The day-to-day operation of our Law Centres is managed by our Senior Management Team, led by Patrick Marples, our CEO. Patrick is responsible to our trustees for the management of our Law Centre.
Our staff team is supported by our team of dedicated and talented volunteers, to whom we’re all very grateful.
The following list is in effect as of 1 April 2023:
OUR STAFF TEAM
Senior Management Team
Patrick Marples, CEO
Stacey Edgar, Deputy CEO
Katy Forkah, Head of Legal Service and Housing Solicitor
Administration Team
Aksaa Naveed, Legal Administrator
Shivani Clancy, Receptionist and Triage Worker
Kajathiri Kamalakumar, Receptionist and Triage Worker
Elisabeth Heyndrickx, Receptionist and Triage Worker
Benefits Team
Diane Sechi, Welfare Benefit and Community Care Solicitor
Communications Team
Chofian Abobakr, Communications Manager
Community Engagement Team
Rhiannon Hughes, Community Engagement Manager (South West London)
Cost of Living Team
Roni Marsh, Cost of Living Project Manager
Asia Triolo, Crisis Navigator (Merton)
Rhoda Anokye, Welfare Rights Paralegal
Karolina Rybak, Crisis Navigator
Ashshan Lewis, Crisis Navigator
Bridgit Tai, Welfare Rights Paralegal
Rabbiya Haq, Cost of Living Project Administrator
Employment Team
Sarah Forsyth, Employment Caseworker
Finance Team
Andrew Folkes, Billing/ Costs Manager
Nada Aboushama, Finance Assistant
Housing Team
Katy Forkah, Head of Legal Service and Housing Solicitor
Leena Jangra, Housing Team Leader Merton
Jeinsen Lam, Housing Team Leader Croydon
Paul Wallace, Housing Team Leader Wandsworth
Paul McManus, Housing Solicitor Merton
Hajra Jafri, Housing Paralegal Wandsworth
Shanice Danso, Trainee Solicitor Merton
Gabriela Mihaylova, Housing and Welfare Benefits Paralegal Merton
Tim Cutter, Housing and Welfare Benefits Paralegal Wandsworth
Florence Manders, Apprentice Solicitor
Immigration Team
Pradeep Kumar, Immigration Team Leader
Paul Keeley, Immigration Solicitor
Rajitha Kumar, Asylum & Immigration Solicitor
Sabira Kashmiri, Immigration Solicitor (EUSS)
Joanna Sherman, Immigration Solicitor
Money Advice Team
Roni Marsh, Money Advice Team Leader
Eva van der Spek, Senior Money Adviser
Ariam Sibhat, Trainee Money Adviser
Lana Kaminskiene, Money Adviser
Eunice Ashley-Kesson, Money Adviser
Andrew Boba, Money Adviser
Volunteer & Pro Bono Team
Nicoletta Crivellaro, Volunteers and Pro Bono coordinator
Our Trustee Team
Allan Blake, Chair
Allan was HR Director, Managing Director and Chair of UK, Australian and Russian aviation companies. He transitioned into the private sector after an academic career lecturing in Law and as a Business School Dean. Allan’s other non-executive roles have included: Independent Director/ Company Secretary of the Family Mediation Council, Founder Member of the Legal Aid Board, Chair of Preston Free Legal Information Service and Management Committee of the Legal Action Group.
Sarmad Qureshi, Treasurer
Sarmad joined the Board in 2020 and was appointed Treasurer in 2022. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has over 25 years of work experience, initially with a Big Four accountancy firm where he advised on delivering government projects and most recently as a regional Finance Director for a multi-national, where he was involved in finance raising and in implementing governance processes.
Sarmad also sits as Chair on the Community Monitoring Group of his local police force undertaking independent oversight of stop and search activities.
Simon Tinkler
Simon joined our Board at the end of 2019. He has worked as a solicitor in private practice in Bristol and London, as well as in industry. In 2000 he became a partner at Clifford Chance, a long-standing supporter of law centres in London, including SWLLC. He was appointed a deputy high court judge in England and Wales in 2021. Simon also sits as a member of the Solicitor’s Disciplinary Tribunal, ensuring that the regulatory standards of the profession are upheld. In addition, he has held positions in national and regional sports governing bodies, with particular responsibility for governance. Simon has lived in south London for more than 10 years, and believes in ensuring access to justice for everyone. He came on board with us having witnessed at first-hand the effect of lack of legal representation on people’s rights, and lives. He sees a vital role for SWLLC, and law centres generally, in providing this fundamental protection to everyone in society.
Ben Halschka
Ben is the joint interim CEO and head of social prescribing at Merton Connected (Merton Voluntary Service Council). He is passionate about social justice and community engagement and has over 20 years’ experience working in the areas of education, health and social care. He also has significant experience at a senior level of developing and delivering services to people recovering from mental ill-health which promotes inclusion, equal opportunities, and diversity. A Board member since December 2022, Ben is particularly interested in helping the Law Centre to grow its campaigning and community activism.
Nimmisha Aslam
Nimmisha has been a volunteer adviser in our legal advice clinics for over ten years and prior to that she volunteered as an employment law adviser at the Birmingham TUC centre for the unemployed. She is now a senior associate in the personal injury and clinical negligence team at Russell Cooke LLP where her clients include some of those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
Nimmisha was a founding member of the Law Society LGBT+ Committee, and currently volunteers with both Hidayah LGBT+ and Laamiga, where she mentors black and minority ethnic women from refugee and migrant communities in London to help them find employment. She joined the Board of Trustees in December 2022 and has a particular interest in ensuring disadvantaged individuals from BAME and LGBT+ backgrounds have access to justice.
Sarah Bergstrom
Sarah had a background in finance before qualifying as a barrister, initially undertaking her legal training in civil commercial law before going on to practise in crime. She currently works as a Senior Legal Manager in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division and has led many projects seeking to remove barriers to justice by improving access to the Court for litigants in person. She sits part time as a Judge in the Crown Court and has lived in the local area for over 20 years. Sarah has previously volunteered in the community as a Magistrate sitting in South West London and as a trustee for a charity in Wandsworth, supporting and housing women and children fleeing domestic violence. She is passionate about access to justice for all and joined the Board in December 2022.
Susan Field
Susan joined the Board of Trustees in December 2022. She is a Senior Associate and Solicitor Advocate in the international arbitration practice at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and a pro bono ambassador within the firm. She has over 15 years’ experience of working with advice units and pro bono schemes: for Citizens Advice she has advised litigants in person at the Royal Courts of Justice and she regularly represents asylum seekers in benefits claims at the Asylum Support Tribunal, with the Asylum Support Appeals Project. She coordinates, and participates in, the preparation of applications to the ECtHR on behalf of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants with the Rule 39 Initiative and the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD), and supervises volunteers at a legal advice clinic. She is passionate about helping to design and deliver projects focused on the prevention and alleviation of poverty and on access to justice for marginalised groups.