New law centre helps 2,300 people in first year
updated on 25 September 2019
Suffolk Law Centre, launched last year to fill the gap of legal advice services in the county, has helped 2,300 people in its first year.
According to the Suffolk Law Centre Steering Group, Suffolk is “a legal advice desert” with “no legal aid providers in public law, housing and asylum law”. The law centre aims to empower people in the local area to understand and assert their legal rights.
As reported in The Law Gazette Suffolk Law Centre was contacted by 1,399 people for advice in family, employment, housing, immigration, general law and personal injury.
In addition, Suffolk Family Law Support Service helped 233 clients from its weekly helpdesk at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court.
There were no legal aid housing or immigration solicitors in Suffolk until recently, and earlier this year Mid Suffolk was identified by the Law Society as a district with no legal aid housing provider.
Hamil Clarke MBE, chair of the centre's trustees, said: “In our first operational year, we have faced some immediate challenges. We bid for, and were granted, our first ever legal aid contract – housing.”
There is still some way to go in terms of legal advice in the area, but Clarke said, “we are making really good progress towards meeting the legal advice needs of the most vulnerable.”
