Every year, barristers have the opportunity to donate to Advocate during the Authorisation to Practise (ATP) process through the MyBar portal.
The donations we receive through this process make up almost 50% of our annual funding. Donations are therefore crucial to our sustainability as a charity, allowing us to continue to provide legal assistance to those who would otherwise fall through the cracks.
We exist because committed barristers across England and Wales care about access to justice for everyone. We were set up in 1996 by barristers, for barristers. Lord Goldsmith KC founded us to “build on the existing strong and proud tradition of the Bar providing its services free to those who need help and advice”. We are proud to be the Bar’s pro bono charity, providing legal assistance in all areas of law, in all courts and tribunals across England and Wales.
Our service is used by members of the public who have nowhere else to turn to for legal help. Those who cannot access legal aid and cannot afford to pay for help. People who are often vulnerable and in desperate need of a lifeline. Our service offers them hope. You can read the stories of people we support on how pro bono assistance changed their lives, in addition to stories from the Bar on taking on pro bono work with Advocate.
We are so grateful to the growing number of barristers who donate their time pro bono. We are also hugely thankful to those who may not have the time to do pro bono work, but can generously donate to Advocate and support our service in this way. Many of you do both, for which we are incredibly grateful. We were created by the Bar, and we are sustained because of the Bar’s continued generosity.
We have seen a 24% increase in applications for help in the last twelve months. In 2024, an average of 31 people per working day filled out an application for help through our service. We anticipate that this need will grow further in 2025.
ATP donations sustain our service and give individuals and families the hope and opportunity they need to access the justice system.
As one user of our service recently told us:
“Thank you to your organisation for genuinely creating a level playing field for litigants in person. You restored my trust in legal professionals. I am eternally grateful for your continuous support.”
How do I donate?
The donation page is just before the checkout on the MyBar portal. Here you have the option to give an amount from a minimum of £35 to Advocate. Below are some examples of how your donation can help:
- £35 can contribute to the cost of making an initial assessment of applications for help from people in desperate need of support.
- £95 can help to fund a caseworker for a day.
- £190 can enable us to set up and maintain on-the-day duty schemes over two days.
- £475 can fund a caseworker for a week, who provides hands-on help and seeks to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Please also complete your address, which means we can claim gift aid from HMRC, making your donation worth an additional 25% to us, at no cost to you.
Join this year's campaign
If you are on LinkedIn, Bluesky or X, we would be grateful if you could encourage barristers to donate by liking and reposting our posts during the ATP renewal period. You may wish to show your support for us through a brief post tagging Advocate (@WeAreAdvocate on Bluesky and X) that explains why you support us during practising renewal.
Thank you for helping us continue to offer life-changing pro bono support.
