An introduction from Christopher Stacey, Chief Executive

It’s now been over a month since I joined Advocate as Chief Executive, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to introduce myself properly to those of you who make our work possible. 

I’m very conscious that Advocate is a unique charity. We have a staff team doing extraordinary work to connect people who desperately need legal help with barristers able to provide it pro bono, but ultimately we can only help those people because of the time, expertise and commitment that you give so generously. So, first and foremost, thank you. 

Before joining Advocate, I spent much of my career working in charities focused on access to justice, fairness and ensuring that people can participate fully in society. What attracted me to Advocate was the opportunity to build on 30 years of remarkable work by the Bar, and to think about how we can make pro bono assistance available to even more people who need it. 

My first few weeks have involved a lot of listening and learning. I’ve been getting to know our brilliant staff and trustees, but also meeting barristers, clerks, chambers, the Inns, circuits and others across the profession. I’ve already been struck by the enormous goodwill towards Advocate and, more importantly, by just how much commitment to pro bono work exists across the Bar. 

I’ve also been thinking about what comes next. In my first week, we launched our new strategy, The Next Chapter, and as we look ahead, one of my priorities is to make sure that Advocate is a genuinely national charity. That means being there for people in need wherever they live in England and Wales, but it also means making sure that barristers across all six circuits feel connected to our work and have meaningful opportunities to get involved. 

I’m particularly interested in the experience of volunteering with us. We ask barristers to give something extremely valuable: their time and expertise. In return, we need to make it as straightforward and rewarding as possible to volunteer, whether that is taking on an individual case, joining one of our schemes, volunteering through a chambers initiative, mentoring, or supporting Advocate in other ways. 

And clerks and chambers teams are an essential part of that. We know how influential you can be in helping barristers find the space to take on pro bono work, embedding it within chambers and connecting us with people who want to help. 

This year marks Advocate’s 30th anniversary, which feels like an important moment both to celebrate what has been achieved and to look forward. The need for free legal assistance remains enormous. One figure has particularly stayed with me: in our 2025–26 financial year, 5,634 people asked Advocate for help, 35% more than the year before. Advocate cannot meet that need without you, and without continuing to encourage more barristers to take on cases pro bono.   

Over the coming months, I hope to meet many more of you. I’m keen to hear what works well, what makes volunteering harder than it needs to be, where you think Advocate could do better, and what might encourage even more barristers to get involved. 

After only a month, I certainly don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I have already seen enough to know just how special Advocate is, and just how much of that is down to the extraordinary support we receive from the Bar. 

Thank you for everything you already do. I’m hugely looking forward to working with you. 

Christopher Stacey 
Chief Executive, Advocate