LAW CENTRES FEDERATION
Make Law For All
Very few of us can afford a lawyer when things go wrong, and Legal Aid is not there for most of us. So when someone is threatened with eviction, loses their job, or suffers domestic abuse, their right to justice hangs in the balance. Acting as a fifth emergency service, Law Centres are there to help them. Our campaign will increase their capacity and start to rebalance the justice system.
It ran from 12:00 PM, 30 November 2021 to 12:00 PM, 7 December 2021
Registered Charity in England and Wales (1088588)
Match funded Campaign target
£36,000
Amount raised
£37,195
Donations
136
Championed by Human Rights Fund
Location
United Kingdom
Campaign overview
Aims
Where's the money going?
Impact & reporting
Situation
When people seek help from Law Centres, their legal issues are often intertwined with or the result of non-legal problems. For example, someone being advised about eviction may well need help with personal debts, which if unresolved could lead to the threat of eviction re-emerging. In order to break this cycle of issues and allow someone to move on with their life in the long-term, you have to resolve the non-legal debt problem alongside the legal problem around eviction.
Solution
South West London & Ealing Law Centre have developed a new Crisis Navigator role, which focuses on helping clients address their non-legal issues, such as recovering wrongfully denied benefits or accessing mental health support. Through this holistic support, the Navigators are able to create a more effective solution to the client’s problems, as the cyclical trigger issues causing their legal problems are resolved. LCN wants to work with Law Centres nationally to extend this proven scheme.
"I had just a week until deportation. Because I was fleeing domestic violence the community where I belong wouldn’t accept me because it’s a matter of shame. I’m even scared that they might have killed me. I have a three year old son. If it wasn’t for the Law Centre I might not be alive today."
— Salma, who Camden Law Centre supported through domestic abuse and immigration visa cases.
"All of a sudden you've got no papers, no one knows who you are. I can’t explain, it’s so emotional, what I’ve been through cos of Windrush. The nights I spent on the streets. Homelessness, it’s a wicked thing, it’s a wicked thing.” “If it weren’t for the Law Centre, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”
— Delbert, victim of the Windrush Scandal, who was represented by Hackney Law Centre.