HCLC News

The Sustainable Advice in Hackney Project, led by HCLC, is pleased to launch www.hackneyadvice.org.uk, a comprehensive one-stop shop of advice services being delivered in the London Borough of Hackney.

DIRECTORY - The website has a directory of local advice services, enabling local people and advisors to look up the organisations most appropriate for them. To register your organisation and

Andrew McGowan (pictured above) volunteered with HCLC for a month in June 2014.

Andrew is a PhD physics student who recently converted to studying law at the University of Richmond School of Law. Over the course of his internship with HCLC, Andrew worked closely with Senior Housing Solicitor Wendy Pettifer and was an invaluable member of our team. As well as his academic inter

The Sustainable Advice in Hackney Project is pleased to invite you to a  'SOCIAL HOUSING COMMUNITY INFORMATION SESSION'

The session will cover the Council’s new lettings policy including:   - who is and who is not eligible to be offered social housing;   - what criteria residents need to meet to be eligible for social housing;  - what checks the council will make when peopl

On Monday 16th June 2014, HCLC's Chair, staff, interns, board members and patrons took part in the Justice Alliance Campaign's Magna Carta day protest against the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling's legal aid "reforms". June 15th marked the 799th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta Charter and so to raise awareness of the current threat to the UK's rule of law - as a result of the

On Friday 20th June 2014 between 10.30am and 1pm, Hackney Community Law Centre will be delivering a free Pop-Up legal advice session (as part of Adult Learners' Week) at Clapton Library, Northwold Rd, London E5 8RN.  If you or someone you know has a legal problem they need help with then please pop in. Adult Learners Week is a national event running between 14-21 June 2014. In Hackney, Adult

On Monday 19 May 2014, Hackney Community Law Centre (HCLC) participated in the 10th London Legal Walk organised by the London Legal Support Trust.  

The 10km walk saw more than 10,000 walkers proceed through London, on foot, to raise funds for charities and law centres providing advice to some of London's most vulnerable people. HCLC was really pleased and extremely grateful to be walking with

HCLC is pleased to offer a specialist employment law drop-in advice service at the Centre every Wednesday morning.  

The service is funded by Trust for London.   Please download a leaflet with more information about the types of employment law problems we might be able to help you with HERE.

HCLC is pleased to introduce our fabulous interns Ishaq Shah  and Ervin Gjoleka! Ishaq Shah (left of photo) became a HCLC intern since January 2014.  

Ishaq has been working exclusively with HCLC's Senior Immigration Advisor Hilton von Herbert on immigration and asylum cases. Two of the more complex cases Ishaq has been working on have involved non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals wh

A disabled couple are celebrating after HCLC Benefits Caseworker Marie Froysa Hole (pictured right) helped them to win a Ј10,000 payout from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The client was a disabled Polish national who tried to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) but had been refused on the basis that he did not meet the 'habitual residence test'.  HCLC appealed the DWP's

On Tuesday 1st April, HCLC Housing Solicitor Tayyabah Ahmed (pictured above) attended a special 'Ask The Expert' event at the House of Commons hosted by Stella Creasy, the Member of Parliament for Walthamstow. Since April 2013, HCLC has been running a housing advice service in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, including operating a special housing law drop-in service at Lea Bridge Library ev

The London Borough of Hackney has produced a new guide called 'What you need to know about renting from a private landlord'.

The guide explains how the Council can help privately-renting tenants, as well as information on the legal rights and also responsibilities of tenants and landlords. Read and download the guide HERE.

The Money Advice Service is an independent service set up by the government to help people manage their money better. It has just published new information about the Universal Credit benefit.

The information contains five animated videos to help claimants understand different aspects of Universal Credit including: How to choose a bank account; How to open a bank account; How to

On Monday 24th February 2014, Hackney Community Law Centre was delighted to have Maurice Wren address our Annual General Meeting as  its Guest Speaker.  

Maurice (pictured above) is the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, a leading UK charity working directly with refugees and asylum seekers and supporting them to rebuild their lives.  Maurice gave a stimulating and detailed talk of aroun

On Wednesday 19th February 2014, HCLC Housing Solicitors Wendy Pettifer (pictured right) and Tayyabah Ahmed joined other charities and housing campaigners working in Waltham Forest to examine the issue of ‘Street’ Homelessness in the borough.

Since April 2013, HCLC has been providing housing advice in Waltham Forest as there is currently no Law Centre in the borough. The seminar was hosted

Please find an electronic version of the 2013 Annual Report of the Hackney Community Law Centre available to read and download HERE.

If you would like to be emailed the PDF or receive a printed copy of the report please get in touch. Hard copies of the report will be available at HCLC's Annual General Meeting on Monday 24th February 2014, 7pm at the Salvation Army, 122 Lower Clapton Roa

On Thursday 23rd January 2014, representatives of Hackney's advice agencies, the local council, corporate partners, sister law centres and advice agency volunteers, attended the official launch of Hackney's Big Lottery Funded 'Sustainable Advice in Hackney' project.  

The launch was hosted by the Turkish and Kurdish Halkevi Community Centre.  The Big Lottery set up the nationwide Advice Servic

Hackney Community Law Centre’s next Annual General Meeting will take place at : The Salvation Army, 122-124 Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0QR On Monday 24 February 2014 between 7pm and 9pm.

We are delighted that Maurice Wren, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, will be addressing the meeting as the key note speaker. You can download the meeting notice here and a nomination form t

HCLC is delighted to welcome James Krumrey-Quinn as a new intern.  

James (pictured right) comes from Australia where he was called to the New South Wales Supreme Court in July 2012. In Australia, James volunteered as a clerk to a Judge in the Supreme Court of South Australia and was also an intern at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in Accra, Ghana, where he attended police stations to

On Monday 6th January 2014, HCLC staff and interns joined barristers, solicitors and campaigners from all over the country to protest at  Government proposals to make even more cuts to criminal legal aid.

This was the first time ever in the history of the Criminal Bar, that practising barristers had walked out of court, en mass, to take industrial action. HCLC was represented at the prote