Advice and Advocacy Help and Law Centres in Northern Ireland Most Law centres will deal with civil matters only but if your problem is to do with criminal law or you cannot find a suitable group or law centre in your area then you can contact the Law Society of Northern Ireland which will be able to help you find a solicitor. It can be contacted in the following ways. Address: 96 Victoria Street, Belfast, BT1 3GN Website: www.lawsoc-ni.org Telephone: 028 9023 1614 Fax: 028 9023 2606 Advice and advocacy services may be better for more minor issues not necessarily needing special legal knowledge. If they cannot help you they should refer you to a law centre or the Law Society of Northern Ireland. NB:- Some services only deal with people from a certain area of the country or from a certain group (ie; Students, people with learning difficulties, etc.) and most only deal with certain areas of law (employment, welfare benefits, etc) Please make sure the service you are contacting matches your needs as far as possible. Advice and Advocacy Services National Advice NI Website: www.adviceni.net/advice National network of advice centres dealing with a variety of areas. You can search for your nearest centre on the website by county or postcode. Skill NI Telephone: 028 9028 7000 Website: www.skillni.org Email: info@skillni.org Skill NI offers advice and support to current and prospective FE and HE students with Disabilities. These are generally College and University Students but they can also offer advice to those on work related training programmes (Earning and Learning, day release, etc). Gingerbread NI Telephone: 080 8808 8090 Website: www.gingerbreadni.org Email: advice@gingerbreadni.org Gingerbread NI offers advice specifically to lone parent families (whether through divorce/separation, bereavement or for any other reason). Gingerbread can offer advice on welfare benefits, housing and family law issues. Local Multi Area Disability Action Website: www.disabilityaction.org Telephone: 028 2029 7880 (Belfast); 028 7136 0811 (Londonderry); 028 8775 2372 (Dungannon); 028 9336 9367 (Carrickfergus) Email: hq@disabilityaction.org (Belfast); derry@disabilityaction.org (Londonderry); dungannon@disabilityaction.org (Dungannon); carrickfergus@disabilityaction.org (Carrickfergus) Textphone: 028 9029 7882 (Belfast); 028 7137 2077 (Londonderry); 028 8775 2372 (Dungannon); 028 9336 9386 (Carrickfergus) Disability action can offer advice on a variety of issues including welfare benefits, community care, housing and other areas. They also operate the Centre for Human Rights for People with Disabilities which can offer advice and support on human rights issues. All their services can be accessed by disabled people, their families and carers. Law Centres National Housing Rights Service Telephone: 028 9024 5640 Website: www.housingrights.org.uk; www.housingadviceni.org Offers advice on housing law and housing issues throughout Northern Ireland Equality Commission for Northern Ireland Telephone: 028 9089 0890 Website: www.equalityni.org Email: information@equalityni.org Textphone: 028 9050 0589 Deals with all equality issues particularly those involving human rights. Children's Law Centre Telephone: 0808 808 5678 Website: www.childrenslawcentre.org Email: info@childrenslawcentre.org Offers advice and legal help to under 18's and those acting on their behalf. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal Disclaimer Although great care has been taken in the compilation and preparation of this work to ensure accuracy, DLS cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. All information provided is for education/informative purposes and is not a substitute for professional advice. Any organisations, telephone numbers and links to external web-sites have been carefully selected but are provided without any endorsement of the content of those sites. For further advice on these matters please contact: Disability Law Service Telephone: 020 7791 9800 Minicom: 020 7791 9801 Fax: 020 7791 9802 Email: advice@dls.org.uk Or write to us at: 39 – 45 Cavell Street, London E1 2BP Registered Charity Number 280805, Company Registration Number 1408520 Last updated: October 2010