Your social justice project
“Every fellow completes a project during their training. Mine was the School Exclusions Hub web platform. It supports families who are bringing challenges to exclusions from school. Through skills I developed in the fellowship I designed, developed, funded and launched this project. The launch was one of the proudest days of my life. It has become a feature of education law, with users nationally, and I feel like I’ve been able to turn my passions into a real, tangible tool for social good.”
— JFF fellow, 2017 cohort
The project is an opportunity for you to develop additional skills that we know are important to succeed in the social justice sector as a solicitor.
Your project should be developed and delivered in partnership with your host, to ensure that it aligns with their strategic objectives and supports their target communities.
Your host will also have valuable knowledge about their area of work which will be a real advantage when you are planning and managing your project.
However, it is also important that the project matches your skills and engages your interest.
Some examples of the purpose of your project could include:
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Creating extra capacity for your host organisation to develop a new area of work or build upon existing areas of work
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Helping your host to increase awareness of a specific issue through research, the creation of resources, etc.
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Identifying a new way to generate income either through fundraising or service development.
We and your host are here to support you throughout your project to help ensure that you find it a valuable, exciting and practical learning experience.
Examples of previous projects
Employment rights in Northern Ireland
To support the work of Law Centre NI’s employment and anti-trafficking work, this project aimed to raise awareness of labour exploitation and identify gaps in enforcement to increase protection for those affected. In particular, the project focused on improving access to adequate compensation for survivors of forced labour.
Access to health and social care for unpaid dementia carers
Carers are often isolated, less visible and unable to access timely help and support. This project held advice clinics and workshops in local community venues that provided practical information and guidance to carers about their rights, to help them make better informed choices through the various stages of dementia.
Funding employment cases using legal expenses insurance
Employment law was out of scope for legal aid, except for discrimination claims, in 2012. This project looked at the viability of legal expenses insurance as an alternative source of funding for employment cases and was divided into four phases: research, implementation, raising awareness and evaluation.