Derbyshire Law Centre receives EDI and Legal Aid Award

The Sheffield and District Legal Aid Society has awarded Derbyshire Law Centre two awards at the Annual Society Dinner at the end of February.

We are delighted to have been chosen for these awards. We work incredibly hard to offer an inclusive service that reflects our community and provide accessible, free legal advice to local residents. These awards are hugely appreciated and we’d like to thank all of the judges and other nominees for all of the help that they give in the legal community.

Legal Aid Team of the Year

As a Law Centre we focus on Legal Aid contracts as well as providing access to other free legal services that are supported by funding. Previously, our legal aid work has predominantly covered housing and discrimination and we have a strong established reputation for offering support in this area. However, since 2023 we have held the Immigration Legal Aid Contract allowing us to help those who need immigration support including victims of trafficking and modern slavery, victims of domestic violence, refugees and unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors. Throughout 2024 we had over 500 enquiries for support with immigration and opened 80 cases. Every enquiry receives a full assessment with our team and help and signposting if we can’t support them.

The current shortage of legal aid provision in all areas, coupled with its limited commercial viability, has led many private legal aid providers to drop cases before handling appeals. As a result, we have stepped in to take on a significant number of these appeal cases, ensuring that vulnerable individuals continue to receive the legal representation they need.

We are grateful for this award and the recognition it gives our entire Legal Aid team and everyone who supports them. 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award

Providing access to justice and advocacy for under-represented groups is a core tenet of the Derbyshire Law Centre. We aim to actively engage with community groups who experience intersectional disadvantage, largely as a result of poverty. 51.6% of our clients have a disability or long-term health condition with 37.6% unfit to work or unemployed. We are planning to further expand our engagement with community group and improve accessibility for marginalised communities and continue to provide wrap-around legal advice that helps address the multiple disadvantages that clients face.

Within our holistic approach to legal services we offer Immigration support and help people find safety and stability whatever their nationality. We also offer help with Discrimination cases and we are actively campaigning for wider disability access in Derbyshire. Through our ‘Barings Foundation’ project, supported by Discrimination Solicitors and outreach workers we have run 17 training sessions with local disability groups. We are working with 55 local charities and support groups to raise awareness of legal rights around discrimination and we have supported 3 deaf clients to access services through legal recourse including Chloe.

This award acknowledges the work that we put into fair representation for everyone who needs it and celebrates our aim to reflect the community that we serve.