The team is currently made up of three solicitors and two paralegals and are assisted by law students from Newcastle University.
LegaCare was established in 2011 to support people who are critically ill. As part of the Northumberland VCSE Mental Health Alliance, it has recently secured funding to extend its support to people who are experiencing serious mental ill-health.
The range of support LegaCare offers varies and is tailored depending on the individual client’s needs.
Meg Kirby, solicitor and founder of LegaCare, explains:
“We support clients to manage a range of legal issues. These include drafting wills and powers of attorney, managing debt, housing and mortgage issues, pensions, childcare and advance care planning.
We adapt our approach depending on the client and work with them to prioritise the issues that are important to them. We pride ourselves in our sensitive, empathetic approach and always work alongside our clients to support them at their own pace”
The impact
Often, practical legal and financial issues have a huge impact on both our physical and mental wellbeing.
Meg explains:
“LegaCare removes the stress of worrying about what are often complex legal issues for clients who are not in a position to access such help. This enables them to focus on their recovery and getting better. We hear, time and time again, that when people are concerned about legal issues this worry takes over their entire lives.
We help people to get things sorted and give them that sense of control back, so they can be at peace.
Our clients have described the instant impact this support has on their lives; they feel as though a weight has been lifted, they can sleep better and generally feel completely different.”
LegaCare has made a huge impact on the lives of people in Northumberland and has supported around 5,500 clients so far.
Northumberland VCSE Mental Health Alliance
LegaCare is partially funded through the VCSE Mental Health Alliance as part of the community mental health transformation for Northumberland.
We’re proud to be the lead partner for the VCSE Mental Health Alliance and look forward to sharing more about the fantastic programmes being offered, such as Cycling Minds, Northern Butterflies, DigitalMe and project Aasha.