August Member of the month: Luton Law Centre
What geographical area do you serve? Mainly Borough of Luton, but telephone advice is unrestricted, and we do some immigration and discrimination casework in Bedfordshire and Herts, and housing in Mid-BedfordshireAgency CV
When was your organisation founded? 1989
How many staff/volunteers do you have? 14 paid staff and approx. 12 volunteers
Who are you funded by? Luton Borough Council, EHRC, LSC, Mid Beds DC
What’s the average number of clients you help each year? 6,500
Back to member of the month home page
Can you tell us about an accomplishment your organisation has achieved in the past?
We can’t lay claim to any earth-shattering or history-making legal decisions, but we are extremely proud to be a rock-steady, professional legal service which Luton people find approachable and reliable. We have survived 20 years, plugging away defending people’s rights and extracting their entitlements from the system (£1million gained in welfare benefits and employment tribunal awards and settlements in the last 12 months).
Are there any specialist projects currently under way you would like people to know about?
Our Equalities Advice Project. This is an extension and expansion of our previous Disability Rights Project, under the new Commission’s interim grants programme, so we are now able to cover all the equalities strands, in Goods and Services, and Employment. The project has its own specialist telephone advice service, and provides a full casework service. Geographically it covers Bedfordshire, and also Hertfordshire for Goods and Services cases.
Although we have always provided discrimination casework in employment, this funding now enables us to prioritise equalities work, and offer a comprehensive service across all the strands and areas of law where discrimination can be challenged. So far, we are hitting all the targets, and the work is building and developing well. We fully intend to apply to the EHRC’s three-year grant programme to continue and expand this work from 2009.
Why is your organisation a member of AdviceUK, and why is being a member important for your centre?
Our membership not only plugs us into your excellent information services, but also links us to the wider network of organisations nationally. The collaborative work that is currently going on through the Working for Advice project will forge closer links between the different parts of our very diverse sector – this is essential if we want comprehensive and cohesive advice services across the UK.
What do you think the future will bring in general for advice work?
In an ideal world, public legal education will be so much better and more available, that we will take it for granted that people know their rights and how to exercise them! But in the real world, there will always be people who need professional support and assistance to rescue them from life’s difficulties – we have to make sure we can do that through a combination of ground-level service to the public and the more strategic, policy-based and campaigning work. The advice sector must resist losing our independence by getting sucked into government programmes and hidebound by contract terms.
What are your experiences with funding over time, and has anything changed in that regard lately?
We’ve been very fortunate to have such good financial support from the borough council – this core funding underpins everything we do, keeps us stable and puts us in a strong position to access other funding – for example the EHRC. The changes to legal aid are, and continue to be, a BIG pain and a worry – can’t live with it, can’t live without it.
What would be your top tip for other advice agencies looking to improve their service or sustainability?
Look after your workers – paid staff and volunteers are our greatest asset – God knows they are not in it for the money!
Member login
Search the web using EveryClick
Powered by EveryClick
