A record-breaking year!
As we come to the end of 2024, we are reflecting on all the amazing things our 20th anniversary year has included. Our supporters have made this year our best yet, meaning we have been able to pay over £3,557,000 to free legal advice agencies in London and the South East. The need for free legal advice has increased in the face of the cost-of-living crisis, and advice agencies are reporting a £30million shortfall in funding, so this support is more critical than ever.
We celebrated our 20th year anniversary with an unforgettable milestone at the London Legal Walk—18,000 participants walking shoulder to shoulder to raise over £1 million for the first time ever! A huge thank you to every single walker, participant, and sponsor for your unwavering support and for making this a truly unforgettable year.
Since the first ever London Legal Walk in 2005 with just 330 walkers, the event has raised over £10,000,000 to support access to justice. Seeing thousands of supporters come together each year to champion access to justice is nothing short of inspiring. And this year, the momentum didn’t stop there. Alongside the London Legal Walk, our incredible supporters stepped up for justice at regional Legal Walk events, the Great Legal Bake and Quiz, along with running challenges, skydives and cycling adventures – all in the name of access to justice.
We are so grateful for everyone’s dedication to ensuring access to justice for all. Here’s to achieving even more together in the years ahead!
What we’ve achieved together
We have assisted more than 100 agencies this year by offering training, fundraising, opportunities, cost-saving initiatives, customised consultancy support, and facilitated spaces for discussion like the London Specialist Advice Forum. We’ve also made great progress through partnerships with the sector and other funders to support positive change for the sector, including grant funding to frontline organisations working collaboratively to address the ongoing cost of living crisis. Through the Advice Workforce Development Fund collaboration, we’ve helped commission research into systemic issues in the sector, and funded eight test-and-learn projects consisting of more than 50 community partners, to explore solutions to the advice sector recruitment crisis. Each of these projects has now completed one full year of delivery, with 20 individuals currently being supported to qualify as solicitors (18 apprenticeships and 2 training contracts) practising in social welfare law, and more than 200 in training to become advice caseworkers and supervisors. Moreover, the project is generating valuable learning and insights which are helping to make the advice sector more inclusive and accessible.
Looking ahead
In 2025, we’re looking forward to continuing our support for the vital work that frontline advice agencies are carrying out in their communities. We are excited to be continuing our partnership working with the Greater London Authority and London Citizens Advice to support even more Londoners facing hardship. The impressive outcomes of this collaborative project over the previous two years have seen great successes in increasing financial improvements and improving the lives of so many.
We’re also excited to see the trainees participating in the Advice Workforce Development programme progress, developing their skills, and experience and working towards their qualifications and other milestones – and to producing various tools and guidance which will support free advice sector organisations in their efforts to recruit, retain and train a diverse and passionate workforce. We are also looking forward to another year of strengthening the warm relationships we have with our wonderful legal sector stakeholders, building on the work that has been done in 2024 on shared projects, such as maximising the positive impact of the Apprenticeship (soon-to-be Growth and Skills) Levy on the social welfare advice sector.
We will continue to promote the need for free legal advice and work collaboratively to respond to significant issues facing free legal advice agencies. The people we help are at the heart of what we do and this is what drives us to keep sharing knowledge, distributing funding and fundraising. Going forward, we will continue to support advice agencies to cope with the increasing demand to try and reach our goal of a society where everyone who needs free specialist legal advice can access it. As financial pressures continue, and more organisations face growing need with shrinking budgets, this will not be an easy task. However, we are always strengthening partnerships, collaborations and the impact of our events and initiatives.
To do this, we will need your support with fundraising, spreading the word and championing access to justice. We’ll have our usual landmark events like the London Legal Walk, the Great Legal Bake and the Great Legal Quiz, but we’ll also have some exciting challenge events you can sign yourself up for. Whatever you excel at, we think we’ll have something for you to get involved in!
Have a wonderful festive break, and we look forward to seeing you in 2025!
Nezahat Cihan
CEO
(On Behalf of the LLST trustees and staff team)
