OUR HISTROY 

Leicester Community Advice and Law Centre (LCALC) first started out as Leicester Money Advice in 1979, providing advice on debt and money matters, as part of the Leicester Charity Organisation Society (now Charity Link). Our office at Leicester County Court was established in 1992. In 1998, we became the first not-for-profit advice provider in Leicester and Leicestershire to secure a franchise with the Legal Services Commission as a specialist debt advice agency. 

 

We were subsequently established as an independent organisation in 2000, forming a new company limited by guarantee. Over time, we started to expand the range of areas on which we were able to advise and we re-branded as Community Advice and Law Service (CALS) in 2011 to better reflect the breadth and range of services on offer. 

 

In 2006 we secured a contract from the Department for Trade and Industry to deliver the Financial Inclusion Fund’s Face-to-Face Debt Advice work for the East Midlands, and we established the East Midlands Money Advice Partnership (EMMA), comprising multiple not-for-profit delivery partners across the region. We continue to lead this project, which is now commissioned and funded by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). In April 2023, we also established the East Midlands Immigration Network, which works with not-for-profit providers of immigration advice across the region to develop opportunities for strategic collaboration. 

 

In 2023, CALS applied to join the national Law Centres Network in order to benefit from opportunities to collaborate more closely with other charities with shared aims; this led to the re-establishment of a Law Centre in Leicester after the original Leicester Law Centre had to close its doors in 2012. In 2024, the charity adopted its current trading name of Leicester Community Advice and Law Centre (LCALC) and a special event was held to celebrate this landmark moment with a keynote address from Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond, the first female president of the Supreme Court. Leicester Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, also spoke at the event and welcomed the establishment of the Law Centre as a positive development for the community.