Registered Charity Number: 290792
Registered Company Number: 1687570
WE PROVIDE FREE LEGAL ADVICE TO RESIDENTS OF WEST LONDON AND SURROUNDING AREAS
About Hillingdon Law Centre
The Law Centre’s main objectives are to provide free legal advice and representation to poor, vulnerable and excluded members of society, and to undertake research into the special problems causing and arising from poverty.
Law Centres are unique community organisations and were to set up to overcome the difficulties faced by people who need access to the legal system. Free, publicly provided legal advice should be available to everyone, not just to those with financial resources or those that can get legal aid because of their low income. There are many areas of law where legal aid is not available. This means that even in areas where fundamental rights are disputed there is no access to the legal system.
The first Law Centre in Hillingdon was set up in 1975. The organisation now owns its own building and employs six staff - four full-time caseworkers, one part-time caseworker, one part-time reception/administration worker and a part- time legal assistant. Brief outlines of the services that we provide are given in our leaflet. The Centre has successfully obtained a contract from the Legal Services Commission in Welfare Benefits, Housing, Employment and Debt.
The Centre has been funded for the last few years from three main sources, London Councils (formerly London Boroughs Grants and A.L.G.) the London Borough of Hillingdon and the Big Lottery. As from April 2007, the London Borough of Hillingdon cut our £50,000 per year grant completely. We have been awarded grants from the City Parochial Trust, Lloyds TSB and Hillingdon Community Trust. Funders undertake periodic evaluation of the grants that they give. All funders are concerned with ensuring the best value achievable for their money.
We also have a contract with the Legal Services Commission, who pays us for work done against contract hours. This is not a grant and does not cover core costs. The Centre probably has the largest catchment area in the country – the residential population of Hillingdon is 249,000 and of Harrow it is 211,000. The Centre also acts for people who live in other boroughs of West London, for example Ealing, Hounslow and Brent.
We are always happy to receive donations and our staff participate in a yearly sponsored walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust to raise money for the centre. Visit our JustGiving page to see how much we raised this year: http://www.justgiving.com/Hillingdon-Law-Centre
How we work:
- Staff have a high level of individual responsibility for the quality and effectiveness of their own work, as the Centre is managed collectively on a day to day basis. All staff are expected to attend the fortnightly staff meetings to exercise this management role. Volunteers are expected to show a certain level of commitment.
- Relationships in the Centre and with clients are informal and not based on traditional hierarchies. There is no dress code within the Centre.
- There are opportunities for further study and the Centre encourages its staff/volunteers to take an interest in new developments in the Law.
- There is flexibility over time off, which is arranged by mutual consent.
The final management responsibility, the policies and the strategic planning of the Centre are in the hands of a Management Committee, which holds full meetings every month as well as regular meetings of its sub-committees. The Management Committee comprises representatives of local organisations and members of the community with relevant skills and interests in our work. Staff report on their work to the Management Committee on a regular basis and attendance at their evening meeting is expected from time to time. Directors on the Management Committee are unpaid volunteers.
Volunteers play an important, integral role in the running of the Law Centre in the following capacities:
- Members of the Management Committee
- Volunteer reception/administration/clerical workers
- Volunteers who help caseworkers
- Volunteer solicitors who give free advice at our advice sessions
Without volunteers the Centre would not be able to function and their importance cannot be under estimated.
We are a member of the Law Centres Federation. “The Law Centres Federation encourages the development of publicly funded legal services for those most disadvantaged in society and promotes the Law Centre model as the best means of achieving this”.