Starting Mediation

Step One: Contact us

Our office can be contacted in the following ways:

By phone - 020 8575 9500
By e-mail - Admin@ealingmediation.org.uk
By letter - EMS, Greenford Community Centre, 170 Oldfield Lane South, Greenford UB6 9JS

You may not know at this point if mediation is suitable for you, or you might just want to know more about mediation.
Our staff will talk to you in confidence about your issue and you can then decide if mediation is right for you. They will listen to your experiences and explain how mediation can help you. No one will force you to try mediation but we can explain the benefits and explore any barriers.

You may refer yourself or you may choose to be referred by your landlord or other agency. Referral agencies can request a copy of our standard referral form as guidance to refer a case.

Step Two: Deciding if both parties wish to proceed

If you are willing to go ahead with the idea of mediation then, with your permission, we will contact your neighbour(s) and introduce them to the Service and the benefits of mediation.

If the parties agree to mediation, and the Service assesses that the case is suitable, we can then arrange for parties to separately meet with two of our mediators.
This is to enable our mediators to hear about the problem, explain in more detail what mediation is about, explore options and to discuss and agree the next steps, including preparation for a joint mediation session.

This pre-meeting might take place at a neutral venue some days in advance of any joint meeting or immediately before the joint session depending on assessment of the case.
A pre-meeting usually takes no more than one hour.

Pre-meetings usually only take place in your own home if you have an illness or disability that might prevent you from travelling, if there are childcare issues or if clients are particularly vulnerable or have very limited availability.

Step Three: The mediation session

If you and your neighbour(s) agree, the Service will arrange a joint meeting at a neutral venue at a time/day convenient for all participants (yourself, the other party and the mediators). This meeting might take place immediately after the pre-meetings on the same day if that is suitable.

This meeting will be facilitated by two of our professionally trained volunteer mediators. A mediator acting as observer, to give feedback to the mediators, may also be present.

The meeting has a clear structure and ground rules. It is an opportunity for you and your neighbour to meet together in a safe environment and air your feelings and views about the situation openly, in confidence, and without interruption.

You and your neighbour will each separately get a chance to talk uninterrupted for about ten minutes about the problem. The mediators will sum up what each of you has said and then help you both to generate constructive discussion about how the problem can be resolved. They will encourage you and your neighbour to reach a mutually acceptable outcome, ideally an agreement, which you can live with in the future.

You should make yourself available for two to three hours for such a meeting. You may bring along a supporter – a friend or family member – who is invited to observe but cannot actively participate. We can arrange for a sign or language interpreter.

Should you and your neighbour decide to proceed with mediation but due to practicalities, fear or emotions either of you decides you cannot face your neighbour face to face, mediators may be prepared to offer a shuttle mediation meeting.

This will usually be held at a neutral venue at a time/day convenient for all participants (yourself, the other party and the mediators) however you and your neighbour would be in separate rooms during the process, unless you both decide to meet together.

Shuttle mediation is not usually as effective as a face to face mediation and we urge clients to fully explore the barriers to meeting face to face.