Recently, we were thrilled to be awarded ‘Best New Pro Bono Activity’ at the LawWorks awards 2025 and ‘Frontline Agency of the Year’ at the Greater Manchester Pro Bono Awards 2025 for our eVisa pro bono project. We were also ‘Highly Commended’ in LawWorks’ Most Effective Pro Bono Partnership category for the Windrush Legal Initiative.
eVisa project
These awards recognise our eVisa guide and support sessions, prepared and delivered as part of a pro bono partnership with Dechert LLP, Linklaters, Clyde & Co and Squire Patton Boggs.
In December 2024, the UK Government moved to a digital-only immigration system (eVisa). We knew that this shift would disproportionately affect refugees and vulnerable communities, due to language barriers, digital exclusion, and lack of access to information, risking loss of employment, housing, benefits, and essential services.
Our response combined legal education and direct assistance. We produced a written guide which is available in multiple languages, including Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Kurdish Sorani, Pashto, and Tigrinya – translated by Welocalize. We also produced a video guide and ran weekly support sessions with volunteers, through which we supported 296 people who could not navigate the complex system independently.
We’re grateful to PILnet and the Global Refugee Forum Legal Community Pledge for connecting us to our pro bono partners.
Windrush Legal Initiative
The Windrush Legal Initiative supports people to apply to the Windrush Compensation scheme. So far this partnership has secured 28 compensation offers, totalling over £1.4 million for Windrush survivors. Legal aid is not available for these applications, and recent research has shown that people who have legal support are far more likely to receive the compensation offers they deserve.
We thank our longstanding pro bono partners: BCLP, Charles Russell Speechlys, Debevoise & Plimpton, Dechert LLP, Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Taylor Wessing and White & Case LLP for their commitment to this work over the last 5 years.
Collecting our ‘Best New Pro Bono Activity’ award at the LawWorks Awards 2025.
It was a privilege to celebrate the exceptional work being undertaken across the sector on both a national and local level. We want to say a huge thank you to all our pro bono partners, who as well as those above include Freshfields and our KIND UK partners. Without their continued support, this important work would not be possible.