ILPA Well-being Ambassadors

Ambassadors support ILPA’s Well-being Working Group by:

1)      Promoting the activities and ethos of the group;

2)      Encouraging staff and peers to incorporate well-being in their daily work lives;

3)      Representing the values of the Well-being group.

Mala Savjani, Solicitor at Wilson Solicitors LLP for Here for Good

Julianna Barker, Apprentice Legal Executive at Stone King

Brendan Beder, Founder & Director of Beder-Harrison & Co. and Smooth Transitions

Deirdre Sheahan, Associate Solicitor at Paragon Law

Gabriella Bettiga, Director of MGBe Legal and ILPA Trustee

Sunitha Roussel-Milner, Immigration Caseworker at Central England Law Centre

Deepa Chadha, Advice and Training Officer at UKCISA

Philip McNally, Manager at KMPG Ireland

ILPA Well-being Ambassador Handbook

The ILPA Well-being Ambassador Handbook is designed to provide guidance to your Well-being Ambassadors throughout their role as an ILPA Well-being Ambassador.

The Handbook will support them to overcome challenges they come up against relating to mental health and well-being, support them to sign-post colleagues to resources and professional services, provide creative initiatives for the work place and be your companion alongside the formal training you will receive.

We hope that this handbook will be a source of inspiration to those of you who are thinking about developing a well-being handbook or well-being induction pack for your place of work. Happy reading.

… cultivating an inclusive, supportive working environment …

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Allocating time, space and resources to people’s mental health and wellbeing in the work place has to be encouraged. I want to champion wellbeing in the legal profession because cultivating an inclusive, supportive working environment means acknowledging that an individual’s mental health is very important; and that it needs to be looked after.

… growing and urgent need to promote and encourage well-being

These are critical times for the sector in which migrants need more support than ever before with less support available to those who assist them. There is a growing and urgent need to promote and encourage the well-being of those dealing with these increasing pressures. ILPA’s well-being working group has acknowledged and responded to this need, and I have valued and appreciated being a part of this. I hope to be able to continue to support the group in doing this and champion well-being in the sector as a well-being ambassador.

… the importance of finding ways to be happy and healthy …

As we work in a profession that is innately stressful, I think it is hugely important for there to be a space for wellbeing to be discussed openly and freely and for support and signposting to be available. I am excited to be involved in promoting ILPA’s wellbeing strategy and the importance of finding ways to be happy and healthy, to help improve wellbeing within the sector.

ILPA Well-being Conference

A really good event championing an excellent cause. With so many elements of immigration practice getting harder, it feels like the profession has a future if we are all more alert to our own well-being needs.

Immigration Lawyers are uniquely affected by an incredibly fast changing legal landscape …

For over 25 years as an Immigration Law practitioner and for 15 years as a Well-being Coach I have both witnessed and experienced the stresses, frustrations and challenges associated with working within this sector. Immigration Lawyers are uniquely affected by an incredibly fast changing legal landscape which brings with it uncertainty, lack of consistent decision making and vulnerable clients affected by these issues and often their own backgrounds. I care passionately about this initiative and feel well placed to help make a difference.