Community Law service gets a “different energy”
After 10 years of dedicated services, Carolyn McLellan has finished as Golden Bay's Community Law worker. Jenny Randall has succeeded her and is working out of the Community Centre on Mondays just as Carolyn did.
"After such a long time, I felt that the job needed a different energy," said Carolyn. "I'm delighted to have handed over to Jenny. She brings lots to the position."
Carolyn explained that her Mondays were usually very full days. "I made one-hour appointments," she said. "It usually takes at least that long to get a good understanding of the situations people find themselves in. The aim of the system is to assist people to arrive at practical solutions to legal problems without resorting to expensive or time-consuming legal action. By putting people in touch with networks in our community that can help, Community Law can often assist people to solve their own problems."
Jenny said that she is enjoying getting to grips with the needs of the job and she had appreciated the help Carolyn had given her during the transition period.
"I'm really pleased to have joined the community workers," she said. "I've done a whole range of work in the Bay in the last eleven years. My qualification is a BSc in Environmental Studies, majoring in policy. That was all about giving people a voice. I guess this work is like that too and I'm pleased to be doing it."
The Community Law service provides free and confidential legal advice to people in our community with the aim of meeting unmet needs. It can give help with such issues as consumer law, financial problems, disputes, education, employment, family and relationships, going to court, government departments, tenancy and traffic offences.
The parent body, the Coalition of Community Law Centres of Aotearoa, is a charitable organisation. It is supported by the JR McKenzie Trust but it also receives the bulk of its funding from the interest earned on money in solicitors' trust funds. Because real estate sales have declined - thereby reducing the amount of conveyancing work done by solicitors - and interest rates have fallen, the community law network has been told that it will suffer a 43% decrease in its funding from July this year.
Jenny said that it was ironic that, at a time when people were likely to be needing the service more, it could be facing cutbacks.
Community workers manager, Sheryl Nalder said that the community law scheme was an important service and one in whose management the Golden Bay community has a chance to participate.
"We're looking for someone to represent the Bay on the steering committee," said Sheryl. "Anyone interested should give us a ring."
Neil Wilson
