Our clients need specialist legal advice and representation to give them access to justice that would otherwise be denied to them. By helping them to assert their legal rights, we not only defend their dignity and human rights, but promote their proper place as members of a fully functioning, genuinely inclusive society.
We meet the needs and address the disadvantage of around 1400 clients per year. They include women fleeing domestic violence, people who are in housing crisis, people with no income or recourse to public funds, those with complex benefit challenges, disabled children and adults. We are able to pursue cases all the way from initial enquiry to representation in the higher courts, if necessary.
Here are the stories of some of our recent clients:
Monica’s story
Monica lives with mobility issues, anxiety and depression. Helped by her two daughter, she applied for PIP but was only awarded the owest rate of PIP, so the family appealed to an independent tribunal. She hired a private solicitor, but found her PIP was in jeopardy and she risked ending up with nothing. Desperate, she came to the law centre for help.
Farah’s story
Farah fled to the UK from her home country when she was 14. She claimed asylum citing her fears of sexual assault as a young female. However, her claim fell through because she had been unable to tell the Home Office the real reasons for her claim. The law centre was able to step in to help.
Veronica’s story
Veronica had arrived in the UK with her new husband, only to be confined to her home when the pandemic struck. Veronica’s relationship quickly began to deteriorate as her partner became both emotionally and physically abusive. When she went to the authorities for help, she was told she had no right to remain in the UK.
Gabriel’s story
Gabriel, who lives with multiple disabilities, fled to the UK from the Caribbean after being threatened by criminal gangs and the local police failed to protect him. He claimed asylum but came to us when faced with complete failure by the Home Office to meet the needs arising from his disabilities.
Mary’s story
Mary, a long-standing private tenant, was shocked when her landlord suddenly issued her with a section 21 notice to quit. She was a single mother living on benefits and had nowhere else to go. She was terrified at the prospect of being made homeless, and she had no option but to stay despite the eviction notice.
Dianne and Mark’s story
When Dianne first came to see us, she had been struggling for years to support her son, Mark. He was suffering from mental health issues. He was a Council tenant, but what could have been the foundation of a better life for Mark soon turned into a nightmare for him and Dianne.
Monica's story
Monica lives with very limited mobility due to physical health problems as well as severe anxiety and depression since the death of her own mother a few years ago. Her two adult daughters have to make sure one of them is at Monica’s house every day to assist her during the daytime.
Her daughters helped her to apply for the disability benefit PIP (Personal Independence Payment). Unfortunately, the DWP said she only qualified for the lowest rate of PIP, so the family appealed to an independent tribunal. They hired a private solicitor to represent her, but he charged a very significant fee, wrote an ineffective submission and then was unable to go to the tribunal hearing with Monica.
At the hearing, the judge warned Monica that after looking at her GP records they were considering taking away the PIP altogether, leaving her with nothing. This would have been devastating for Monica. She and her daughters felt they were being pushed into a situation where they had to choose between risking what little they had or giving up any hope of Monica getting more than the meagre amount she had been given.
They came to the law centre, and when we looked at the medical evidence, we were able to advise them that it did in fact support her case for a higher rate of PIP, and that the judge had been looking at the individual comments of her GP rather than the whole picture. We wrote a new submission to the tribunal and attended a new hearing with her and her daughters. The judge at the new hearing agreed with our arguments and to the relief of Monica and her daughters decided that she should be receiving the highest rate of PIP. This means that not only is Monica receiving a much higher level of support but at the time of writing was owed a substantial additional sum in PIP arrears.
Farah's story
Farah was only 14 when she came to the UK from her home country. She claimed asylum citing her fears of sexual assault as a young female. However, the real reason was because of her sexuality, although she never felt comfortable adopting an LGBTQ+ identity. In her home country, same-sex relationships are illegal, and she would have to conceal her real identity. She secured representation by a reputable law firm through legal aid, but her experiences meant she felt unable to disclose her sexuality to her caseworker at the firm or to the Home Office, and she lost her case.
In the intervening time she had embarked on a relationship with another girl while living in the UK and was becoming more open about her sexuality. After her claim failed, she feared being deported, which would end the relationship as well as placing her in danger, so she came to the law centre for help.
We worked with her to put together a fresh claim for asylum, this time citing her sexuality and the fact this would put her in danger if she had to return home. This can be very difficult, as often in such cases Home Office officials assume the claimant is fabricating their sexuality to claim asylum, plus in Farah’s case we had to explain why she had been unable previously to raise this previously. We worked hard to make the case in a sensitive way, highlighting her experience as a young person from a country deeply hostile to LGBTQ+ people who was coming out for the first time.
To Farah’s and our delight, she won the case. As well as now being able to stay in the UK and continue her relationship, this means she can now pursue her other dream – to get student finance and a place at university.
