UCL iLAC wins Best New Pro Bono Project award for collaboration with Clyde & Co and Magpie Project

On 4 December, UCL iLAC, Clyde & Co and the Magpie Project were awarded ‘Best New Pro Bono Project’ at the LawWorks Pro Bono Awards, held at the Law Society, for their collaboration on a form filling project aimed at supporting mothers with young children living in temporary accommodation.

Referred to as a ‘game changer’ by the Magpie Project CEO, Jane Williams, the service supports families with a variety of forms and applications including for homelessness and universal credit. For many families, completing these forms is a major road block with additional needs for interpreters, childcare, digital accessibility and travel costs creating additional barriers to being able to access the support they are entitled to. Through the collaboration with Clyde & Co and the Magpie Project, UCL iLAC is able to offer a service which is local in a child-friendly space, and is trauma informed and culturally aware.

So far, the project has delivered 45 form filling sessions with volunteers from Clyde & Co and the Magpie Project, enabling 13 families to access housing and universal credit with 11 families accessing either housing benefit or council tax credits. Through this partnership, families with particularly complex needs are able to access multiple appointments when they may have otherwise been turned away from other services due to the complexity of their cases.

UCL Laws students volunteering at UCL iLAC also support with the project, providing students with first-hand experience of not only the complex legal needs faced by many of these families but also the way community-led collaborations and partnership working can make a tangible difference to those in need.