Law Centres Network

📢 LCN is now on Bluesky! Follow for the latest on our work supporting #AccessToJustice across the UK. Let’s stay connected! 🌐🔵 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eZ7SDM6T

Season’s Greetings! The LCN office is closed for the winter break from Monday, 21 December until Friday, 3 January. An enormous thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past year. Check out our newsletter for some 2024 highlights! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eFvUNz6Q

Law Centres go to great lengths to fight for your rights. Help us keep running on! 🏃♂️➡️ We’re excited to announce that LCN will be taking part in the 2025 London Marathon with our very own runner: John McGovern of Central England Law Centre Your support for John's run will help LCN strengthen existing centres and create new ones. Go on, give us a boost! 🚀 👉 https://lnkd.in/dYsv7yRz

Supporting LGBTQ+ people with problems related to housing, employment and immigration. Pride Beats Prejudice is a new free legal advice clinic from Tower Hamlets Law Centre. Find our more and keep an eye out for 2025 clinic dates! 👉 https://lnkd.in/eQAWCPKC

"Tenacious, resilient and never prepared to accept defeat." North West London Law Centres' Marcin Brajta is the winner of the inaugural Nathaniel Mathews Award for excellence or innovation in housing work. Read about Marcin's achievements and Nat's legacy. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eSgTyd8f

Law Centres now make up over 1 in 7 of housing #LegalAid providers and nearly 1 in 8 of immigration legal aid providers. See what LCN and Law Centres are achieving together—all in our new annual review. 👉 https://lnkd.in/exxDCHvb

Calling aspiring social welfare solicitors! 🌟 A new application round for the Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund has just opened. You are eligible if: 👩🏼🎓You are an aspiring solicitor working in social welfare law for organisations serving disadvantaged communities 👨🏿🎓The clear majority of your work is within social welfare law ⚖️ You intend to stay within the field for at least two years after qualification 💼 You have the full support of your current employer Apply by 1pm on 23 December 2024! 🎁 https://lnkd.in/eP3PYwES

Today, the Lord Chancellor announced a minimum 10% uplift in civil #LegalAid fees for housing and immigration work. It's the first pay rise for legal aid lawyers in nearly 30 years. Read LCN's response. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ehQ8fMwf

On Friday, the Law Centres Network held its Annual General Meeting at A&O Shearman in London. Colleagues from across the country joined us alongside Lord Bach and Kate Bell of the Trades Union Congress (The TUC). On the day, we also launched our new annual review. Click the link below to see how we’ve been responding to challenges, strengthening the network and planning for the future over the past year. Chair of Leicester Community Advice and Law Centre, Lord Bach, kicked off the AGM. He told attendees that he and colleagues are “so proud to be part of the Law Centres Network, and so proud of what we do and what we achieve.” Speaking on the state of civil legal aid, Lord Bach continued: “we really do have to change how things are, and we have to do this during the course of this government.” Justice minister, Heidi Alexander MP, passed on a message which was read by LCN chair, Helen Rogers. With #LegalAid in mind, we then turned our attention to Leeds, a city which has been hard hit by legal aid cuts. After a successful vote, we were delighted to welcome our newest Law Centre: Citizens Advice Leeds. We also took time at the AGM to remember lost colleagues. Victoria Fewkes, director of Ealing Law Centre, paid tribute to Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre housing lawyer, Simon “Spike” Mullings, who passed away in the summer. Spike was an inspiration to colleagues across the network, and so too was Hackney Community Law Centre solicitor, Nat Mathews, who passed away two years earlier in May 2022. To commemorate Nat, Hackney Community Law Centre recently launched the Nathaniel Mathews Award for excellence or innovation in Law Centre housing work. At the AGM, we announced the first winner: many congratulations to Marcin Brajta of North West London Law Centres. Marcin is said to reflect Nat’s definition of social justice warrior. Chair of Hackney Community Law Centre, Ian Rathbone, described Marcin accordingly: “He is very tenacious; he won’t accept defeat, and he has pursued some of the most difficult cases to the higher courts.” The AGM concluded with a talk from Kate Bell of the TUC on the Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament. With a view to strengthening workers’ rights, the trade union movement has long been campaigning for this legislation. But as Kate told the AGM: “This legislation will only make a real difference if people have access to justice.” The network couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly, for this is what Law Centres do: they enforce people’s rights. Better enforcement of rights means a society where employers are less likely to exploit workers, where landlords are less likely to exploit tenants, and where public bodies are less likely to neglect their duties. To make this a reality, we need change for legal aid. LCN annual review 2023–24: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eCjayR_V

"It’s tough and it’s getting tougher." Law Centres shield people from homelessness and poverty—to continue this vital work, they need financial security. The government's National Insurance hike for charities is another step in the wrong direction. https://lnkd.in/eRx6zmnR