Veronica's story
Veronica arrived in the UK in 2019, excited to begin a new life with her husband, whom she had met while living abroad. However, shortly after her arrival, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, leading to a nationwide lockdown. Confined to their home, Veronica’s relationship quickly began to deteriorate as her partner became both emotionally and physically abusive. The situation escalated, culminating in a violent and life-threatening assault. Fearing for her safety, Veronica fled her home and contacted the police.
Authorities swiftly placed her in a safe house, offering temporary refuge. However, shortly afterward, Veronica was dealt another blow when the Home Office informed her that her visa had expired, leaving her with no legal right to remain in the UK. Veronica felt she had no choice but to return to her home country, but upon her return, she faced stigma and rejection from her family and community, who blamed her for leaving her husband. Isolated and struggling with shame, Veronica realized there was no future for her in her home country.
Desperate to return to the UK, Veronica reached out to us for help. After reviewing her case, we discovered that the Home Office had made an error by requiring her to leave the UK; Veronica was, in fact, eligible for permission to stay. After securing funding through the Legal Aid Agency, we helped Veronica obtain a visa to return to the UK. Once back in the UK, we worked with Veronica to help her apply for leave to remain, and connected her with a domestic violence refuge, which provided her with safe accommodation. We also introduced her to various support organisations to help her regain her confidence and plan for the future.
Today, Veronica is thriving. She has settled in the UK and been accepted into a course at a local university. With her newfound stability, she is focused on building a fulfilling life and has aspirations to practice law herself one day. Veronica’s journey has been a testament to her resilience, and we are proud to have played a role in helping her reclaim her life and move forward with hope and confidence.
Gabriel's story
Gabriel fled to the UK from the Caribbean after being threatened by criminal gangs. The local police failed in their duty to protect him, and after living in fear of violence for many months, he felt he had no choice but to come to the UK and claim asylum.
He has physical disabilities affecting his mobility and digestion, making the journey particularly arduous for him. Once in the UK, he was met with a complete failure to meet his needs by the Home Office, who placed him in totally unsuitable temporary accommodation with no adaptations for his disabilities and no means for him to cook his own food.
Increasingly depressed by the lack of support he came to us for help. Our immigration team agreed to support his asylum claim and referred him to our housing team to deal with the Home Office’s failure to accommodate his disabilities. Both teams worked together to provide a holistic service to ensure he could vindicate his rights under the Equality Act 2010. We requested the Home Office move him to more suitable accommodation, and after our request was ignored, we threatened to take them to court. Only then did they act – but their response was to move him – twice – to equally unsuitable accommodation, refuse to let him take his disability adaptations when he moved, and claim they had a policy of not making accommodations for disability, despite having a legal duty to do so under the Equality Act. At one point, some of his belongings were left outside by the Home Office and were damaged as a result.
Finally, following our letters, phone calls and emails, they placed Gabriel in a self-contained flat with all the adaptations he needs. Gabriel finally has a place where he can live with the dignity and privacy he deserves, allowing him to concentrate on securing settled status in the UK.
Mary's story
Mary, a long-standing private tenant, was shocked when her landlord suddenly issued her with a section 21 notice to quit. She was a single mother living on benefits and had nowhere else to go. Terrified at the prospect of being made homeless, she could see no other option but to ignore the notice and stay. The landlord appeared at first to take no action but after more than six months had passed issued a claim for possession summoning Mary to court.
She came to us urgently asking for help, and we were able to show her that as the landlord had issued the form more than six months after he had issued the notice to quit, it was not legally valid. Mary was relieved and with our help, prepared a defence and submitted it to the county court.
Unfortunately, due to an error the defence was not picked up by the court who instead made a possession order based on the landlord’s claim. We filed an urgent application to set this judgement aside and provided evidence of the original defence submission. This led to a court hearing, at which we represented Mary, who was delighted when the landlord’s claim was struck out, allowing her to stay in her home.
Dianne and Mark's story
When Dianne first came to see us, she had been struggling for years to support her son, Mark. He was suffering from mental health issues. He was a Council tenant, but what could have been the foundation of a better life for Mark soon turned into a nightmare for him and Dianne.
Mark fell victim to a ‘cuckoo’ gang, who took over his flat, demanded money from him and used and dealt drugs. Rather than taking action against the cuckooers, his local Council accused Mark of anti-social behaviour and initiated possession proceedings against him.
Dianne came to Tower Hamlets Law Centre for help, and when it became evident that Mark lacked capacity to conduct proceedings, she became his ‘litigation friend’ and conducted the proceedings on his behalf. On that basis, our solicitor filed a Defence and a Counterclaim against the planned eviction. Mark tragically passed away shortly after, which Dianne believes was at least partly brought on by the stress of his potential eviction and what she felt was a lack of Social Services support.
After Mark’s death, Dianne decided to continue pursuing the Counterclaim for compensation. At the final hearing, the Judge took the view that the Council should be debarred from defending the Counterclaim, given their lack of compliance with previous Court directions. Having done this, the Judge ultimately ruled that Mark had been discriminated against by the Council and ordered a sum of compensation to be paid to Mark’s estate.