Letter to the Mayor about London Holistic Advocacy Wrap Around Service (LHAWAS) support

Dear Sadiq,

London Holistic Advocacy Wrap Around Service (LHAWAS) support

I am writing to you to follow on from our discussion yesterday (19 June 2025) at Mayor’s Question Time about the funding for the London Holistic Advocacy Wrap Around Service (LHAWAS) which is a partnership project led by Southall Black Sisters.

I welcome the work you have done to help tackle gendered violence. Actions such as naming it as your top priority, as well as the work you have done through MOPAC funding projects such as LHAWAS which supports hundreds of migrant victim-survivors of domestic abuse, have helped to tackle this issue across London.

Over the past six years, LHAWAS has enabled over 700 destitute migrant victim-survivors to access safe accommodation and subsistence, supported over 1000 victim-survivors through casework, provided immigration advice to nearly 500 victim-survivors, delivered counselling to 165 victim-survivors, and facilitated group work sessions for over 700 victim-survivors.

There is no equivalent service in London capable of meeting the urgent and complex needs of migrant victim-survivors with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).

It is in this context that I write to you with concern that the funding for LHAWAS is currently due to end at the end of September 2025 with no alternative provision planned for this financial year. A tender process is due to take place, by MOPAC, to fund a new service which will start in April 2026.

This means there will be a six-month period when this vital support will not be available, and this essential service would be on a cliff edge. This break will also cause disruption in the referral pathways, staffing and reputation of the service.

It’s vital to secure both transitional and long-term funding for LHAWAS so it can provide essential support for some of the most marginalised victim-survivors across London, particularly Black, minoritised and migrant women facing domestic abuse and NRPF issues.

I am calling on you to commit to continue funding support until at least April 2026 and urgently work with LHAWAS on securing both contingency funding and more secure long-term support, so Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors can access specialist, life-saving support in London to escape domestic abuse and lead lives free of violence and fear.

Thank you for taking the time to look into this issue. I hope you are able to ensure that the quality work provided by LHAWAS will be able to continue in London uninterrupted.

Yours sincerely,

Zoë Garbett

Green Party Member of the London Assembly