Pro Bono and volunteering

This is NOT a comprehensive list of volunteering opportunities – just details of ones that law students may be interested in or ones where KLS has spoken with the provider and KLS students are specifically invited to apply.

Social Justice Pro Bono opportunity, Trinidad

CommunityLawTT
 CommunityLawTT is a public legal education project. The principle aim is to enhance the public’s access to law and justice in T&T in the hope that users will learn about the laws which govern them along with the corresponding rights and/or obligations and therefore have the knowledge and ability to deal with legal issues which they encounter in their daily lives
The organisation is presently unincorporated and online only.
Take a look at the type of issues being dealt with on their website and Instagram pages: www.communitylawtt.org, https://www.instagram.com/communitylawtt/
The opportunity
If you are motivated by social justice, education and/or improving access to law and human rights this pro bono opportunity may be for you.
  • They are looking for someone to contribute to the project by researching different areas of law and explaining them in a conversational and acceible way – shedding the unwieldy legal jargon.  Your work will be published – a great opportunity for future lawyers, academics and many other careers.
  • There is no time commitment requirement.
  • This work can be done remotely as the current set-up is online only.   However, there may be future scope for a longer period of work experience in T&T.
Applicant Criteria:
  • Open to stage 2 and 3 law students from the Caribbean. 
  • It is desirable that you have an interest in social justice, education, and improving access to the law and human rights.
  • A grasp of how the law works and familiarity with core concepts is essential

You can find the full details and application process on our Moodle page.

 

Citizens Advice Bureau

The CAB aims to provide the advice people need for the problems they face and improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives.  It is free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities.  This is a volunteering position which will require dedication and commitment (there’s training to undertake) so apply early in your degree.   Find out more here  https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/support-us/volunteering/

Appropriate Adult

“Appropriate Adults achieve a fairer justice system by safeguarding the welfare and rights of children and vulnerable adults detained or interviewed by police.”

To find out more and to find a network in your area see the website of the National Appropriate Adult Network.   To volunteer in Kent see the Young Lives Foundation website (you will also find other types of volunteering on this website which may be of interest).

Interventions Alliance 

This is a community rehabilitation company based in Kent, Surrey and Sussex who work with offenders.  They deliver a range of rehabilitation services to people who are on licence or a community order to reintegrate back into their communities to make a positive contribution. This could be:  Supporting a participant to improve their overall emotional wellbeing; Mentoring them in an effective way that assists them in building new social networks that can support desistance from offending; Assisting individuals with the skills and confidence to find and manage their homes; and Helping a person on the path to employment by developing the right skills and acquiring the right training. No previous experience is required but it would be expected that you have an interest in criminal justice.   This is a great way to find develop skills for work in the criminal justice system or social work.   This organisation is positively recruiting students from Kent.  To find out more see their website https://interventionsalliance.com/contact/volunteering/ 

Special Constable – Kent Police

Special Constable’s work in a range of policing areas, such as Community Safety Unit – tackling anti-social behaviour, foot and vehicle patrols, house to house enquiries, responding to 999 calls, road safety initiatives and specialising in roads policing, search and marine unit.  You can choose the areas you want to work in and specialise into different careers after you have achieved Directed Patrol Status.   You need to volunteer for a minimum of 16 hours per months.  You wear the same uniform as regular officers, carry the same equipment and hold the same power of arrest.

More information – https://www.kent.police.uk/police-forces/kent-police/areas/kent-police/c/specials-and-volunteers/ 

Academic Casework Interns, at the Bar Pro Bono Unit, London

The Bar Pro Bono Unit often advertise for interns.   The current cycle of recruiting for academic year interns, to volunteer one day per week, has now ended but this information will stay on the blog so that you can access the information on the current position no matter what stage of the year you are reading this.   Full details and an application pack can be found here.

East Kent Rapeline telephone volunteers

EKR welcome volunteers from Kent Law School. For the right person this role could develop into one of helping with the preparation of legal statements and/or attending court.   For more information see http://eastkentrapeline.com/page3.htm

Public Law Project

The Public Law Project (PLP) is a national legal charity which aims to improve access to public law remedies for those whose access to justice is restricted by poverty or some other form of disadvantage. Within this broad remit PLP has adopted three main objectives:

  • increasing the accountability of public decision-makers
  • enhancing the quality of public decision-making
  • improving access to justice.

https://publiclawproject.org.uk/what-we-do/

Community Legal Helpline

Recruit freelance volunteers working from home to help with a community project. Students with language skills, particularly law students (but not exclusive) are useful.  The webpage for this group is currently not working but there is a Linked In page – if interested message this page – https://www.linkedin.com/in/community-legal-helpline-uk-444a9267/# 

Refugee & Asylum seekers support groups at which you may be able to help

School Governor

This role is one where you can play a part in governance/compliance/holding professionals to account.  Many schools are seeking Governors.  Find out more on https://www.gov.uk/become-school-college-governor

Big Voice London

https://www.bigvoicelondon.co.uk/ 

Big Voice London is a youth organisation supported by, but independent from, the UK Supreme Court.  It’s aims are two fold:

  • to empower young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, predominantly aged 16-18, through knowledge of the law and legal policy. They believe that young people should have access to the legal profession as a career. Through the opportunities provided they aim to enable them to explore the law as a potential vocation, as such increasing diversity within the solicitor profession and the Bar.
  • They run projects and activities such as Judgment Writing Competitions, Mooting Competitions and the country’s only Model Law Commission in which our students investigate four areas of law for legal reform, draft legislation and publish a report, which is launched at an event in Parliament.

There are often volunteering roles available for law students – see https://www.bvl.org.uk/volunteer-support

IPSEA – Legal information/advice opportunities

Independent Parental Special Education Advice (known as IPSEA) is a charity offering free and independent legally based information, advice and support to help get the right education for children and young people with all kinds of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).   Find out more here – https://www.ipsea.org.uk/  and read about the volunteering opportunities here https://www.ipsea.org.uk/ways-to-volunteer

Pro bono organisations

The following pro bono organisations look for volunteers – for some you do need to be qualified but I’ve included them here so that you can both forward plan and know that they have not been overlooked in this listing.

 

Non-legal volunteering

  • University of Kent: opportunities for students are managed by the Student Union – Volunteering office. Most opportunities are in Canterbury and surrounding area.

For Volunteering in other parts of the UK, you might find these links useful:

Volunteering abroad

  • VSO – www.vso.org.uk
  • The majority of Gap Year scheme providers – these tend to be supervised and are fee-based. Simply use Google or other search engines. A selection is provided in the Stage 1/Stage 2 work experience section.