“Pro Bono Community were happy to work with us to design a bespoke training programme, which sets them apart from other legal training organisations. They provided an excellent service and worked very hard to help us achieve our goals. We received positive feedback from our volunteer lawyers and the training has given them the confidence to advise individuals face to face on their housing law queries.”
Lara Adamson
Global Pro Bono Advisor, Linklaters
“It has been a pleasure working with Pro Bono Community. From the School's perspective…our students have come to value greatly the application of law in a 'real-world' setting, the chance to make a difference and to recognise the diversity of clients and the complexities of their concerns.”
David Seymour
Course Leader, City University LLB
“Freshfields has been involved in the Pro Bono Community course since 2014. We had four prospective trainees studying the GDL undertake the course in the first year. Three of these have now started at the firm and all are volunteering with at least one law centre within their first six months at the firm. In the next year, following feedback from the original cohort, we had 18 prospective trainees on the course. We believe that the Pro Bono Community course equips our prospective trainees with a strong understanding of housing and welfare benefits law which makes them a much more effective volunteer at our relationship law centres when they start at the firm.”
Hannah Tye
Pro Bono Manager and Solicitor, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
“PBC arranged for a team of partners, associates and trainees at Morgan Lewis to receive training in the law of welfare benefits in April 2016. We all found the training to be of an exceptionally high standard and as a result of that training we are now well equipped to deploy our skills and knowledge “in the field” at local advice agencies.”
William Yonge
Partner, Morgan Lewis
“Student volunteers have been crucial to the delivery of Shelter’s Legal Pro Bono Programme. They have supported the day-to-day functions of the service, triaging clients and acting as a first point of contact to the service. The students have managed referrals into our service and all aspects of recording on our case management system. The student volunteers were also key to supporting Shelter’s evening clinics, working directly with our pro bono lawyers, shadowing them and supporting client appointments.”
Talvinder Daphu
Pro Bono Programme Manager, Shelter
“The volunteers from PBC have played a critical role in assisting us to deliver services to residents affected by the Grenfell Tower fire and in assisting us generally with meeting demand. PBC volunteers were responsible for collating numerous case notes into case studies which provided important evidence for our submission to Housing leaders at RBKC council to persuade them to include well-being assessments into their assessments of residents’ rehousing needs after the fire. PBC volunteers have delivered welfare benefits form-filling for clients and represented clients at the first-tier social security tribunal.”
Lorna Reid
Chief Executive, Kensington and Chelsea Citizens Advice
“Overall, I was extremely happy, once again, with the volunteers from the Pro Bono Community. They showed aptitude, enthusiasm, intelligence, a willingness to learn and an ability to apply/develop their legal knowledge. Many of the volunteers were also extremely accommodating and agreed to volunteer for additional hours to assist the service. I have tried to ensure that these volunteers have gained a range of valuable experiences for their legal career trajectory.”
Emma Pheby
Free Legal Advice Centre Manager, Toynbee Hall
“Working with the Pro Bono Community scheme has been incredible. The volunteer we were assigned is amazing. She has been so useful in dealing with casework and clients due to being well-informed and with excellent skills to tackle the varied work she has been presented with. The administrative support from PBC has been very well organised and a pleasure to work with. Our advice and advocacy service has greatly benefitted by working with our first volunteer from PBC. She has asked to continue working with us after her placement ends.”
Nick Goldberg
Volunteer Coordinator at Zacchaeus2000 Trust
"Often our publicly recruited volunteers have limited skills in computers, letter writing and limited understanding of law... PBC volunteers have offered us the fantastic opportunity to work with volunteers that already have an understanding of law and skills in letter writing, research and are computer literate. It has amazed all of our team how thorough the students have been... Our clients have also greatly appreciated the professional manner experienced and have given very positive feedback."
Rhiannon Hughes
Volunteer Coordinator, Advising London
“Anita helped me by taking initial instructions from the client. This relieved me from having to go through a lengthy form with the client allowing more time for the appointment and to progress the case faster."
Maria Marreiros
Debt Adviser, Centre 70 Advice Centre
"Nora was of great assistance when we were short-staffed...enabling the office manager and caseworkers to continue with their duties in the knowledge that a good service was still being provided to clients by an extremely competent individual".
