Student and staff team raise money for crucial legal services

This September students joined forces with law and politics lecturers and representatives from the city’s legal profession to take part in the annual Cardiff Legal Walk.

The Cardiff Legal Walk takes place each year to raise money for the provision of free legal services, an area which has been affected heavily by legal aid cuts.

The walk is organised by Reaching Justice Wales - Cyrraedd Cyfiawnder Cymru (RJW) which is part of a network of seven Legal Support Trusts that support pro bono and advice agencies, ensuring funds can be distributed where needed most throughout England and Wales. Their fundraising is far reaching, supporting agencies that work with families at risk of homelessness, older people unable to gain access to legal services, and women and children who have been trafficked for domestic servitude or prostitution.

This year’s walk took place on 29 September around Cardiff’s civic centre. More than 250 people walked one of the two possible routes (either 3K or 10k) including many participants from the School. The School team, which was organised by the Student Law Society, raised an impressive £500 in sponsorship while the event itself raised over £7000.

This amount is in addition to the £1500 raised by another team from within the School (Professor of Political Philosophy and International Relations, David Boucher, Lucy Boucher (David’s daughter), Lecturer in Law, Huw Pritchard, Research Associate, Rachel Minto and Professor of Political Science, Roger Scully) who ran the Cardiff half marathon for the same charity at the start of October.

Professor Julie Price who is responsible for the Pro Bono unit at the School of Law and Politics, and who is a trustee of the charity, said, “I am grateful to colleagues and students from both law and politics who have worked hard to support this charity and raise awareness of the problems that flow from extensive legal aid cuts, which affect the most vulnerable in our society.”