News & Events


Changes to Employment at Derbyshire Law Centre

We’re changing the way our Employment unit is structured.

At the end of March 2025 a significant proportion of our funding for our Employment Law Service came to an end. This means that we have had to reduce our team to 1 Solicitor, as well as reducing telephone call backs by 50%. We will be limited to initial telephone advice and will only be able to take on casework in exceptional circumstances. We are still providing a low cost option for different aspects of Employment Law for example Settlement Agreements and will be able to support clients who have experienced Discrimination at Work.

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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.

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Internal Changes at Derbyshire Law Centre 2025

Happy new year to all of our friends and colleagues in the local area, we hope you had a restful festive break.

The new year brings changes for us at Derbyshire Law Centre. As some of you are aware the Law Centre was founded with a flat management structure reporting to our Board of Trustees. This management structure has allowed the organisation to respond to the needs of our community through collective decision making.

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Lisa Haythorne receives MBE in 2025 New Year’s honours

Lisa Haythorne, the Senior Solicitor at the Derbyshire Law Centre, has been awarded an MBE in this year’s New Year’s Honours list for her work for providing support to vulnerable and homeless people.

Lisa grew up in Eckington, on the border of North East Derbyshire. Talking about her upbringing Lisa said, “When I was at school the biggest career prospect was working in a nearby factory, all of the women caught a bus to another village to work there and the men went to work in the pit or the steelworks. I grew up in the midst of the mining strikes in the 1970s and 80s and witnessed first hand the destruction of our communities through widespread unemployment. I initially wanted to join the legal profession because it provided stable employment.”

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Read our 2023-24 Annual Report

Tina struggled with debt throughout numerous hospital stays and periods of being housebound. Her disability meant that she received PIP and UC and she fell behind with her rent and energy bills with rising costs. She signed up to an unaffordable Debt Management Plan and had to use her PIP to keep up with the payments rather than essential prescriptions and adaptations for her health condition.
We helped Tina end her unaffordable Debt Management Plan and get back on track with her debts. We worked with her social landlord to prevent her being evicted and energy company to make her tariff more affordable. We gave Tina free advice and helped her complete a Debt Relief Order application to write off her arrears and non-priority debts (in total over £8000).

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Housing Law Training Conference – 29th November

Join us for the Housing Law Training Conference on Friday 10th November

On Friday 29th November we’re hosting a professional development workshop focused on Housing Law. This workshop provides local legal practitioners with the opportunity to gain essential insights on:

  • Updates on Housing Law
  • Current trends and issues
  • New cases and developments
  • Housing Disrepair
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eVisa Clinics – new dates!

We are running eVisa clinics across Derbyshire to help support the Government’s transition to a digital immigration system. UK Visas and Immigration are creating a digital immigration system. This means they are replacing physical documents with an online record of your immigration status. This is known as an eVisa.

You don’t need to make an appointment – just turn up to a clinic! 

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Caseworker Workshop: an introduction to Derbyshire Law Centre

The Derbyshire Law Centre is running a free, 1 hour online workshop to help introduce anyone working in social welfare to the work that we do.

We know that connected working between services helps clients to find the most efficient solutions to issues they’re experiencing and would like to invite local caseworkers, councillors and officers to find out more about our service to help signposting and referral across Derbyshire.

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Save Our Sector

Can you sign the petition to save our sector?

Please sign this petition and help save our vital voluntary and community services. 

SIGN THE PETITION

Derbyshire County Council is proposing cuts to discretionary funding. This means that key community groups and local charities like the Derbyshire Law Centre are at risk of underfunding.

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New Community Drop-in Sessions

Over the next 6 months we will be running new community drop-in sessions to help people access legal advice more quickly. These sessions will be across Chesterfield at Gussie’s Kitchen @ St Augustine’s Church, The Haven at Barrow Hill and at Loundsley Green Community Centre.

You don’t need to make an appointment – just turn up to talk through your legal issue.

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