Nowadays Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws (Helena Kennedy QC) bestrides a global stage as co-head of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute. But in the early 1970s she had a more limited beat: as a pupil barrister she helped set up a legal advice service at the Waterloo Action Centre, then run by a flatmate.
The centre is still going – just. But under a review by the London Borough of Lambeth it could see the current peppercorn rent for its premises (pictured) rise to £45k a year. The centre’s Jenny Stiles, that very flatmate, told the Gazette: ‘For 49 years we have had evidence that there are always lawyers who will do that bit extra for others and pensioners willing to make sandwiches for lawyers who come straight from work.’
Kennedy herself told the Gazette: ‘The need for local advice centres is more vital now than ever before. I am shocked that the centre faces closure if no financial help comes forward.’
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