Funding to sustain and improve access to early social welfare and family legal support and advice in England and Wales.

The Access to Justice Foundation is working with Ministry of Justice to offer a new fund aimed at organisations offering free legal support and advice in England and Wales.

The grants can be used for:

• Triage and referral systems.
• Early-stage social welfare/family legal advice.
• Provision of online resources or assisted digital legal support.
• Outreach services to reach people that would not otherwise access legal support and advice.
• Partnership working to ensure vulnerable people access the right service at the right time.
• Support, advice and/or legal representation for people facing court or tribunal proceedings, including referral to legal aid services where appropriate.

Funding can also cover costs associated with data collection and learning and a reasonable contribution towards running costs.

A minimum of 15% of the total grant funding will be available specifically for support services which are provided at-court to users who are seeking to use the court system to resolve their issue. Organisations will need to demonstrate they have agreement from the relevant court(s) that they can operate in this space.

All applicants must be registered charities with a track record of delivering legal advice and support services, whether in person or remotely.

Grants are expected to be around £100,000 to £200,000 over a 21-month period. Larger grants may be awarded in exceptional circumstances.

The deadline to apply is 4pm on 5 May 2023.

How To Apply

The deadline to apply is 4pm on 5 May 2023. Notifications are expected during the week commencing 29 May 2023.

There will be a virtual Q&A at 11am on 20 May 2023 for potential applicants.

Guidance and an application form can be found on the Access to Justice Foundation website.