Appeal aim
A national Family Support Fund for relatives, young people and children affected by deaths in UK state custody. The first of its kind in the UK.
About the appeal:
The purpose of the Mikey Powell Memorial Family Fund is to ensure that families or their campaign groups across the UK can get access to small grants to provide practical domestic assistance, to further the work of their own campaigns or assist them in engaging in other local, regional or national campaigns, events and initiatives.
The Memorial Family Fund is being set up in remembrance of Mikey Powell and acknowledges the work and campaigning of the late Pauline Campbell.
For example funds would be available for:
- Promotional materials (banners, t-shirts, badges, business cards etc)
- For help with stationary, postal and related items or equipment
- Help towards travel costs to events, inquests or conferences
- Assistance towards the costs of counseling or therapy services
- Support with essential household provisions and bills
- Short holidays and family respite breaks
The fund would be administered centrally by 4WardEver UK, with application panels located around the UK via hub campaigns and organisations such as UFFC, INQUEST, the Northern Police Monitoring Project, Red Alert HELP and a wide range of others.
“Can you help? Make a pledge today and tell a friend!”
About the sponsors:
4WardEver UK was launched on 1st June 2006 by its founder, Tippa Naphtali, the cousin of Mikey Powell, who died in the custody of West Midlands Police, Birmingham, UK in September 2003. 4WardEver UK is a progressive community collective providing news and information sharing services for its readers and members. They also organise and collaborate in community events and are set to launch a support & advocacy service in 2016.
The United Families & Friends Campaign came together in the mid 1990's when a number of family campaigns such as those of Joy Gardner, Brian Douglas, Ibrahim Sey, Harry Stanley and Roger Sylvester decided to work on a common platform. Many individuals and organisations supported them. Since then many others have joined the national network.
Migrant Media supports The Memorial Family Fund by carrying out the production of video materials to visualize the needs of the fund and to maintain public interest. Migrant Media is a collective of activist filmmakers that have been producing ground-breaking documentary films about the resistance of the families to deaths in custody for over twenty years. Beginning with the Joy Gardner case in 1993 through the multi-award feature 'Injustice' in 2001 and recent films about Mark Duggan, Jason McPherson and Sean Rigg.
Other online resources:
Family Fund Facebook page: Visit or join our page and keep updated with the latest. www.facebook.com/nationalfamilyfund
4WardEver Tweeters Weekly: News, event details, appeals, and more. www.paper.li/4WardEver/1314574214
4WardEver on YouTube: Our collection of shared films from around the world. www.youtube.com/user/4WardEver?gl=GB
Twitter thread: Follow our updates on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fund_memorial
Recent related news:
Theresa May to launch independent review of deaths in police custody
source: The Guardian / published: 23 July 2015
Theresa May [announced] plans on Thursday to launch an independent review of deaths in police custody as she vows to stamp out the “evasiveness and obstruction” suffered by families at the hands of the authorities.
The home secretary aims to transform public confidence in the police, declaring that she has been “been struck by the pain and suffering of families still looking for answers”.
The speech, to be given in south London, is expected to touch on some of the most emotive issues in the police’s relationship with the communities it serves and follows five years of barely concealed running warfare between ministers and the police under the Conservative-led coalition.
Share The Cause:
Apart from sharing on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks we have also provided a number of facilities for those that would like to promote the appeal on their websites.
- Share our Facebook page
- Use our Twitter hashtag #nationalfamilyfund
- Share our video on YouTube
- Get our FREE images, buttons and banners
- Circulate and adapt the Official Press Releases
- Embed the appeal panel on your webpage
- Get webpage in HTML format to easily adapt or publish on your blog
About Mikey Powell:
The Friends of Mikey Powell Campaign for Justice was established by the family of Michael Lloyd Powell (known as Mikey), a cousin of the renowned poet and writer, Benjamin Zephaniah, following his death whilst in Police custody.
Mikey was 38 years old and a father of three young children.
He was fit but had suffered several short episodes of mental illness from which he had recovered. One of these episodes occurred on 7th September 2003.
About Pauline Campbell:
Pauline Campbell was found dead on 15 May 2008, not far from the grave of her daughter Sarah. Sarah died in January 2003 in HMP Styal.
Pauline was committed not just to campaigning but also to helping INQUEST’s work in supporting bereaved families.
She was one of a number of bereaved parents who turned their own personal loss into sustained campaign action and protest.