Pro Bono Schemes

To help fill this gap this project was set up with three main aims:

• work with young people, young adults and youth and community groups to raise awareness of issues relating to the legal system and the law
• encourage young people and young adults to further develop their own awareness of the law and the legal system and how it affects them
• develop and enhance their transferable skills and knowledge whilst studying at Newcastle Law School

SLAs have delivered sessions to a wide variety of local community groups, including:

• North East Young Lads and Dads Project
• Air Cadets
• Local Schools
• North East Solidarity and Teaching (N.E.S.T)
• Connected Voice
• Investing in Children
• Youth Focus North East

Funding cuts across the youth sector have made this project more important. It's valued among our partners who we work closely with. The opportunity for our students to work with community groups is extremely important. 

The project continues to expand.

The SLAs undergo an intensive training period. This includes awareness of child protection and safeguarding issues.

Training is crucial for our students and we work closely with Youth Focus: North East who develop and provide the training.

Kevin Franks, the Programme Director at Youth Focus: North East, recently said:

“We are delighted to support the Street Law initiative. We are always impressed with the commitment and motivation of the students involved. They take up the challenge of the project. They bring their own innovative ideas to provide a much-needed educational resource. They inform young people of their rights in relation to the law. The students balance the pressure of their studies with their role of volunteers. They make a real contribution to creating a positive difference.”

- Kevin Franks, Programme Director of Youth Focus: North East

This speaks volumes for the students that become involved with these initiatives and their commitment to engaging with the local community. The success of our project relies on the enthusiasm and hard work of our Street Law Ambassadors. Through reflective practice, they feed directly into development of the project.

Hi, my name is Emily and I joined Street Law in October 2014.

As a Street Law Ambassador it was my goal to present law in an engaging and friendly manner. I wanted to ultimately inform young people of their rights and responsibilities. I have worked on a variety of presentations. I delivered them to schools, youth groups and organisations.

Street Law has taught me several important skills, including:

• the ability to present to more than 200 students
• to be concise
• to deliver advanced areas of law (often through creative games or group activities)

Street Law has allowed me to research current and important issues not covered on the LLB degree. They include police powers and internet safety.

Street Law has increased my confidence and introduced many different people. It is a pro bono initiative where you can really make a difference to the lives of local young people.

The Street Law team have been involved in a project called Clarity Through the Courts. The team worked with North East Young Dads and Lads to create a series of videos clarifying the private family law process through the Courts. This is part of the much larger DigiDad project, the launch of which took place on 24 February 2022. The videos produced as part of the Clarity Through Court project can be accessed using the links below:

Introduction

Parental Responsibility

Cafcass

Mediation

Preparing for Court

Initial Hearing

Final Hearing

 

"Street Law’s involvement in DigiDAD’s Clarity Through The Court Series was vital. The team went above and beyond what was asked from them; presenting videos, coming up with design ideas and most importantly ensuring we had information that was accurate and reflective of the current court system, all during lockdown and the Covid pandemic. I’m very thankful to the Newcastle University Street Law team and incredibly proud of the work they have achieved during this process."

- Jonah, North East Young Dads and Lads

"I have really enjoyed my time volunteering on this project as it enabled me to apply my studies from family law into real life scenarios. I was able to meet the young dads and listen to their inspiring stories and undertake research that would make a real difference to their lives. I also had the chance to meet with a family law solicitor which enabled me to develop my legal knowledge of the court process and build connections. It has been a rewarding experience as I was able to see the project develop from start to finish. As a team we helped to research legal issues, brainstorm ideas for the video format and present the videos. This has developed my team working abilities as I had to collaborate with a variety of people such as the young dads, solicitors, NEYDL and the other Street Law Ambassadors to create an educational platform. The opportunity to host and present the videos helped me to develop my confidence and articulation in a pressurized environment. Also, the experience has taught me the importance of engaging in meaningful work. It reaffirmed that providing advice on the law can empower people to give them the confidence to access their rights such as obtaining parental responsibility. I hope I get the opportunity to work with the charity in the future." 

NCDV caseworkers provide assistance to a litigant in person. That's somebody not represented by either a solicitor or barrister. This support is for those litigants that don't:

• qualify for public funding
• have the financial means to pay for qualified representation

The NCDV caseworker role is for law students, trainees or qualified lawyers. A legal background is not necessarily a requisite for anyone else interested.

All we ask of you is that you treat the role as a professional engagement. This means taking on a professional standard of punctuality, maturity and commitment.

Mr Connor, a London-based barrister, founded the National Centre for Domestic Violence. He did so after a friend could not get legal help to protect her from an abusive partner.

He said: ‘In very many cases, victims of domestic violence are women and men who are, for whatever reason, not eligible for public funding but neither can afford to pay the services of a solicitor. In those circumstances it can be very hard to find any help and going to court without legal representation and standing up in front of a judge to ask for an order to stop their partner abusing them can be a terrible experience and that’s where NCDV can step in’.

The NCDV was established in 2002. The aim of it is to provide a one stop shop where the concerns of those in an abusive situation can be addressed. The NCDV provides for victims seeking a non-molestation and/or occupation order.

Police and victims face problems using local firms of solicitors for non-molestation orders.

