Funding

The work we do is only possible because of the support we receive from a wide range of partners and supporters.

Through grants, contracts for services, donations and in-kind (pro bono) support we offer our services free of charge. We prioritise people who would otherwise be unable to access legal advice and support. For full details of our source of income see our annual accounts.

Main sources of income

Legal Aid Agency contracts in Housing and Debt, Asylum, Community Care, Public Law and Family Law.

For more information see individual service pages:

Coventry

Birmingham

Coventry City Council grant provided under their support to Advice Services in the city funds our core costs in Coventry. This enables us to undertake legal casework and one-off advice not funded by legal aid (including Welfare Benefits appeals, Immigration and Employment cases) and to use our legal expertise to support other organisations in the city who work with vulnerable people.

Central Government or European Union funded partnership projects i.e. MiFriendly Cities, a project to support the integration of migrants in the west midlands region.

Contracts to provide services to the customers or service users of other organisations: Anchor Medical Centre, SIFA Fireside, Healthwatch Coventry,

Grant funding from trust funds and foundations to deliver projects providing legal advice and legal education in the community and capacity building for partner organisations. The Oak Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Unbound Philanthropy, The Legal Education Foundation, Access to Justice Foundation, The Baring Foundation, Barrow Cadbury, Comic Relief, Big Lottery, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and The Smallwood Trust, Red Cross, Postcode Lottery

Local universities: Coventry University, Birmingham City University, and the University of Warwick partnering with us to train and supervise students. They undertake practical placements and increase our capacity to deliver one off advice.

The private sector i.e. Microsoft and Coventry Building Society, along with donations from commercial legal firms.

In-kind or pro bono help including time given to us by our committed volunteers.

Latest

Council Tax Support - Birmingham

COVID-19 Council Tax Hardship Payments
New Toolkit launched to help students with humanitarian protection access home fees and student finance

A practical guide for students in England who have been granted humanitarian protection [HP] and who want to go to university.
Black Lives Matter

We stand in solidarity with Black communities at home and around the world. Black Lives Matter at Central England Law Centre and they always will.
Our experience providing legal advice during the pandemic - picking up the pieces

Trustee Keith Wilding and CEO Sue Bent assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and question the wellbeing of the poorest in society both now and in the post-lockdown world.

Contact Us
Who we help

All of our services are free. We prioritise people who would not otherwise be able to access legal advice and representation.
Work for us

Join our team and be part of a cutting edge team using the law to fight social exclusion in society.
Volunteer

The Law Centre is a resource for the whole community and we rely on our amazing team of volunteers help us reach more people with our services.
Our Vision

We want to live in a society where people’s rights are upheld, their needs met and they are enabled to thrive. We are the largest Law Centre in the UK. We provide free specialist legal advice to people across central England.
Child and Family Law

Following the breakdown of a relationship, we provide advice and representation on all aspects of family and childcare law.
Asylum and Immigration Law

Legal advice and representation to people seeking to regularise their immigration status.
Funding

All our services are free funded by a wide range of partners and supporters.
Our history

The national Law Centre movement was started in the 1970s by radical lawyers who were disappointed in the failure of the welfare state to eradicate poverty and deliver a more equal society. Coventry Law Centre was founded in 1976 by four Councillors: Tom McLatchie, Gilbert Richards, Arthur Waugh Senior and Charles Ward. Coventry City Council has been a key supporter of our work ever since.
Our impact

Every day we help people to know their legal rights and have them upheld. We change the lives of the people we help, and change society to make it fairer for all and more equal.