Westminster’s Windrush Justice Clinic wins ‘Best New Pro Bono Activity’ award

The LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards celebrate the best pro bono activities which are undertaken by Law students and Law schools, highlighting the positive impact on those assisted. 

The Windrush Justice Clinic won the award for Best New Pro Bono Activity, and it was shortlisted for the Access to Justice Foundation award, which recognises an educational body or student making a significant contribution to access to justice. The winners were announced at a dedicated ceremony at the House of Lords on 4 May with the Attorney General, the Rt Hon. Suella Braverman QC MP.

The Windrush Justice Clinic takes a specialist approach that seeks to recompense applicants justly, offering advice, assistance, casework and representation as appropriate. Where specialist immigration advice or legal representation is needed, the Clinic can refer clients to a specialist within their network.

The Clinic is a collaborative partnership between the University of Westminster Legal Advice Clinic, London South Bank University Legal Advice Clinic, King’s Legal Clinic, North Kensington Law Centre, Southwark Law Centre and community groups Claudia Jones Organsation, The Windrush Compensation Project and The Jigsaw House Society.

Established in April 2019, The Windrush Compensation Scheme was set up by the UK Government to provide victims of the Windrush scandal with compensation for their suffering. Since the Government first apologised two years ago for the treatment that people were subjected to, more than 12,000 people have received documentation from the Home Office confirming that they are living in the UK legally.

Applicants must provide extensive and complex documentary evidence, often going back decades, providing proof for their losses. The application form is over 40 pages long, requires detailed calculations, supporting evidence and information about the non-financial impact of the hostile environment policy on claimants.

The University Legal Advice Clinics are on the frontline of The Windrush Justice Clinic to offer initial assistance and all clients are assessed to decide what level of help they need. The clinics are run by Law students, solicitors, barristers and accredited caseworkers.

The WJC partners have already supported clients to obtain compensation awards totalling £1,151,500. Since launching in November 2020, the University of Westminster Legal Advice Clinic has assisted 21 clients with their compensation claims and advised five clients on their Windrush status under immigration law. Three clients have received a total of £180,000 in compensation so far while another ten are either awaiting offers or working on gathering evidence to support their claim. Eight of the clients were provided with initial advice and assistance and then referred on to one of the specialist WJC partners for ongoing representation.

Talking about the award win, Anna Steiner, Senior Lecturer and Windrush Project Leader, said: “I am pleased that the importance of the work we are doing in the Windrush Justice Clinic has been recognised and that the collaborative model of partnership working that we use in WJC is proven to be successful. There are still a large number of claimants and potential claimants who need legal advice and assistance with their Windrush claims, and we will be publishing a report on our research into unmet need for legal advice in Windrush compensation claims later this month.”

Find out more about the project on the Windrush Justice Clinic’s website.