Thursday 9th November: join us at our Open Mic Night | Save the date: our Christmas Quiz “Law & Disorder” 7th December | Congratulations: cash boost for the ‘Law Centre for Suffolk’ campaign | Two victories in one morning | Mustard Tree: Housing and homelessness on our agenda | TOMORROW: Black Lawyers Matter Access Day
Thursday 9th November: join us at our Open Mic Night
An Evening of Poetry & Music: Kitchen until 8.30pm. Open bar until 11pm.
We highly recommend reserving tickets here to avoid disappointment. Pay on the door, unwaged £5, waged £10.
Interest in this event has been overwhelming and we have a varied and exciting line-up. Here is but a taste:
- Tania Hershman, journalist, author, and poet: www.taniahershman.com
- Luke Samuel Yates, four time Foyle Young Poet of the Year award winner, published with The Rialto, The North, THE SHOp, Smiths Knoll and many others. He takes the everyday, and makes it brilliant with dry humour and wit. See some of his work here.
- Gloria Dawson, Leeds-based artist who writes poetry, essays, and work for performance, recently published in Zarf, Datableed, para.text and The Literateur. Her work has been shown at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and anthologised in Remembering Oluwale (Valley Press, 2016). See some of her work here.
- Tariq. B, who you can find on Spotify here. With his new EP ‘On My Way’, he brings his fresh acoustic style and catchy choruses. He is also training to be a solicitor and supports our cause wholeheatedly, being interested in grassroots legal campaigning himself.
- Jez Green, tireless activist on homelessness and co-creator of the hugely popular Manchester International Festival event Manchester Street Poem.
- Mark Johnson, cybernetician, composer and pianist (What do education, cybernetics, music, technology and philosophy have in common?). Be prepared for some serious Gershwin.
Invite your friends, share the Facebook event, and encourage people sign up on Eventbrite. See you there!
Save the date: Our Christmas Quiz 7th December
On the theme of “Law & Disorder”, we will be hosting a Christmas Quiz on the evening of Thursday 7th December atTTROF in the Northern Quarter.
Put it in your calendar! More details to follow. Keep an eye on our newsletter and social media channels.
Congratulations: cash boost for the ‘Law Centre for Suffolk’ campaign
As our supporters will be aware, Kenworthy’s Chambers recently donated a percentage of their Barristers’ fees to GMLC, amounting to £11035.11. Read our press release here.
Due to law centre closures and cuts to legal services, we rely on innovative funding methods. This has included asking individual lawyers to donate 0.5% of their monthly earnings. Following discussions with Andy Burnham prior to the Mayoral election, we delivered an open letter and petition to the Mayor’s office in July this year, inviting him to encourage well-off lawyers to make a financial contribution to help offset the cuts to the poorest (and unfunded) lawyers.
It is therefore wonderful to see the same thing happening in Suffolk, as we hear the news that East Anglian Chambers and Birketts Solicitors have each made substantial contributions to their campaign for a Law Centre. Read the news here.
We are grateful for all the lawyers who support the pro bono, charitable and legal aid services; and at the same time we will continue to call for the restoration of legal aid nationally.
In the words of our patron Robert Lizar: “Pro bono is not enough; it is a fraction of what is desperately needed in terms of legal support for our communities.”
Two victories in one morning
In our first year, we helped clients with lost benefits to claim back £400,000 in lost benefits that they should not have been denied in the first place. This week, our fantastic volunteer Sarah Wait secured vital victories fortwo clients in the same morning!
One client suffers from conditions causing chronic pain and limited mobility. The DWP initially decided that she was not entitled to Personal Independent Payments, which is a type of financial support for people unable to work. There were significant discrepancies between the DWP’s report of the face-to-face assessment and the client’s account of what had occurred. Sarah took the appeal forward on this basis. They were victorious: the tribunal set aside the DWP’s decision and the client was awarded the benefits she deserved.
Read more about our fantastic casework here.
Mustard Tree: Housing and homelessness on our agenda
Left-Right: Roz Burgin and John Nicholson (GMLC), Jez Green (Mustard Tree), Norma Turner (GMLC), and Jo Walby (Mustard Tree Chief Exec)
Working with likeminded organisations is essential in our campaigning activity. It was therefore a pleasure to meet with Jez Green and Jo Walby of Mustard Tree this week. We discussed ways to empower our service users facing poverty and homelessness, and how to campaign together for lasting change.
Tomorrow: Black Lawyers Matter Access Day
We recently attended the launch of Manchester University’s Black Lawyers Matter launch. Encouraging the next generation of social welfare lawyers is one of our key aims so we are pleased to see tangible support for underrepresented groups going into the legal profession.
Saturday 4th November, 11:00-17:00, University Place opposite the Manchester Museum.
From the University of Manchester website:
“Thinking about applying to university for September 2018? Want to know more about the brand new Lemn Sissay law Bursary?
Come to this event to get friendly in-person guidance and support.
We can help you with:
- Exploring career aspirations and undergraduate study options
- Applying for the Lemn Sissay Law Bursary
- Selecting the right courses and the UCAS application process
- Understanding student finances
- Insight into student experience and graduate opportunities (with a special focus on law)
This event is free and open to all. Please register via Eventbrite.”
4 things you can do to help Greater Manchester Law Centre
- You can donate and/or set up a standing order to help fund our key legal services
- Get involved, by either volunteering, becoming a member, a supporter, or if you are an organisation, you can affiliate with us. Find out how by clicking ‘Get Involved’ on our website.
- For those of you on Twitter, #whyweneedGMLawCentre and tell us why the Law Centre is so important.
- Ask for a letter of support from your local councillor/MP/community organisation/trade union branch and send it in to us
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest GMLC news.
#WhyweneedGMLawCentre
#FreeAccesstoJustice.
