Local woman is raising funds for Ealing Law Centre

An Ealing woman is taking on the challenging London Marathon to raise vital funds for a local charity funded Law Centre.

Maria Ellis will be running with tens of thousands of others on Sunday 28th April and is hoping the community will offer support and sponsor here.

The idea for a Law Centre for Ealing was conceived in 2012, after several years during which the borough residents have had no local legal advice organisation.

It opened its doors for the first time in April 2013, on the very day that the government cuts to civil legal aid came into effect. The law centre exists to actively solve the issues its community is facing.
The Trust for London's Poverty Profile ranked Ealing is London's 7th most deprived Borough and that,

·         13% of the children living in Ealing live in out of work households

·         26% of Ealing's residents earn less than the London Living Wage,

·         it has London's eighth highest level of income inequality, 

·         35% of Ealing's housing stock is privately rented, and private rent for low earners is less affordable than the London average,

·         it has the eighth highest rate of evictions, and the fifth highest number of rough sleepers of all London boroughs. 

·         It ranks 15th in Shelter's record of homelessness in England with 6,904 people in temporary accommodation? 

Now Ealing Council has introduced digitalization and just about all applications must be completed online. Ealing does not have a Citizens Advice Bureau to help the people who are affected by this situation. Many local residents who are struggling cannot afford a lawyer have nowhere else to get legal advice.

Ealing Law Centre is the only specialist advice service offering free legal advice for our community. Everyday someone walks through their door looking for help because they,

·         have been wrongly denied benefits / and or housing to which they are entitled

·         are at risk of homelessness and are being evicted  from their homes

·          have been persecuted, been a victim of domestic violence or human trafficking and need immigration advice

Many of the people going to see them are suffering from anxiety because of their situation, ill health and because they do not what to do, who to get help from.

Maria is raising some much needed funds to keep their doors open and to help assist even more people.  Staff and volunteers have been out in force training with Maria to support her Marathon fundraiser.

11 April 2019