Legal Aid Fundraiser: How You Can Get Involved in Legal Aid

As Rachid mentioned in the article published on Wednesday about how law firms get involved in legal aid, the most common way to provide legal aid in the UK is through pro bono projects which provide a mixture of free legal advice and representation for those who can't afford solicitors. Although there are numerous projects run by law firms, there are also a large amount of pro bono and legal advice projects outside of these which students are often welcome to get involved in.

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University Schemes

Most university law schools will either run their own pro bono clinics or work with specific projects which students can get involved in to build their skills and help the local community. These will usually be listed on the university's website and can be a great way to differentiate between universities when selecting where to go as often the pro bono projects will cover different areas of law. For example, Newcastle University works with the National Centre for Domestic Violence whereas University of Birmingham works with the Environmental Law Foundation and University of Leeds run a migrant support project.

Most universities will offer a variety of different projects to get involved with to suit a variety of different interests. For example, Newcastle University work with the National Centre for Domestic Violence, LegaCare and Support Through Court to provide a variety of opportunities for students to get involved in. As you are not yet qualified, you cannot give legal advice unlike in programmes run by law firms, however the experience is invaluable and you are still providing important help to the local community.

In my personal experience, as a volunteer with the National Centre for Domestic Violence, you are given significant amounts of responsibility and the skills it allows you develop are undeniably helpful for moving forward in your legal career. For example, I draft witness statements for clients to take to court to gain a non-molestation order, an experience I could not gain in many other places and also potentially changing the clients life forever, so I could not recommend getting involved in these projects enough!

To get involved in your university's projects, they will usually email with what projects are available for your year group and ask for an application to be submitted, usually stating why you would like to get involved. These can be quite competitive to get onto however and take up a lot of time when you begin volunteering so please make sure you can commit to the project at no detriment to your studies.

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Citizen's Advice

For those who are no longer at university, or who's university doesn't offer such projects, another great way to get involved in legal aid is through Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice provide free, confidential information and advice related to a variety of issues (see their website to find out more) however also have numerous different volunteering opportunities.

Dependent on what they are recruiting for at your local centre, which you can find out here, there are a lot of different roles that Citizens Advice need to be fulfilled and most centres will often have opportunities available. The relevant roles include: giving information, advice and client support, admin and customer service, fundraising, media, researching/campaigning and acting as a trustee.

Giving information, advice and client support will be closely aligned with the work of a solicitor and something you are fully trained for when you sign up to volunteer. Any role will be highly beneficial however due to the skills developed which some people may underestimate the importance of - soft skills are equally important as academics.

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There are numerous other projects you could get involved in and if you aware of a pro bono centre near you I would recommend contacting them if they have any available opportunities, however the above suggestions are the two simplest ways to get involved in providing legal aid.