We offer free legal advice on a variety of issues including welfare, benefits, housing, employment, consumer and education issues. We can also give you some support regarding debt, but we are not debt advisors. We don’t give advice on immigration issues but we can signpost you to those organisations who do.
We’ve written some extra information on the areas we work. See the Help and Support page.
We are particularly focused on helping the most vulnerable and those in greatest need who live or work in Hackney, as determined by postcodes N1, N4, N16, E2, E5, E8, E9 and EC1. If you live or work somewhere else, we will only be able to see you if our case load permits but we’ll signpost you to help that’s nearer to you.
After reviewing your case, we’ll try and provide you with the tools you need to progress the case yourself, or we’ll schedule a follow-up meeting to help you further.
We have run a free legal advice service since 1993. Since then we have helped thousands of local people. Read their testimonials. Currently, we have 3-part time Legal Advisers and 7 Volunteer Receptionists.
How to access our services
Drop in
We run a drop-in service every Monday and Thursday morning from 10am to 12pm at our office at 156 Hoxton Street, N1 6SH. No appointment is necessary, it’s first come, first serve and we’ll see the first five people.
GP Surgeries
We also provide an ‘advice in health care settings’ service to Shoreditch Park and City PCN, so If you are a patient of De Beavoir, Lawson, Shoreditch Park, Hoxton Practice and The Neaman practice, you could find us:
Every Tuesday from 230pm and 530pm at The Lawson Practice
Every Wednesday afternoon between 230pm and 530pm at De Beauvoir Practice
Every Friday, between 230pm and 530pm you’ll find us at The Hoxton Surgery
These sessions are appointment only, which you would make at your GP reception. Any patient from any of those 5 practices can book into any of the sessions. Ask your GP or GP receptionist.
We also deliver advice in 2 other GPs but these sessions are only available to their patients. You’ll find us at:
The Greenhouse Walk Practice, every Tuesday, between 2:30pm and 5pm (just for patients of Greenhouse Walk)
Barton House Health Centre, every Wednesday between 2pm and 5pm (just for patients of Barton House.)
Volunteer
We always need volunteers to help us manage the legal advice service at our offices at 156, Hoxton St, N1 6SH. You’d be an essential part of what we do and we provide the training and support you’ll need, to give the people we help the very best service. If you can spare a minimum of 3 hours a week, we’d love to hear from you. Email Paul, our Executive Director at paul@hoxtontrust.org.