Today is the big London Legal Walk 2012!
I will be there at the beginning of the walk, doing live tweeting from about 2.30 pm onwards at the Royal Courts of Justice. I hope then to make it somehow to Chancery Lane to witness the finish.
I am looking forward to participating indirectly today. Doing the walk would be physically impossible for me as I am disabled following meningitis in 2007; however I am passionate about legal aid, having volunteered pro bono in a law centre in London, and I am most concerned about legal aid for welfare benefits falling outside of scope. Sadly it is now clear the system for allocating welfare benefits is poor according to my disabled friends. I am deeply concerned that such disabled citizens are having their benefits discontinued with inadequate explanation, and now without any access to legal aid. This is not a society the UK can be proud of.
The London Legal Support Trust are a wonderful group of people. Their description is as follows:
[It] was established in 2004 as an independent charity to raise funds for free legal advice services in London and the South East.
As part of a network of Legal Support Trusts working with the Access to Justice Foundation we support the provision of specialist legal advice through law centres, advice agencies and citizens advice bureaux by providing them with grant funding alongside other forms of support. We raise funds from fundraising events, including the London Legal Walk. We also receive ad hoc donations from law firms and chambers.
In addition to funding we offer our knowledge, contacts and experience of the sector to help agencies become more sustainable and, working with LawWorks and the Bar Pro Bono Unit, we help to partner agencies with law firms and chambers who want to help them to ensure that the law is fair.
Whilst I will be personally fundraising on an ad hoc basis today, and taking lots of photos, I hope that you can officially support by giving money through these pages.
I am very happy to support the BPP team, which is here, their team consisting of: Carl Lygo, Laura Gerrard, Laura Rowland, Saira Iqbal, Christian Metcalfe, Doltice Grey, James Kilby, Jo-Ann Fisher, Jessica Austen, Yllka Hyseni, Andrew Okola, Eva Dvorakova, Victoria Speed, Veme Patel, Mitali Parekh, Swetang Joshi, Olga Tabenko, Sophie Earnshaw, Ayesha Begg, Naomi Clarke, Alice Kim, Sunjay Thakoor, Amy Fenton, Eric Migliaccio, Shezan Hafeez, Shameerah Peerkhan, Danielle Sugarman, Beth Brookner, Mandeep Bassi, Georgina Sharpley, Aashna Musa, Simon Paul, Bhouneswarsingh Askurn, Anna Corrigan, Hannah Fogg, Adam Curphey, Eleanor Brody, Vanessa Acquag, James Adeleke, Ian, Sashan Thompson-Hamilton, Idanesi Immanuel, Sam Lane, Vanina S. Black, Zeynep Turkoglu, Rob Tolomanoski, Tala Teymoori, Nicole Nash, Faiza Hassan, Emmi Hussain, Negin Zakarova ‘Rizzo’, Ranarii Ahmed, Azfar Ahmed, Sara A-sa, Penelope Green, Alice Pettit, Vic Surdhur, Mishal Dattani, Sarah Dabiri, Arlinda Krasniqi, Thomas Edward Christopher Holt, Casselle Roberts, Sameeha Visram, Diana Kirsch, Shaila Pal, and Junior Stewart.
Their mission statement reads as follows:
We are walking with the Lord Chief Justice and thousands of lawyers to raise funds for the London Legal Support Trust which funds Law Centres and pro bono agencies in and around London.
We know that these agencies do a fantastic job in preventing homelessness, resolving debt problems, gaining care for the elderly and disabled and fighting exploitation.
We also know how short they are of the funds to continue that work.
I am also very happy to support the Justice Gap team, which is here, their team consisting of:- Jon Robins, Kim Evans, Amanda Bancroft (organsising, not walking), John Cooper QC, Felicity Gerry, Alice Christian, Joanna Goodman, Kristin Heimark, Louise Restell, Julian Norman, Giles Peaker, Rachel MacLeod, Jon Harman, Richard Buchanan, Rosemary Sheppard, Jeremy Hopkins, Cassie Williams, Merry Neal, Gaia Marcus, Paul Bernal, John Austin, Rachel Austin, Jules Carey, Stef, Rob Richmond, Neil Rose, Sehb Hundal, Priyanka Horeesorun, and Raman Kang.
Their mission statement reads as follows:
We are walking with the Lord Chief Justice and thousands of lawyers to raise funds for the London Legal Support Trust which funds Law Centres and pro bono agencies in and around London.
We know that these agencies do a fantastic job in preventing homelessness, resolving debt problems, gaining care for the elderly and disabled and fighting exploitation and discrimination.
We also know how short they are of the funds to continue that work.
Please donate as generously as you are able. Many thanks for your support
This was the good news 5 hours ago!
