Charitable Activities
There are two strands to The City of London Solicitors’ Company’s charitable activities:
Grants made through the Charities Committee which manages the Company’s Charitable Fund
Charitable giving and the relief of suffering have always been at the heart of livery companies and the CLSC has been no different. Before becoming a Livery Company in 1944 the members regularly supported worthy causes. However, on obtaining its grant of Livery a more formal process was established with new members being encouraged to contribute to the “Poor Box” on admission. The present Charitable Fund was constituted as a charity under a Trust Deed in 1965. It has a capital base of over £800,000 and it makes awards each year totalling over £40,000. The fund relies on the charitable donation of members to be able to give these grants.
Grants Awarded
The objects of the Charitable Fund are wide enough to permit donations for any charitable purposes, but the Court of the Company agreed guidelines in October 2007 which give precedence to organisations which have charitable purposes with a legal or City of London connection.
No donations will be made from the Fund to, or for the benefit of, specific individuals, nor will donations be made to sponsor an individual for the benefit of any charity. The only exception to this is that the Company’s Prize shall be paid out of the Fund and other prizes open to lawyers from the City, whether or not also open to other lawyers, may be paid wholly or in part out of the Fund.
Charitable purposes with a legal connection shall include charities which make legal services available to those who might not otherwise have access to such services, those which promote the law or human rights and those which directly or indirectly support lawyers and/or their dependants.
Charitable purposes with a City connection shall include charities or charitable projects which operate primarily within the City of London and its neighbouring boroughs and those which are sponsored by, or have a connection with, the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, the City of London Corporation or any Livery Company.
The Charitable Fund makes regular donations to The Solicitors’ Benevolent Association, the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, the Mansion House Scholarship Fund, the Sheriffs’ & Recorder’s Fund, Royal British Legion, the Company’s affiliated Cadet Unit and the Tower of London Choral Foundation.
It has also made one-off donations to many legal and local projects. Recently, grants have been made to many charities including the following: Family Rights Group, Prisoners’ Advice Service, The Hardman Trust, Happy Days Children’s Charity.
Join us for our Celebration of Impact on 7th October 2025 and hear how the charities have benefitted from their grants.
Applications for Grants
These are encouraged for all charitable organisations which meet the critieria. The Fund makes one-off grants in September each year, applications for which will open in July. All applications must use the online Charitable Fund Application Form which is available from July each year. If you have any queries, please contact Clerk@citysolicitors.org.uk
Donations to the Charitable Fund
All members of the Company are encouraged to make regular donations to the Company’s Charitable Fund either by way of a standing order or on-line through https://www.cafonline.org/ All qualifying donations attract GiftAid. Members are also encouraged to consider leaving a donation in their Will.
The Charitable Fund is managed by the Charities Committee, chaired by Past Master Alexandra Marks. The Committee meets regularly to consider ways of promoting the Fund to the members and to look at grant applications and projects to support.
The City of London Solicitors’ Educational Trust which oversees the City Solicitors Horizons initiative and the Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund.
City Solicitors’ Educational Trust (The Trust) was founded by a number of City firms in 1989 as a response to reduced public funding for university education. Historically, the Trust supported the teaching of core level subjects to undergraduates in the UK by helping to fund teaching posts and resources at law faculties which award qualifying law degrees. In this respect, the Trust has made grants to higher educational establishments across the country. In 2007 the Trust, in addition to the grant giving programme, committed to a summer school diversity initiative to encourage applications from students from less privileged backgrounds studying at non-Russell Group universities to consider a career in the law. The summer schools consisted of an intense residential skills-training week held in London for 100 students.
The Trust runs two distinct projects:
City Horizons
In 2015 CSET commenced an initiative under the banner of City Solicitors’ Horizons which is a social mobility initiative aimed at improving access to the legal profession for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Legal Education Foundation provided funding for three years, along with 18 member firms from the City of London Law Society. The project is now entering its third phase of three years recruiting 50 students annually from non-Russell Group universities from around England. Each student is supported by a 3 year programme combining comprehensive classroom and one-to-one training sessions, mentoring from solicitors at City firms and work experience at City firms, alongside their academic studies. Recently a cultural capital initiative has been added the programme to allow access to culture(s) which may be typically inaccessible to socially mobile candidates.
More information is available at https://www.citysolicitorshorizons.org.uk/
Social Welfare Solicitor Qualification Fund
The Social Welfare Solicitors Qualification Fund (SWSQF) is a collaborative initiative established by the City of London Law Society (CLLS), BARBRI, and Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL) to support aspiring solicitors dedicated to social welfare law. The fund provides financial assistance for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) preparation courses and assessments, aiming to enhance access to justice and diversify the legal profession by enabling practitioners to serve disadvantaged communities.
As of March 2025, the SWSQF has successfully raised over £1.275 million, a testament to the generous contributions from more than 30 supporting law firms and organisations. This substantial funding has facilitated the qualification journey of over 120 legal aid lawyers. Notably, more than 100 candidates have commenced the program, with over 30 individuals having already qualified as solicitors.
The fund’s impact is exemplified by Claire Friel, who became the first solicitor to qualify from the SWSQF cohort after passing her SQE2 in August 2023. Claire’s achievement underscores the fund’s role in overcoming financial barriers that often hinder legal aid practitioners from advancing their careers. She expressed gratitude for the opportunities provided by the SWSQF, highlighting its significance in enabling her to continue her work in criminal defence, representing vulnerable clients.
The SWSQF continues to invite applications from eligible candidates committed to social welfare law, reinforcing its mission to promote greater access to justice and broaden participation within the legal profession.