The Garden of Eden Community Project will be trialing a new initiative at their community markets this Saturday, July 16.
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On top of their delicious produce, wonderful crafts and impressive stalls the Eden Community Markets will now also offer free legal advice.
Market regular and Sapphire Coast REAP co-founder Christine Welsh has a friend in Sydney who offers free legal consultations at the Glebe Markets and now she is envisioning something similar in Eden.
She put a call out to local solicitors to see if anyone would been keen to help out and was over-the-moon when Ines Chiumento volunteered.
“We couldn’t do this if someone didn’t volunteer so I am very grateful to Ines for putting her hand up,” Ms Welsh said.
Ines Chiumento, the principal solicitor at Eden Legal and Conveyancing, said she felt that this initiative could really benefit the community.
“A lot of people have a question they would like to ask a solicitor but fear seeing one because they are worried about the cost,” Ms Chiumento said.
Working pro bono is nothing new for Ms Chiumento who is well-known around town for offering free advice and legal aid services.
Consultations with Ms Chiumento will run for around 15 minutes and will take place in a private room.
It is not intended that the service replaces a proper legal appointment but will instead work to provide basic legal advice, suggestions, and places to go for help.
“I will always try to help people to solve their questions quickly but if it is more complicated I will refer them to another solicitor or advise of the best service.”
The Eden Community Markets plan to trial Law at the Markets for a couple of months to gauge interest.
“At the moment we don’t really know if there is a need for this in Eden, we don’t know if it is going to work, but all we can do is try it out and see if it’s something the community needs,” Ms Chiumento said.
Ms Welsh is hoping that the relaxed atmosphere will make seeking advice less daunting.
“The casualness of "Law at the Markets" might encourage people to feel more comfortable to just drop in and ask a question, something they might not like to do when they have to make a formal appointment with the free legal service,” she said.
St George Uniting Church’s Garden of Eden project runs its market from 8am until 12 noon on the third Saturday of each month.
For details call 6496 2501.
