The Colombian community in London - Geography - Queen Mary ...

Other service providers used by Colombians in relation to advice, most often immigration
advice, were private advisors and lawyers. Indeed, 42% of people had used a private lawyer
or advisor. Almost half of these had consulted a lawyer using legal aid, with a further 22%
using a Latin American lawyer and 29% using a lawyer without legal aid. Costs varied from
£10 per hour to £5,000 for the whole case. Although many people consulted lawyers for
immigration advice, they also used them for other reasons such as establishing businesses,
divorce or probate. According to a Latin American lawyer working very closely with the
community, immigration issues are the most common, followed by employment abuses
(mainly people being dismissed without pay), and people getting caught with false papers
(linked mainly with the recent crack-down). Those in managerial and professional jobs were
more likely to consult private lawyers (52%) compared with elementary workers (28%).
Perceptions of lawyers were mixed. In general, people often felt that paying someone to deal
with problems meant a better service was secured. However, there were also cases of people
paying large sums of money and getting nothing in return.
Role of churches
Almost 90% of Colombians identified with some form of religion, mainly Roman Catholic
(76%), but also Evangelical Christian (10%). 66% attended church services with 31.5% of
people attending every week and another 34.8% going sometimes. Among those who
attended church, 76% went to Roman Catholic services while 21% went to Evangelical
services. The vast majority of people attended religious services specifically aimed at Latin
Americans (held by Latin American priests and pastors in Spanish or Portuguese). More
women than men went to church services on a weekly basis (40% compared with 23%).
Many people also used churches as source of services and advice for Latin Americans that
extend beyond religious guidance and practices and included immigration, education and
health support. For example, a priest from the Catholic Chaplaincy (interviewed in 2010)
noted:
„The services through the chaplaincy are baptisms for children, information for young
people, bible study, prayer groups, charismatic groups ... everything is in Spanish and
is free for them. We also provide advice. We have a free GP for people, and a lawyer
in Spanish who comes and gives advice every Thursday for free. She works with legal
issues and gives free advice. We also have a group of doctors who can help people
who can‟t visit doctors and they give prescriptions.‟
The church also provides social and psychological support to help people to cope with living in
London. As 50 year-old Jaime (interviewed in 2005) who attended a Catholic mass stated: „We
support each other because we‟re here for the same reason. We understand each other‟.
However, the support was usually among fellow church goers as 28 year-old Milena
(interviewed in 2005), who was part of an Evangelical church noted: „I trust in some people
from my church, but not those who aren‟t Christians.
For non-believers, the church can still provide support, with several people admitting to not
believing in God but going to church in order to make friends. For example, 43 year-old José
from Cali (interviewed in 2010) noted:
„I go to all the churches, but I don‟t believe, I go in order to socialise, to make friends, to
construct a network of friends who are my sources of support. That‟s my objective, not
faith‟.
Although there was little difference in attendance patterns among those in different occupation
groups, there was some controversy among Colombians about the tithes that people had to
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