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Our charity helped 50% more new clients in 2022, who accessed emotional wellbeing and mental health care, financial advice and support, benefits advice and career transition counselling, provided through our own caseworkers and partner services.
Almost £1million was spent on funding support to solicitors, and their dependants, in England and Wales during the past 12 months. The annual Big Report shows that our charity awarded £962,229 – with an additional £25,316 in secured loans – to help people in the solicitors’ profession who were in need or crisis.
Payments were a mix of one-off financial awards covering a range of necessities, such as household equipment, medical aids and adaptations to housing; grants and payments to partner organisations to provide services; and living allowances. This range allows us to provide the support that really matters to solicitors in need.
To help address the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, in Spring 2022 we made additional one-off payments to help all our primary clients with their domestic fuel bills. In the autumn, we increased our daily living allowance rates in line with changes to the Joseph Rowntree Minimum Income Standard, averaging a 20% increase.
Working with our partners, we funded access for 284 solicitors to LawCare for mental wellbeing support. Mental health assessments, with the possibility of subsequent therapy, were carried out for 8 clients by our new partners at One Bright mental health service; 7 clients accessed career transition counselling from Renovo; 21 clients benefited from AdviceWorks money management advice and a further 19 clients received welfare benefits or debt advice from Citizens Advice Manchester (CAM).
The Solicitors’ Charity CEO Nick Gallagher said: “I am delighted that this year’s Big Report has shone a spotlight on the positive impact we have made in 2022 to an increased number of legal professionals needing support in times of hardship.
"The Big Report clearly demonstrates the activity that our charity has undertaken in the last 12 months and compares the new statistics to previous years, giving a clear view of the nature, volume and profile of support we deliver for solicitors when times get tough.”
Download your copy of The Big Report and get insights into the solicitors’ profession: https://thesolicitorscharity.org/big-report/
