Volunteering opportunity with Lawyers Against Poverty

Since Advocate is encouraging people to undertake 25 hours of pro bono to celebrate our 25th anniversary, we're teamed up with Lawyers Against Poverty to offer an opportunity for people with a particular interest helping refugees

Launched in June 2015, Lawyers Against Poverty (LAP) is a growing membership network of lawyers who are passionate about fighting the injustice of poverty. They recognise that injustice and inequality are big factors in keeping people in poverty and their vision is to build a community of lawyers committed to using the power of the law to build a fairer future.

Legal Confidence Programme

The Legal Confidence Programme engages LAP members as legal educators in their local communities and supports them in partnering, and working with, local refugee rights organisations to deliver tailored sessions to the refugee community. LAP provides members with training and support to deliver interactive sessions on topics ranging from employment and education to criminal justice and social norms. These workshops are not designed to provide  legal advice but to improve participants’ understanding of their rights in the UK and where they can go to access them. Our aim is for the sessions to legally empower participants, to increase access to opportunities including employment, education and housing, and ultimately improve participants’ confidence and welfare more broadly.

How does it work?

The first thing to do is to join as a member of Lawyers Against Poverty here. You can then join the Refugee Rights Group and come to one of the fortnightly meetings (Tuesday evenings). Please feel free to express an interest in delivering sessions and LAP can support you to find other members in your area and, if needed, match you with a local refugee rights organisations. Alternatively, if you already have a connection with a refugee rights organisation and other lawyers locally, LAP can support you to set-up a partnership. Members are encouraged to have initial discussions with partner organisations to tailor, as much as is possible, sessions to fit in with their clients’ needs and schedules. This usually means that there is flexibility both ways in terms of number of sessions, times they take place and the topics that are covered.

How can I find out more?

The LAP website has more information and there is also a detailed programme guide. Alternatively you can email john.doughty@lawyersagainstpoverty.org.

Please sign up to the 25 for 25 Pro Bono Challenge here.