Tara Malcolm
Office Manager, Lambeth Law Centre
“I assisted a couple to fill out a Universal Credit application… they had a disabled child and the mother was also unwell to the point where the husband was required to leave his job to care for her. I helped to instruct them on how to use the Universal Credit journal and helped to input information on their financial accounts. I received extremely positive feedback from the couple who said that they would have been unable to cope with the process without my help.”
Rahul Medappa
Volunteer, Advising Communities
“We really find the aptitude of the PBC volunteers high. They are very good at dealing with the clients and ready to do very difficult work which otherwise could not be done without their support. PBC volunteers make a difference to the lives of our clients.”
Nicoletta Crivellaro
Client Services Support, South West London Law Centres
“It was an enriching experience volunteering with Advising Communities. The staff there were responsive and helpful, and provided great guidance. I enjoyed the first-hand experience advising clients on their appeals and tribunal claims, and it is always fulfilling to see their claims succeeding knowing that I have played a part in helping them secure their rightful entitlements.”
Yu Jun Chow
Volunteer, Advising Communities
“My volunteer experience has been one of the highlights of my year. It is of course challenging, but I have gained valuable client skills, experienced an area of law I otherwise would never have encountered and have understood first-hand how the law impacts vulnerable people. I have met some incredible people.”
Penny Tridimas
Volunteer, Advising Communities
“It was an enriching experience volunteering with Advising Communities. The staff there were responsive and helpful, and provided great guidance. I enjoyed the first-hand experience advising clients on their appeals and tribunal claims, and it is always fulfilling to see their claims succeeding knowing that I have played a part in helping them secure their rightful entitlements.”
Yu Jun Chow
Volunteer, Advising Communities
“I would strongly recommend this program to any aspiring lawyer: the experience I gained was extremely valuable and insightful and I felt supported throughout my experience with PBC and SWLLC.”
Tanya Mckinlay
Volunteer, South West London Law Centres
“Volunteering at Advising London and the training provided by PBC was an invaluable experience that directly built on my learning as a law student. The training was applicable to my work as a volunteer, particularly regarding council tax, disability and housing benefits.
Hannah Lyne Smith
Volunteer, Advising London
"Ever since I moved to Hackney I’d wanted to go from beyond taking up space to actually being a contributing part of the community. My only hesitation was that I didn’t want to be a tourist: I only wanted to volunteer if I could help. Pro Bono Community training gave me the tools to match abstract theory with practical application. I got my chance and then some; whether it was just giving someone the time of day to be heard or literally running (and I mean running) through the Royal Courts of Justice 10 minutes to closing on a Friday night helping to try and stop the illegal eviction of an entire apartment complex, my experience at Pro Bono Community has given me invaluable and rewarding experience."
Andrew Robb
Volunteer, Hackney Community Law Centre
“I started volunteering at Tower Hamlets Law Centre…and from the start the Law Centre struck a good balance in the work they gave me, which was initially made up of administrative support work and client screening for the welfare benefits team. There was always more work available if I asked for it and I was fortunate to arrive at a time when Tower Hamlets had received funding for a community information, advice and advocacy project. They were looking for someone to promote and run the advice sessions so I offered to help out. I got the opportunity to advise clients in weekly one-on-one drop-in sessions. A few weeks after I started the advice sessions a position became available with the Tower Hamlets education team and I was asked to apply for a Trainee Caseworker vacancy. I started working for Tower Hamlets Law Centre a week later but continued to volunteer on the community advice project once a week. I recently sat the final Pro Bono Community assessment and hope to be involved with more complex Welfare Benefits casework volunteering as part of the in-situ assessment. The exposure has been incredible and I do not believe I would have been offered the job with Tower Hamlets Law Centre without Pro Bono Community. The classes prepared me well for the work I was asked to do and allowed me to make the most of the volunteering. The fact that the Law Centre staff knew I was coming from Pro Bono Community gave them confidence in trusting me with greater levels of responsibility.”
Zac Davies
Volunteer, Tower Hamlets Law Centre
“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
“The training and resources provided to me have been of real practical use. Not only have I used knowledge gained about the social security benefits system at Toynbee Hall, but I have also used it to advise clients on benefits issues during my other volunteering commitments at Detention Action. What’s more, I have used the skills to gain another placement as a Volunteer Advocate at Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, where I represent people in appeals against awards of ESA and PIP in social security tribunals. I could not recommend the course more highly. Thank you so much for all your help and support!”
Michael Horne
Volunteer, Toynbee Hall
