Community Call Out

LOCAL NEWS

Community Call Out

South West London Law Centres helps people uphold their everyday rights, by providing free and low-cost legal advice on social justice issues including housing, employment, debt, benefits, asylum and immigration.

Since their first establishment in the early 1970s, law centres have been proudly rooted in the communities they serve, striving to reach all those who need assistance, and shaping their services to meet the needs of local people. A new research project, spearheaded by South West London Law Centres and in part funded by the Community Foundation for Surrey, will map the provision of, and need for, free and low-cost legal advice in Surrey and Kingston to help ensure the needs of those communities are met.

Eve Rogers, SWLLC’s Community Engagement Manager for Surrey said, “we are excited by the opportunity to learn from our neighbours and colleagues across Surrey. Law Centres occupy an exciting position in the struggle for social justice, providing legal representation and advice for those in need, and working collaboratively on campaigns to achieve real social change locally and beyond.”

“With insights from those living and working in Surrey we’ll be able to map out the different projects already fighting to improve access to justice and continue to build a network of the people we serve.”

As part of the project, in May 2022, SWLLC launched a ‘Community Consultation,’ in the form of a survey. The consultation is open to residents of Surrey and Kingston, and those who currently work in legal advice provision in the region. The insights and contributions will help create a network of the existing services and direct responses to current community need.

The survey will take 3-5 minutes to complete and can be accessed online by scanning the QR code. Just point your smart-phone camera at the code pictured, or alternatively access it online at: swllc.org/2022/05/09/communityconsultation-surrey-and-kingston/.

Please share it with your networks, to help reach more people and ensure the voices of the community are heard.

If you have any questions, or would like the survey posted to you, translated or in a more accessible format, contact Eve at eve.rogers@swllc. org, or 020 8208 5735. ■