I started The Autonomy Hotline in 2021 with a vision to improve outcomes for families who are struggling to navigate systems within health and social care, including family court, court of protection, domestic abuse and various interactions with professionals. We set out to provide a radically different and inclusive service for our clients. Being ethical required us to really stand out from other services around us. Some services failed to address domestic abuse. Others charged hefty fees or alienated those on low incomes. Others failed to identify the multi-faceted nature of cases, leading to problems later down the line. For the last 4.5 years, we have tried to understand the various dynamics that are entangled within a case, delving deep into the processes and systems that lead to failure, piecing together the knowledge we gained into practical advice and strategies. From the information we gathered, we developed our own ‘coercion analysis’ toolkit, which remains exclusive to the hotline, and by firmly resisting coercive power and staying true to that goal, we have created an all-encompassing, understanding, knowledgeable service. We have held our head high, knowing we have stayed firm in our belief that the client should not have to foot a substantial bill whilst going through a traumatic situation, and that a truly trauma informed approach would facilitate justice without adding further trauma.
As a result, I will be honest and admit that it has been a fight for financial survival at times. We were turned down for funding bid after funding bid, and I started to realise that what we were offering did not fit neatly into the eligibility requirements of most funding pots. I also recognised that anything law related is just simply not glamourous enough to fund; the anticipation from lay people is that law is already burgeoning with wealth. Sadly, those who have lived through a legal crisis, a false accusation or a referral to social care know exactly the division between wealth and poverty in the legal world, but this is not widely available public knowledge. A lack of resources and funding has severely hampered our ability to provide advocacy to the numbers of people we felt needed it, and we have not been able to respond properly to the numbers of calls we had originally hoped to support. We have done barely any advertising as we have had a steady stream of enquiries yet without the staff and resources to effectively offer more. But for those families we have helped, we know that the majority of those clients have had the service we set out to provide. Both myself and Sarah have sacrificed financial security to ensure this project becomes something fair and ethical, with a big vision at the helm, and we have been running this project on nothing more than a shoestring trickle of donations and a lot of faith. (Thank you to our supporters – we are STILL HERE because of YOU!).
We know that a number of clients cannot afford much, and we do not want to start charging set ‘fees’ in the traditional sense, but it is absolutely critical that we find a creative way for clients to become part of resourcing us and ensuring our survival, or, quite simply, this project will not make it without your help.
However, we believe we have finally come up with a solution… ANCHOR.
ANCHOR will replace the previous membership donation and make what we offer into a much more professional service. ANCHOR can be paid for up-front (£75) or monthly or weekly instalments (£12.50 per session) for a unique 6-part course which contains a lot of the advice we give to all our clients via a video link that can only be accessed once a payment has been received. ANCHOR covers various topics such as creating clear strategies, knowing how to file documents, making subject access requests and having positive language when in meetings. A few clients have trialled the content and it has been labelled “profound”, “holistic”, “a priceless resource”, and “more than a lawyer would offer”. Rather than legal advice, it covers non-legal principles that include human behaviour, psychology, ethics and philosophy that guide and hold your case firm during the storm – ANCHORing you for a better way through. If you understand power, coercion, trust and collaboration, you will have a much stronger approach when dealing with these matters in your life. That’s what we have created, a package, a toolkit – an ANCHOR.
There will be a gradual transition towards focussing our resources on those clients who have committed to the ANCHOR programme, and have paid for the materials. It is not a formal requirement for all clients YET, but it might be a stipulation for some clients, in order for us to assist them to the best of our ability. The plan is, once you have signed up to ANCHOR, you then get allocated an advocate if one is available. Other ‘fees’ (e.g. McKenzie Friend court hearings or meeting attendance) can be divided monthly according to people’s affordability and will be invoiced after completion of the ANCHOR programme, rather than billed immediately with loss of services if payment is not complied with. We are determined not to go down that road. There will be clients who cannot pay the amount we are asking, we know that times are difficult. Please negotiate with us as we do not want to exclude anyone on account of costs. There might be other ways to commit, such as fundraising and marketing for us. ANCHOR will initially cover access to the resources for a minimum 6 months, and as long as the client maintains a monthly commitment, the access will be kept open, and additional advocacy and support will be provided on top. Exact details of this will be decided upon over the next few months, in the meantime, we would welcome comments about how this might be managed effectively.
We hope that clients can grasp the need for us to remain financially in the black in order to move forward with our vision that ALL parents and carers should be able to reach out to an advocate, someone who can discern the deeper power structures and opportunities that can shape a case. We want to ensure our model of advocacy is replicable, understandable, and accessible to all.
Thank you for reading this message. Be patient with us while we are in the process of updating our website, our messages and content towards a better service with ANCHOR at the centre of the support we offer. If you want to subscribe to ANCHOR, please email anchor@theautonomyhotline.org, requesting a payment link, or make a donation via the stripe page: www.theautonomyhotline.org/donate. You will be sent an email with the links embedded in the message for you to access. Listen in the car, while doing housework, or going for a walk… A booklet is being finalised in order for you to make your own notes and plans while you listen to the content. We will send these as soon as we have this ready.
We would be very interested to hear from professionals in law, education or social work who might be interested in purchasing this for their clients, or helping us promote this idea amongst peers. We believe that the content will help support better outcomes for families in conjunction with an advocate who can help guide and assist. Contact n.adolphe@theautonomyhotline.org for an information pack.
If you would like to feedback or comment on any suggestions going forward, please message: enquiries@theautonomyhotline.org. For any other queries or if you have a case you would like us to look into, do call the hotline, 03337721227.
Nicky