A charity is offering free employment advice to people in Harrow in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Work Rights Centre, based in High Road, Willesden, has set up a virtual clinic for residents that will run over the next six months.

It covers several employment issues, such as help with finding a job, advice around employment rights, such as redundancy pay, and support around Universal Credit applications.

Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, co-founder of Work Rights Centre, explained it has a “duty” to help people where it can and urged people to consider getting in touch on the phone, via email or through social media.

She explained it is particularly important at a time where there is uncertainty brought on by major events like the pandemic and the UK’s exit from the European Union.

The charity’s services are free, confidential, and available in a variety of languages – English, Bulgarian, Italian, Romanian, Russian and Spanish.

Lora Tabakova, service provision manager at Work Rights Centre, said staff will strive to assist people from start to finish.

She said: “Every week we hear from people who are close to breaking point.

“Losing your job doesn’t just hurt financial security. It hurts your mental health, your whole sense of self-esteem.

“But we take our time, we listen, and then we go to work. Sometimes this starts with issuing food vouchers for people who are in really dire straits.

“We’ll stand by them until they have a CV, get some experience and self-confidence, so they can get back on their feet. There’s always a way.”

The charity was founded in 2016 initially to support Eastern Europeans in north-west London entering “precarious” job markets often based on an “economy of favours”.

It has since recovered £61,000 for people who saw unfair reductions from their wages, has made more than 300 welfare applications, assisted more than 300 people in finding stable work, and made hundreds of settled status applications.

Both Harrow and Brent Council have supported the organisation in the past, through neighbourhood community infrastructure levy (NCIL) funding and Covid-19 grants.