Greater Manchester Law Centre is committed to access to justice for all.

We campaign for access to legal aid to help people overcome financial barriers to justice, and we try to give advice to the communities of Greater Manchester wherever possible to support those who could not afford or find legal advice or representation otherwise.

You can see what services we provide using the Help & Advice pages on our website. Where we provide a service, we will try to provide the fullest service possible. However, we do not always have the capacity, funding or specialists available to cover every legal issue you may be facing. If we cannot provide you with a service, we will try to signpost or refer you to an appropriate service where one is available.

Unfortunately, for certain issues – and particularly for people living in particular areas – the advice options available are severely limited. Where we face issues of capacity, we aim to actively prioritise the most disadvantaged. This will usually mean:

• for housing law matters, those facing homelessness;
• for welfare and benefits matters, those facing destitution;
• for employment matters, those who have lost, or may lose, their whole income.

Given there may be cost implications to clients, we will generally only be able to pursue full representation where a case is eligible for legal aid funding. We will aim to assess this for you if we look into taking on your case. In cases where our legal team expects that the chances of success are low, we may not be able to take on your case beyond the initial advice stage.

We know that the situation is far from perfect, which is why we have campaigned since we were founded for the extension of legal aid, and for better access and availability of legal services. You can read more on the structural barriers to justice and GMLC’s Access to Justice campaign here.

If you have faced difficulties accessing legal services you needed, we would like to hear your story. Get in touch with us at development@gmlaw.org.uk to share your experiences to publicise as part of our Access to Justice campaign.