Generally, solicitors only accept clients eligible for public funding or who pay. This then leaves many people unprotected who do not meet the legal aid criteria and have no access to funds. Legal Aid changes, introduced in April 2013, have had a devastating impact. The numbers suffering from domestic violence not eligible for legal aid have increased.

The NCDV caseworker role aims to fill that gap. They help those in abusive relationships to seek a non-molestation and/or occupation order. There's no need to pay for legal advice.

The NCDV encourage volunteers to act quickly as the order may be required as a matter of urgency. The impact of domestic violence on children is also significant. A quick response, once the victim has made that difficult, extremely brave decision to seek an order, is required. The NCDV aims to ensure clients are having their application heard within 24 hours of contact.

The victim will initially contact the NCDV. They will make an assessment about the appropriate order. The NCDV will then refer to their volunteers. The volunteers contact the victim and take the appropriate statement.

The students engaged in taking these statements over the phone need a unique skill set. They must get the information needed to support the application for an order.

We are the only academic Law School actively engaged in this project in the North of England. Given the increasing number of calls in the North East, we're meeting an urgent and important need.

The charity was set up in 2011. It aims to provide specialist professional legal advice. They do this quickly, sensitively and at the patient's preferred place for assistance. This is normally at home, hospital or at a hospice.

Patients eligible for LegaCare must have a life-threatening illness. A medical practitioner or by Macmillian Cancer Support must refer them. The service is free to anyone who:

• has an income of £30,000 or
• saving of £30,000 or less.

However, they will help patients who may not qualify on financial grounds. This is in return for a donation, which can be agreed at the first meeting (which is free in any event).

The placements are between half a day and a day a week and can last for between 3-9 months.

Students benefit from the placements in a number of ways including:

• the development of key holistic, transferable skills
• specific legal skills (research and advice giving)
• experience of working in a professional legal environment
• a feeling of empowerment
• the opportunity to accrue time to count towards a training contract

The Law School is proud to support such a worthwhile charity. It is grateful to LegaCare for providing our students with an:

• excellent introduction to legal work
• opportunity to give something back to the local community

For further information about LegaCare, please contact Professor Kathryn Hollingsworth.

SEQUENTUS provides a unique pro bono experience helping students to gain unparalleled access to the world of criminal defence work by actively assisting clients with wrongful conviction applications.

As part of the specific programme that SEQUENTUS have developed in association with Newcastle University Law School, you will be working on a single client case for a period of six weeks. You will use a range of digital tools to engage in the casework remotely, with a number of concise online lectures covering points of law and regular video calls for supervision and update meetings with the supervising solicitor. At the end of the programme you can apply to do other work with SEQUENTUS and continue working pro bono across all of their client cases.

We will be running with two cohorts of 12 students and recruiting a cohort to work on the programme in the first and a second cohort of 12 in the second semester. Please look out for details of the information session and details of how to apply.

Through the programme students will be assisting nurses and midwives who are:

• the subject of fitness to practice proceedings by their regulator 
• do not have access to legal representation (for whatever reason)

Initially this will be through developing a detailed understanding of the case and identifying the key issues - viewed in context of the probative value of the available evidence and any relevant caselaw.

The primary goal is to be able to inform the individual client so that they, in turn, can make informed choices - whether that is

• decisions on how they present their case
• whether they should seek actively legal advice on specific points

The programme offers unique insight into professional regulation, the procedures and statutory powers deployed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in the exercise of its duties and, in particular, the need to safeguard patients. It will also touch on areas of public law, such as judicial review and the appellate role of the High Court.

What your role was

I was part of the Research and Campaigns team at Citizens Advice in Newcastle; I worked with various groups to tackle a specific issue facing the local community.

Why you got involved

I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and work on reducing the impact of real-life issues facing the people in Newcastle. I was also interested in meeting and forming working relationships with those working at an organisation I had never been involved with.

What you did

I collaborated with a small team to raise awareness of the governmental ‘Healthy Start’ scheme and increase the number of beneficiaries claiming benefits under the scheme. To do this, I produced a Citizens Advice Healthy Start Card Advice leaflet for advisers at Citizens Advice to use when they meet with eligible clients.​

I also helped recruit the new intake for the project by delivering an informative and engaging presentation about Citizens Advice to law students.

How you did it

I worked closely with a small team at Citizens Advice in Newcastle to plan and execute the specific project connected to Newcastle University, which we decided to be the ‘Healthy Start’ scheme. I also attended regular steering group meetings to share and gather ideas on how to help reduce the effects of the cost-of-living crisis in the north-east.

To understand how other organisations across the UK successfully increased the uptake of ‘Healthy Start’ vouchers, I also liaised on behalf of Citizens Advice with external bodies, such as Blackpool Better Start.

Organisations you worked with

I worked with Citizens Advice in the north-east, Newcastle City Council, Blackpool Better Start and the NHS.

Things you learnt

I became more aware of other people's problems and pushed myself out of my comfort zone to learn about an area I had never dealt with before – local policy and governmental benefit schemes. I also developed strategic awareness through the project, which I hadn’t particularly done through my university studies. For example, as part of the Citizens Advice project, I worked in a small group and attended several steering group meetings to understand how my team's specific research project fitted into the broader picture – the cost-of-living crisis.​

3 key skills you developed

• Initiative
• Strategic awareness
• Creativity

3 key words to reflect your experience

• Enjoyable
• Eye-opening
• Rewarding