Increase Public Understanding

Falmouth 'Skype' Specialist Legal Advice Project

Grant: £71,000
July 28, 2017

The Project is to establish a ‘Skype’ advice clinic at the Dracaena Centre, and also to provide remote support to Cornwall CAB also largely using Skype. Staff solicitors at the Legal Advice Centre will provide free legal advice remotely to persons in need in Falmouth using a bank of Skype enabled computers at the Dracaena Centre. The clinics will run weekly on Monday and Fridays. The advice provided will be on Welfare Benefits and debt. Follow-up work will be undertaken by LAC lawyers.

Legal Advice Centre will provide the following to Cornwall CAB:

• take all their disability benefit appeals to the First-tier tribunal;
• work with the CAB so that their efforts at Mandatory Reconsideration are more effective;
• provide the CAB and staff/volunteers from the Dracaena Centre with training on Universal Credit;
• provide the CAB with an employment consultancy service.

Falmouth & Plymouth Skype Advice Clinics

Grant: £3,900
June 27, 2017

Scoping a project to use Skype to provide free legal advice remotely, through a collaboration between University House Legal Advice Centre (east London) and community centres in Falmouth and Plymouth.

c-App Promotion and Uptake

Grant: £22,000
June 21, 2017

To roll out a dedicated strategic marketing project to increase awareness and drive adoption of the c-App ensuring that the reach of this valuable resource is maximised and the initial development and funding of the App is fully justified by its usage.

Virtual Law Centre

Grant: £82,011
April 10, 2017

The Virtual Law Centre is a Skype based service providing specialist legal advice from pro bono solicitors and barristers based in Bristol to clients in more rural areas of the South West who do not have access to pro bono services. The project is hosted by Avon and Bristol Law Centre working closely in partnership with Citizens Advice North Somerset and Citizens Advice South Somerset whose clients will be accessing the service. The project aims to develop to include more partners and provide a comprehensive network of pro bono advice across the region.

The aim is to start with family law and employment with one off advice sessions but build up to an end to end casework service as the project develops.

Focus will be on helping the most vulnerable people to resolve their legal issues quickly and helpfully, with clients being supported on to further services where needed. The aim is to provide a much needed service in areas where people have no access at all to free specialist legal advice and representation.

Top-up for (Toolkits) for Prisoners

Grant: £7,460
March 15, 2017

The project will cover the costs of additional quality control checks on the draft Toolkits and the process of obtaining feedback from prisoners on their usability and appropriateness for the client group.

These additional stages of the process will improve the quality, readability and usability of the final Toolkits.

Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award - Access to Justice through IT Award

Grant: £30,000
December 12, 2016

This project is to fund the Access to Justice through IT award at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the year awards. The award held in July each year is made to encourage IT projects but also to publicise what is already being done so that people can plan better for the future and provide a better service to their clients.

The Right to Participate

Grant: £98,000
November 9, 2016

This project will create an innovative interactive guide to increase disabled people’s understanding of their legal rights. It will combine new technology with best evidence on framing rights-based messages and support disabled people to see where the barrier they are facing has a legal solution.

This resource will consist of four main elements:

• The Right to Participate – introductory video presentation showing and describing disabled people’s rights across three dimensions of participation; Out-and-About, Employment and Education
• Take Action – guided pathways illustrating a range of possible ‘early intervention’ solutions and taking disabled people through the steps required to use the law, mount challenges and effect change.
• Forum - where disabled people can share experiences.
• Find Out More - further resources, links to our own factsheets, helplines, blogs, news updates and other sources of support

Early Action Funders Alliance

Grant: £7,500
November 8, 2016

This project is to enable the organisation to build on the work carried out to date raising awareness of the principles of early action amongst a broad range of grantmakers.

Digital Publishing Further Support

Grant: £8,025
October 4, 2016

This project is to enable LAG to continue implementing a business plan to transform the business/charity by using technology to make available LAG's content through digital channels.

Phase 1 Replacing Basic IT Systems

Grant: £29,680
July 29, 2016

Phase 1 - Replacement of basic IT infrastructure which includes implementation of new accounts package and CRM.