The Big Report 2024 highlights The Solicitors’ Charity’s key role in supporting the profession

News

The Big Report 2024 highlights The Solicitors’ Charity’s key role in supporting the profession

  • 33% increase in number of solicitors supported by The Solicitors’ Charity
  • Wellbeing support to clients totalled £972,064
  • Rising demand for wellbeing support led to more funded referrals
  • Disproportionately high demand from diverse ethnicities

 

“The support we offer is a real lifeline to the solicitors we help in times of hardship or crisis – it really validates The Solicitors’ Charity as a key safety net for the profession,” says a Case Manager from the Wellbeing & Grants Team 

 

The Big Report £972,064 The Solicitors' Charity

 

The Big Report 2024 reflects this – with 33 per cent more solicitors being helped by the charity in 2023, compared with previous year, together with an increase in the overall awards made to clients. A total of £972,064 of wellbeing support was given to solicitors in need last year or paid to partners to provide services. 

 

Download your copy

 

The rise in demand for the charity’s support with emotional, physical, professional, and financial wellbeing in 2023 led to more funded referrals for all the charity’s partners – LawCare, Onebright, Renovo, Citizens Advice Manchester, and AdviceWorks. 

 

The demographic breakdown also revealed that demand for services was high from those with diverse ethnic backgrounds. Industry data shows that this figure usually represents 18-19% of the solicitor workforce. However, the Solicitors’ Charity reports double this proportion of new clients from different ethnicities. 

 

The Solicitors’ Charity CEO, Nick Gallagher, said: “We are proud to publish such a positive Big Report this year, reflecting the financial support we have provided over the past year to more than a third more solicitors facing challenges. The Big Report shows there is a real demand for our wellbeing services in all four wellbeing pillars – emotional, professional, physical and financial – and we are providing more support than ever before”

 

The Big Report The Solicitors' Charity - Supported Solicitors and Dependants

 

“Our clients came from a wide demographic across England and Wales – 66% identified as having some type of disability and over 60% were aged between 30 and 50. This demonstrates that we are helping a large proportion of people in mid-career or when their professional lives are (or should be) in full flow. The biggest stress factors were identified as time pressures, high workload and client demands and the charity has provided wellbeing support to help solicitors with tackling these.

 

“Now, more than ever, the growing demand for wellbeing support from solicitors and the increase in awards we have made over the past year demonstrates that The Solicitors’ Charity plays a key role in providing all our clients with the help they need to achieve a healthy work-life balance.”

 

The Solicitors’ Charity funded 324 clients to receive wellbeing support from LawCare, which was almost double the previous year’s number of solicitors, seeking help with bullying and harassment concerns. Onebright was funded to provide mental health assessments and therapy referrals to 28 solicitors and their dependants. 

 

Career transition counselling was provided to 19 clients by Renovo, with 40% already having secured a new job and others actively searching for work after receiving this targeted support. A further 37 solicitors were helped with money management advice by AdviceWorks and 32 received welfare benefit or debt advice from Citizens Advice Manchester, all with The Solicitors’ Charity funding. The charity also supported solicitors (and former solicitors) with their physical wellbeing, including funding a specially adapted car for wheelchair transport.

 

Download the Big Report

Related content.

Join The Solicitors’ Charity Register.

Want to know more about The Solicitors’ Charity Register?

We simply want to connect with as many solicitors as we can so that we can help them in times of need, promote our work and create a more resilient profession. When you sign up, we commit to not sharing your information. We will send you occasional emails and you can choose when and how you hear from us in your personal settings at the bottom of any of the emails from us. For more information on our approach to data, please click here to read our Privacy Policy.

Now tell us your email, job title and tick if you would like a shiny welcome pack.

Finally, please tell us your address so we can deliver your pack to you.

Take action.