Central England Law Centre

Birmingham Community Law Centre opened in October 2013 and in its first two years has helped over 1800 people. We provide legal advice on benefits, debt, community care, immigration and public law from our offices in Sparkbrook. We are part of Central England Law Centre which has offices in both Coventry and Birmingham. The new service was set up in the Bangladesh Centre on Walford Road in Sparkbrook. As our first backers, the Bangladesh Centre very kindly allowed us to establish the new law centre in their building on a rent free basis. This support was invaluable to us as we looked to keep costs as low as possible in the early months. We attracted initial funding from Barrow Cadbury, Yardley Great Trust, Friends Hall Farm Street Trust, The Grimmitt Trust, Harry Payne Trust, Access to Justice Foundation, AB Charitable Trust, DLA Piper and Birmingham Law Society in order to set up the new law centre. Since then, we have been successful in a bid for funding from The Baring Foundation/Comic Relief and Unbound Philanthropy for a project assisting destitute migrant families. We have also received a grant from WA Cadbury as well as funding for a debt advice project from the Money Advice Service. Like all law centres, BCLC defends the legal rights of people who cannot afford a lawyer. We are a not-for-profit, solicitor- led legal advice agency able to provide an holistic service to the most vulnerable and deprived members of society. We deal with the law that affects everyday life: welfare benefits, debt, housing, community care, immigration and asylum, as well as employment and discrimination and public law. Birmingham Community Law Centre's approach is to combine practical legal solutions at an early stage alongside complex and strategic legal challenges that can positively affect many other clients following behind.