大象传媒

Photo: The team of volunteer lawyers who provide free family law advice at Dads House Legal Advice Clinic, one of the independent clinics in the LawWorks network

We were absolutely delighted by the impact that our Appeal had and so grateful to Radio 4 listeners for the £28,397 they generously donated to us and for the messages of support we received from them about the work we do. Given Bob Mortimer’s background and experience as a former legal aid solicitor, we were thrilled that he was willing to give up his time to present our Appeal.

As a result of significant cuts to legal aid over the past few years, many more people need free legal advice on issues such as housing, employment and family law. Our Appeal highlighted the story of “Ann”, a mother who sought free legal advice from one of the 300 independent clinics in our network. Ann stopped contact between her ex-husband and her children because his dependency on alcohol was making the children frightened and anxious, but she couldn’t afford to pay for a lawyer and didn’t qualify for legal aid. With help from a volunteer lawyer, who represented Ann at court and negotiated an agreement with her ex’s solicitor, contact was able to resume in a safe way. Ann says her relief afterwards was “overwhelming”.

The funds we have raised through the 大象传媒 Appeal are sufficient for us to pay the salary for 12 months of one of the five regional Clinics Support & Development Officers working on our LawWorks Clinics Programme. Each officer helps to develop new legal clinics each year (in addition to supporting the existing clinics in their regions) and many more low-income individuals will be able to benefit from the support they receive as a result. In 2020, for example, over 43,000 individuals were given free legal advice and support from clinics in our network and we expect this figure to increase significantly in 2021 now that lockdown has ended. Without the support of the clinics in our network, most would have nowhere else to turn. As one client said about the support he had received from his local clinic, “I think it’s a beacon of light in the darkness”.

You can find more about LawWorks and the work that we do on our .