Training overview

Pro Bono Community’s training programmes are modular and flexible. Formats range from courses of up to a dozen seminars over weeks or months to intensive programmes over two or three days or one-off lectures and seminars.

Typically, the training begins by providing attendees with an introduction to advice work in Law Centres and advice agencies with an emphasis on interpersonal and practical skills followed by more in-depth content on one or more areas of social welfare law including welfare benefits, employment, housing, debt, family and consumer law. The training is designed to be as interactive as possible with integrated case studies, exercises and groupwork.

If required, PBC can develop new modules in areas of the law relevant to clients’ particular needs. PBC can also provide examination and formative assessment and all attendees receive a full set of supporting materials and resources including introductory guides to the relevant areas of law, handbooks, precedents, case studies, online resources and learning tools.

In conjunction with the training, the charity is able to coordinate volunteering placements for participants at Law Centres and other advice agencies and is able to monitor attendance and performance through the charity’s online volunteer management portal.

Pro Bono Community offers clients high levels of flexibility in terms of content, format, schedule, duration and venue, providing bespoke training tailored to clients’ individual needs.

What people say about our work

“The Pro Bono Community training was excellent and meant that as volunteers we could quickly make ourselves useful to the hard-pressed law centres and advice agencies we were placed with. There’s still a lot of on-the-job learning to do but it’s much easier when there’s some background knowledge to build on.”
Jenny Papworth, Volunteer, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust