HCLC News

We are delighted to announce that we have now launched a new text message service for young people from Hackney!

Young people aged 16-25 from Hackney, who need help with a homelessness or welfare benefits problem, will now be able to text HCLC direct and receive a call back from us to find out how we can help them. All the young person needs to do is text the word 'advice' to 07860 017 253.

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‘Next Generation – Rights and Responsibilities’ - A debate about what the law means to young people in 21st Century Britain.  

Please join us! Date: Monday April 29th 2013 Time: 6.30pm – 8pm Venue: London’s Living Room, London City Hall, Queens Walk, London SE1 1AA Nearest tube/rail: London Bridge The JusticeGap (www.justicegap.com) has joined forces with Hackney Comm

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In April 2013, the Government made major changes to the welfare benefits scheme.  There are several changes and the impact upon you will depend on your personal circumstances.

Below is a list of the changes that have been made: Under Occupation – Spare bedroom (s) From April 2013, Housing Benefit has been reduced for working age people living in council and Housing Association properti

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We are delighted to announce that, with the help of students and pro bono staff from BPP Law School, we have now launched a new service to help people fill out their Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) forms.

ESA and DLA application forms can prove very difficult to fill out correctly.  We want to make sure that any resident in Hackney who is entitled to r

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Wendy Pettifer, HCLC Senior Housing Solicitor, (pictured right) spoke at the Campaign for Benefit Justice conference, which took place at Birbeck University on the 9th of Match 2013.

Wendy chaired the Workshop on ‘Legal Remedies to challenge the benefits cuts’ with Liz Davies, barrister of Garden Court Chambers and speakers from the Mental Health Resistance network. Wendy's speaking no

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‘Mind the Justice Gap' is our joint Public Legal Education project in partnership with the Justice Gap, the UCL Centre for Access to Justice and the Hackney Council of Voluntary Services.  

The project is aimed at young people and is to help explain their legal rights and demystify the law. Mind the JusticeGap will be an online advice guide about the law aimed at young people informed directl

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We are deeply honoured that Andrew Caplen, current Deputy Vice President of the Law Society, chose to make his first-ever visit to a UK Law Centre on Thursday by visiting HCLC!

Andrew, who was accompanied by Morag Goldfinch, London Regional Manager of the Law Society, spent an hour and a half at the Centre talking to staff and volunteers about HCLC's work and the current challenges facing ou

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The National Housing Federation has produced a comprehensive leaflet which sets out the changes to housing benefit and provides advice and information for tenants.

You can download a copy of the leaflet HERE.

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We are delighted to announce that 'Dalston Pop-Up', our dedicated evening debt and consumer law advice service, in partnership with BPP Law School; Debevoise and Plimpton LLP; Faegre Baker Daniels LLP; Law Works; and the London Borough of Hackney Libraries Service , has been shortlisted for a Halsbury Legal Award! The Halsbury Legal Awards celebrate excellence in the law and great contri

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We were delighted to welcome Jean Lambert MEP (pictured right) to the Centre on Friday 15th February 2013. Jean, who is a Member of the European Parliament representing London, became a Patron of HCLC in March of last year. During the visit to the Law Centre, Jean met our caseworkers, volunteers and interns and heard about one case in which a care leaver HCLC had helped with a housing iss

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Since September, Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf (pictured right) has been volunteering with HCLC every Monday evening after school.

Jorrit, who is 14 years old, lives in Hackney and attends the City of London Boys School. Jorrit got in touch with the Law Centre about becoming a volunteer because he says he finds law very interesting and he also wanted to carry out some voluntary work as part of his

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HCLC Solicitor backs campaign to save Vadim Kuramshin....  [Read More]

We are delighted to announce that, following the 2013 Annual General Meeting of the Hackney Community Law Centre, which took place on Monday 28th January 2013, we now have three fantastic new Board Members in Mary-Rachel McCabe, Elizabeth Ladipo and Adenike Ojo (pictured left to right).

After graduating in Law with Spanish from the University of Sussex, Mary-Rachel (pictured left) spent six m

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Please find an electronic version of the 2012 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.

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Introducing Immigration Volunteer Lizzette!

Since October, Lizzette Robletto-Gonzalez has volunteered with HCLC to assist us with our immigration and asylum casework.  Lizzette came to the UK in 1995 from Nicaragua.   As well as doing her placement with HCLC, Lizette also has a full time job as a Policy and Advocacy officer for 'Progressio', a non-governmental organisation worki

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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 28 January 2013 between 7.00pm and 9.00pm

For further details email : info@hclc.org.uk/ bella@hclc.org.uk or call 0208 985 5236

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Hackney Community Law Centre is now seeking to recruit two suitable people for our intern programme. Applicants must be able to attend at least 4 days per week for a total of 12 weeks and will ideally have completed their LL.B, GDL, LPC or BPTC courses and are about to consider looking for pupillages or training contracts. Interested applicants should be able to start with us at the begi

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'Mind the Justice Gap' is our joint Public Legal Education project in partnership with the Justice Gap, the University College London’s Centre for Access to Justice and the Hackney Council of Voluntary Services.  

The project is aimed at young people and is to help explain their legal rights and demystify the law.  Mind the JusticeGap will be an online advice guide about the law aimed at y

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 On Wednesday 21st November, HCLC was delighted to welcome Lord Willy Bach (pictured left) and one of our fantastic patrons Jon Robins, editor of the Justice Gap (pictured right) to the Centre.  

Lord Bach, a former barrister, who has served as both Justice Minister in Government and Shadow Justice Minister in opposition, has been a staunch supporter and defender of Law Ce

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