From a standing start, the number of clients seen by SWLAC advisers grew to more than 2,000 per year, and the main constraints suffered were that the premises were too small, and that we were always hungry for more advisers. On 31 December 2018, South Westminster Legal Advice Centre became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (“CIO”), and is registered with Charity Commission with registered number 1180716.
In March 2020. the premises in Vauxhall Bridge Road were required for re-development; after a hiatus caused by the pandemic, the CIO moved to The Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BU, just a stone’s throw from Westminster Abbey.
In particular, we have evolved, and continue to do so, to take account of the changed circumstances of both clients and volunteers: we have developed an appointments system for clients, and are presently rolling out a volunteers’ signup system for our advisers and support volunteers. We have, due to popular demand from our clients, pivoted back to face-to-face client consultations, and we are working towards a few of these being “virtual”.
