BLC outreach projects
Housing Associations Legal Advice Project
In partnership with Ashram Housing Association, we take referrals of tenants directly from housing association officers for priority legal advice and representation on debt, welfare benefits and community care.
We offer specialist advice to the housing associations themselves through our solicitor advice service and have also set up the innovative Family Trust Fund. This is a pioneering project set up to assist with the reward of tenants for their participation in the running of the Housing Association. Payments made to tenants are through the trust fund on the basis of points awarded through the scheme as well as a needs assessment. This helps to overcome what we see as the significant problem of rewarding tenants with cash or vouchers putting their entitlement to means tested benefits in danger.
Sure Start Children’s Centres
We have been working in partnership with Sure Start Children’s Centres for a number of years and provide either dedicated, on-site staff or drop-in sessions to give advice on debt, welfare benefits, housing and community care. We work with:
We can also, by arrangement, provide training to Children's Centre staff on welfare-law matters.
Face-2-Face Advice Project
This project, funded through the Department for Business Innovation & Skills financial inclusion fund, is partly outreach and partly office-based and provides face-to-face debt and benefits advice and representation.
Bangladeshi Legal Resource Project
This project, operated in partnership with the Bangladesh Centre in Sparkbrook, provides drop-in advice sessions at the Centre once a week, operated by Bengali-speaking BLC workers. Cases involving further representation are referred back to BLC.
