The project will use a pro bono team, initially drawn from SOAS, and will be based at the London Muslim Centre (LMC).

The pro bono team will not only undertake its own initiative at the LMC itself but will also facilitate, support and participate in the pro bono activities and services provided by the College of Law and Toynbee Hall. This will involve participating in street law (a program operated by the College of Law, amongst its other activities), assisting with interpretation , and training in debt counselling by Toynbee Hall.

 At LMC itself the pro bono team will operate a signposting and initial advice clinic, in the heart of one London’s poorest boroughs, Tower Hamlets.

In summary, the project  will provide a two tier function, first to provide a valuable outlet for students to experience law at work, and secondly to provide assistance to those in need of legal advice and assistance.

London Muslim Centre
This project is unique and unprecedented by virtue of its Clinic, and base, being within the premises of the London Muslim Centre. The Centre is the largest of its kind in Western Europe and no other centre

in London attracts as many as 10,000 people every week, who frequent it not only for religious, educational and commercial purposes but also often in search of assistance with problems that have legal implications. The Centre attracts not only Muslims from all cultures and backgrounds, from within London’s diverse population, but is also open and welcoming to any non-Muslim who may be in need of help or wanting to use its facilities. The Centre’s friendly and open-to-all policy means that the Clinic, and the project as a whole, will be well placed to undertake its activities in an environment that will benefit huge numbers of people within the community and beyond, and in turn, this will increase the Clinic’s profile and approachability  .

By example, during the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan the Centre  attracts over 25,000 per week, from all cultures, thus it is not limited to one type of people. Furthermore, the Centre runs programs every month for non-Muslims where it invites the general public     to come to see what is Islam all about. It also attracts scholars as well as other noted members of other faiths to come and visit the centre hold seminars, conference and other activities.

Most importantly, the Centre is in Whitechapel, in Tower Hamlets, where there is a massively diverse population from almost every ethic minority, faith and culture, and like the Centre, the Clinic will open its doors to all.