Deadline: 21-Feb-22
The Legal Education Foundation is pleased to announce the Stronger Sector Programme: Training and Support for Thriving Social Justice Legal Sector to support the creation of multiple pathways to rewarding and lifelong careers in social justice law.
People should be able to train at different levels through different routes, to work flexibly when they need to, to share learning with their peers, to progress to become trainers and supervisors, and to manage organisations effectively.
Activities
Under this programme, they can fund a range of activities which would support this goal including:
- Development and delivery of legal education and training programmes to address systemic gaps in knowledge and practice among advice workers, paralegals, lawyers and managers.
- Sharing learning and knowledge between practitioners and organisations to improve practice and to increase access to justice.
- Policy work to influence the local or national statutory and regulatory framework for legal education.
- Piloting and evaluating new approaches to delivering legal education, including, for example, flexible working, apprenticeships, remote supervision.
In delivering these activities, they welcome collaborations between organisations. They also recognise the role of second-tier organisations (which support other organisations instead of people directly) in developing co-ordinated, system-wide responses to addressing gaps.
Characteristics
The Foundation value these characteristics in organisations:
- Strong connections with their communities, including in their staffing and governance.
- The capacity to advocate for their organisations and on behalf of their communities, including to participate in local and national policy influencing.
- A commitment to learning and evidence, including collecting good information on outcomes and taking a reflective approach to improving their own practice.
- Embedded in a diverse ecosystem of organisations, working collaboratively and with effective referral pathways that minimise the burdens on clients.
- High quality standards including legal expertise.
- Investment in staff well-being and are supportive, inclusive places to work.
- Diverse funding base including (where relevant) maximizing Legal Aid income through efficient billing practice.
- Good infrastructure including governance, ICT, financial management, accommodation and HR.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applications to the main grants programmes are only accepted from legally constituted organisations undertaking charitable work in the UK. While the majority of grant recipients will be charities, they can also fund limited companies (including CICs) and private law firms for activities that advance TLEF’s charitable objects and are not profit-making.
- Applications can include all costs related to achieving the hoped-for outcomes, including staffing, volunteer expenses, consultancy, travel, venue hire and a reasonable contribution to overheads. They mostly fund revenue costs but can cover modest capital expenditure directly related to the work, such as a computer for a new staff member.
Exclusions
-
The Foundation will not fund:
- Work that does not advance TLEF’s charitable objects
- Work that falls outside the Charity Commission guidance on campaigning and political activity
- Work that does not advance TLEF’s strategic objectives
- Work that has already taken place.
- Work that does not have a direct benefit in the UK.
- The provision of legal advice where it is not delivered as part of legal training.
- Projects related to commercial law.
- Awards, prizes or one-off events that are not part of a broader programme the Foundation is supporting.
- Projects where a TLEF grant would directly replace or subsidise government, legal profession or university funding, including the costs of law clinics.
- Infrastructure for pro bono legal advice.
- Capital expenditure on buildings and vehicles.
- General fundraising appeals.
-
The Foundation is unlikely to fund:
- Organisations with fewer than three Trustees, company directors or partners.
- Organisations with more general reserves than stipulated in their reserves policy.
- Organisations that are in serious financial deficit.
- Small-scale projects without the capacity for system influence.
For more information, visit The Legal Education Foundation.
For more information, visit https://thelegaleducationfoundation.org/how-to-apply-for-a-grant/stronger-sector