Table of contents

What is the skills and support toolkit?

This Skills and Support Toolkit encourages the development of specific skills and knowledge with the aim of giving people the ability to participate more fully in the democratic process should they wish to do so.

What can I get out of the toolkit?

INQUEST’s work with families has found that after the death of a relative many families find it helpful to meet with other families going through shared experiences. Some want to find out more about the circumstances of their relative’s death and some want to campaign to make sure similar deaths are avoided in the future.

How should I use the toolkit?

The Toolkit is split into two sections: 1. Skills and 2. Using the Skills. The skills in the first section aim to help you with planning, getting organised, dealing with people, new situations and information. The second section gives you some information on how you might use these skills to get involved with lobbying, working with other families and using the media.

What skills do I use already?

Look at the skills in this chapter and tick whether you use them often, sometimes or never, and then tick the skills you would like to improve.

Planning day to day activities

Some of the things we need to get on with might not take a lot of planning, but they do need us to take action. We need to set priorities as doing things sooner rather than later can often make life easier.

Things to do lists

Things to do lists are a very simple strategy of staying on top of things. Here are some helpful tips for making the most of your lists.

Action Planning

An action plan is a way of organising the things you need to do and put an idea into practice. It is a way of being clear about what tasks are important, what support you need, and the best time to carry out each task. You can use an action plan for almost anything, no matter how simple or complicated it is.

Dealing with obstacles

Before you can take on new challenges in your life it helps to work out what obstacles you face.

Keeping contact lists

Once you have got into the habit of keeping lists it can be useful to keep a record of important people, telephone numbers, e-mail contacts and addresses. This might be for day to day things like your doctor, dentist, school or college, work numbers etc but it also works well for other families you might be in contact with, people on your local council, legal representatives or support agencies, journalists, other media, local MP etc.

Keeping paperwork organised

Your personal paperwork is made up of documents or letters that give you information about money (e.g. bank statements), bills, insurance, benefits / allowances, health, housing (e.g. mortgage accounts or rent book), jobs (e.g. contracts or code of conduct), school / college, personal information (e.g. passport, will or driving licence).

Keeping a diary

A diary can help you remember information and keep a note of how you use your time. Some people also use their diaries to write down their thoughts or to keep a note of what they did on a particular day.

Dealing with important information and facts

Dealing with a sudden death, and the investigation and inquest, their aftermath and all the meetings, reports and possible support work, lobbying or campaigning means you will spend a lot of time listening to, and reading information and facts.

Dealing with officials

From time to time everyone has to deal with officials, such as Benefits Agency staff, local council officers, doctors, teachers, employers, or staff from the investigation bodies, coroner’s court or police / prison service. It can be difficult dealing with officials. Their decisions can have a big impact on your life.

Planning to travel

There is every chance that you will need to travel to new places during this process. This may be for the inquest; it could be to meet lawyers, caseworkers or to attend an INQUEST Family Forum or other types of meetings.

Meetings

You may have experience of meetings through work, trade union membership, volunteer work, social activities or through any community or faith groups to which you belong. If you have no experience of formal meetings there are a number of aspects to meetings and it is worth looking at these so you know what to expect.

Speaking in public

Speaking in public is a valuable skill to develop. The skills are transferable to any type of situation where you need to speak to a group of people.

Dealing with information

Families have told INQUEST that the official information they receive is often difficult to understand and its purpose is unclear. This can include investigative reports, coroners’ rulings, official letters, reports or documents.

Giving information

The death of a family member is emotionally distressing and can be even more difficult when the death is unexpected. Most people will have no idea about the practical tasks that need to be sorted out and it’s hard to make sure all the necessary information regarding the death is passed on to those that need it.

Researching information

Finding out information about the state, prison service, police forces, health authorities or other public bodies can be difficult. Some families need more information about where they stand legally, about what care is expected from these bodies, or want to investigate more thoroughly for the benefit of other families, campaigns, publicity or lobbying.

The Freedom of Information Act

Trying to establish facts and information from large government departments, local authorities or institutions like the police or prisons has always been difficult and often shrouded in secrecy. This is especially true when there has been a sudden death, the circumstances are hard to explain, or specific questions arise on important matters like staffing numbers, healthcare or staff training.

Getting help with written information

When a family is faced with a sudden death there is a likelihood that one of the things that can present difficulties is the paperwork that follows. From registering a death, information about probate and wills, benefit entitlements, to investigation reports, letters and documents, families are put in a position of becoming “experts” in a subject that very few have ever had to deal with before.

What is working with MPs and policymakers?

Working with MPs and policymakers is also called “lobbying” which simply means getting people who make decisions at a senior level in organisations, local councils or government to support your cause or campaign. Anyone can lobby their local authority or MP, from individuals, to organisations such as INQUEST which supports families in an effort to change policy at a national level.

