Kingston LETS - Kingston Local Exchange Trading Scheme - "KUTLETS (Kingston Upon Thames Local Exchange Trading System) is a community-based barter system. Members pool their skills and resources to form a local network, which allows them to trade goods and services without using money."
IT basic skills
- Cambrian Community centre Computers, and tablets available to get advice on how to use and what fits your needs.
- You might also be interested to link to the LBRUT (London Borough Richmond upon Thames) leaflet about ICT for older people It's quite a useful guide for anyone who is asking basic questions about getting online, and lists a lot of places you can get help.
- Amparo tech Is a local IT company that offers support forums on their website.