The Need for Free Child Legal Support in Govanhill
After a six week pilot, the Scottish Child Law Centre is now seeking funding to find a permanent home in the area to offer legal advice to children and families.
Sarah Forster with solicitor Amerdeep Dhami
In October last year, the Scottish Child Law Centre, a charity that offers free and confidential legal advice to children and young people, set up a clinic in the Samaritan House on Coplaw Street.
Speaking about the link between health inequalities and complex challenging family situation, director Sarah Forster said:
“Poverty is a key driver of health inequalities, with factors such as ethnicity, income, housing and being a looked after child impacting health outcomes. For those unable to have their rights realised at home life is tough; eating, relaxing, playing, and feeling safe is something they need to fight for. Access to free legal advice helps ensure these families are able to realise their right to health.”
The pilot came out of the identified need to increase accessibility child legal support to Black and Minority Ethnic communities, and to do so through a community presence and access to face to face advice and interpreters.
The initiative saw staff from the SCLC attend one day a week to offer free in person legal advice to individuals referred from other local services or self-referred through the centre.
In one example, the clinic supported a family who arrived from Europe and who were homeless and sleeping in a borrowed car. The family had had their application to the EU Settlement Scheme accepted but despite having the right to work and access benefits, they were being refused emergency accommodation. The legal team, famailiar with their rights, were able to secure the family temporary accommodation. They were also able to raise this issue with the authorities to investigate whether this was part of a wider problem.
Amerdeep Dhami, a solicitor at the Scottish Law Centre said:
“Out pilot was a great success and highlighted a huge legal need, particularly in the Govanhill area of Glasgow. Our short presence made a huge difference to some of the lives of children in Glasgow. Our strong partnership working with other organisations in the Govanhill area was key to making this happen.”
Speaking about why it was such an important project and the need for it going forward, Sarah Forster, director at the Scottish Child Law Centre said:
“We started the clinic for two main reasons, first a ‘cost of living crisis’ and longer-term poverty which has meant an increasing number of families needing legal advice but are simply unable to afford a solicitor.
“The other reason for establishing the centre was to provide specific support aimed at elevating the poverty and inequality disproportionately affecting black and ethnic minority families in Scotland.
“When we asked several Scottish black and ethnic minority advocacy organisations the message was clear ‘grass roots community efforts makes all the difference.’ So we listened – and established a free legal clinic one day a week based in Govanhill, one of Scotland’s most multi-cultural communities.
“Our pilot showed the serious need for access to free legal advice, particularly for families with young children, it is the only way to drive action when they have exhausted all other options.”
The pilot clinic was the first step in expanding the project. According to Sarah, it served to highlight a gap between the laws and rights set out on paper and the lived reality of children at school, in the streets and at home in Scotland, especially Govanhill.
They are not seeking long term funding and support from national and regional decisions makers which would allow them to continue to provide this essential legal counsel.
In the meantime, if you know of anyone that lives in Glasgow or any other area in Scotland and requires advice on child law or any other legal matter that affects children and young people, you can contact the Scottish Child Law Centre to make a telephone appointment.
Call them on 0131 667 6333 or you can email them on advice@sclc.org.uk.