Working with local councillors

Your local council has legal responsibility for matters such as housing and homelessness, children and young people’s services, adult social care and education. Although not always directly linked, some of these issues can have a knock-on effect that may be relevant to you and your case. Each council (or local authority) has to carry out government policy at a local level.

How can I work with my MP?

All MPs can be contacted by e-mail, letter or phone or at a surgery at their constituency office. Your MP should respond to your requests, and listen to your concerns. Most MPs (not all of course) respond positively to specific requests: it saves them having to work out the best way forward, and it makes you look like you mean business and won’t waste their time.

Working with other MPs and parliament

As well as working with your own MP you can try to influence others in parliament in a number of different ways; Petitions: a written petition can be presented to Downing Street. You can also start an e-petition. These are an easy, personal way for you to influence government and Parliament in the UK.

Working with INQUEST

One of INQUEST’s core values is to “ensure that the collective experience of those with whom we work is fed back to the relevant policy makers”. In short INQUEST helps involve families with lobbying. The organisation is committed to helping families engage with the people who have the power to make real and lasting change.

The power of local media

Most elected representatives are as concerned about their local media coverage as about appearing in the national press. They have to work hard to keep a good reputation with the local media. They also read local papers so they can stay in touch with what is happening in their area.

Contacting your MP

To find out whom your MP is you can do a quick internet search: www.findyourmp.parliament.uk or you can telephone the House of Commons Public Information Office: 020 7219 4272. For any other parliamentary information refer to: hcinfo@parliament.uk.

Some useful parliamentary terms

Find out the meaning and definition of these terms: Bill, Early Day Motion (EDM), Adjournment debate, Green Paper, White Paper, PPS

Working with other families

INQUEST was founded by families, and continues to work with and support families. This may be in the form of legal casework, emotional support, campaigns, or with practical support regarding the investigative and inquest system. But it also goes deeper than that.

The Family Forum

The Family Forum meets twice a year, and gives families the opportunity to meet new people, to share their experiences, and to feed back to INQUEST their thoughts, feelings and ideas on a range of issues which are established by agenda before the meeting. Travel expenses are paid and tea, coffee and lunch are provided.

Other ways you can help

Attending the family forum is one way of getting involved with other families, but mutual support is broader than that. One of the most crucial of these is attending inquests with another family. Families who have not had their inquest yet can attend another family’s inquest and find out what happens. They have the chance to see how the process works first hand and prepare better for their own inquest.

Tips for working with other families

Before getting involved think about how much time and commitment you want to give. Use some of the tools in Section 1 to help you plan. Don’t worry about specific skills (although if you have specialist knowledge that would be great), try and identify things that you can do to get involved.

Using the media

Achieving changes to the way a system or policy works relies on getting a message across – whether to policy makers, politicians, members of the public, other families, or to other campaigning groups and organisations. People now have greater access to creating their own media outlets than ever before.

Preparing to use the media

The most accessible source of media coverage tends to be newspapers, especially local papers. There is a chance that your local press may have covered the death, the circumstances of the death and may even carry information regarding the inquest.

Press release contents

Always date your media release and provide an embargo date (which requires them to not publish information until the date specified) if required, and gives journalists time to research a story. You need an attention-grabbing headline that will give a concise summary of the story.

Radio and Television

Large campaign groups and lobbying organisations spend a lot of money employing people to take care of their media strategy and public relations. This is how they develop a big enough public profile to feature regularly on radio and TV. This is not an option for family campaigns, and it is very difficult to force your way onto the national media.

Social media

Social media, like websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, has changed the way people use the media. Over half the UK population has a Facebook account. You can use Facebook to talk about your campaign, contact supporters and get people talking about what matters to you.

What to do if you are receiving unwanted attention from the press

This section has concentrated so far on families using the media for their benefit and trying to set the news agenda. Sadly there are also cases where families have found the press and media to be intrusive, threatening and produced stories that show the families of those who have died, and / or their relative, in a bad light.

Tips for using the media

Be clear about what you want your message to be before you engage with the media. What do you want to say and why? Make up a list of media outlets, with names, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. Update it regularly. Every media organisation works to a deadline. Find out what they are.

What is campaigning?

INQUEST was founded by families campaigning. This is its history, and is something that shapes the organisation to this day. The original campaigns were set up by the friends and family of Blair Peach, Jimmy Kelly and Liddle Towers after deaths following contact with the police, and Mathew O’Hara and Richard Campbell following deaths in prison.

Some examples of family campaigns

Family campaigns rely on individuals and groups finding ways to change things. They share much in common such as demands for justice, truth, and reform but also vary in what they want to achieve in the long term, tactics, size of the campaign and the amount of support they receive.

Tips on campaigning

Decide what you want to achieve before getting involved and set that as your objective or aim. Do some research in advance – find out what’s going on already, what the government is doing on the issue, policy, other groups, or families who might have been affected.