Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support(DCRS) is a regional charity established in 1999 to support asylum seekers and refugees across the South West of England. It was set up by Isatta and Sam Kallon who sought sanctuary in the UK during the civil war in Sierra Leone and saw the same need for Kosovan families. Today, DCRS’s service delivery is built on three integrated departments; casework, legal aid and wellbeing.
This holistic model enables DCRS to support individuals throughout their journey—from initial asylum claims to post-status integration—addressing both legal and social needs.
The Challenge: Legal Aid Gaps in the Region
DCRS identified a critical structural problem in the asylum system, clients had very limited access to legal representation. Asylum seekers often struggled to find legal aid providers, particularly in the South West, where provision is nearly non-existent and has been called a legal advice desert by Jo Wilding. Without legal representation individuals faced considerable barriers to progress their asylum claim reducing their chance of a positive outcome.
Initially, DCRS operated as an Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) Level 1 accredited organization, focusing on basic advice and case preparation. However, this model depended heavily on referral to external legal aid firms - which were increasingly unavailable.
Strategic Pivot
Recognizing that external provision would not meet demand and that high disbursement costs were unsustainable, DCRS made a strategic decision to internalise legal aid delivery.
They first had to tackle the lack of qualified advisers in the region so built on the IAA Level 1 casework department, developing two caseworkers to IAA Level 2. They paid for external supervision, using a private immigration firm so that they could take on a few cases safely to help develop their skillset prior to sitting the exam. This experience then helped develop a training pathway for other caseworkers to do the same thing as they brought their knowledge in-house.
The two caseworkers then passed IAA Level 2, so DCRS looked towards finding the funding to hire a solicitor to hold a legal aid contract, as doing the work pro bono was financially unsustainable as each case could incur disbursement costs of up to £5,000 each.
In September 2024, DCRS secured a legal aid contract which now allows it to cover disbursements, bill for early-stage work and sustain complex casework without relying on external legal aid providers.
A Hybrid Model
DCRS now operates a hybrid, in-house legal aid model integrated with its broader support services. DCRS’s Legal Aid department provides advice across the asylum journey including; initial asylum claims, fresh claims, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) cases, domestic abuse-related immigration applications, amongst others. The department is also able to provide supervisory support and offers a development pipeline whereby Level 2 advisers transition to the legal aid department.
However, Alex Vessis, CEO of DCRS notes that “to become a good legal aid representative, you need to know how to maximize the funding and do the legal work well at the same time.”
In order to maximize funding, DCRS acknowledges the need to balance applications which are straightforward and offer predictable funding with other work which is more time- intensive. There are also significant challenges with legal aid funding, such as the need for sufficient reserves to cover costly disbursements, particularly as payment delays are common by the Legal Aid Agency.
It is also important to note that any income received from the Legal Aid Agency is unrestricted and can be used across the organisation, providing the necessary flexibility it needs to adapt to changing legislation and political instability.
Despite a 31% uplift in asylum and immigration legal aid fees in December 2025, the broader reality is that legal aid organizations continue to face financial instability. In light of this, DCRS has adopted a proactive stance by diversifying its funding through other Local Authority grants. For example, a grant from Devon County Council has enabled DCRS to work on Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) cases. It has also partnered with Cornwall Council to offer a training contract, simultaneously building capacity for local authorities in the area of immigration and asylum.
DCRS demonstrates how a regional charity can respond to legal aid market failure by evolving from a referral-based model to a fully integrated provider. Its approach combines workforce development, strategic partnerships with local authorities, and financial innovation to deliver sustainable, client-centred legal services.
This model offers a replicable framework for other regions facing similar shortages in immigration legal aid provision.
For more information on Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support please visit Home - Devon& Cornwall Refugee Support