A group of students at the University of Huddersfield have triumphed in the latest Law School Challenge fundraising initiative, topping the leaderboard for the most money raised.
The team, made up of Sophie Spowage-Hill, Melissa Cheshire, Jenny Mengistu, Ella Armstrong, Nicola Scott, James Hazell, Emily Guy and Ellie Wilson, raised a total of £1,229 to support free legal advice.
They took on a variety of fundraising activities to raise the cash for charities Advocate and LawWorks as part of the annual Law School Challenge designed to promote a pro bono ethos. This included running bake sales, raffles and quiz nights with local lawyers.
Natalie Prowse, course leader and senior law lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, said: “I’m so proud of our University of Huddersfield Law School Challenge students, who won the LawWorks and Attorney General Award. We were presented with the award at a ceremony at the House of Lords.
“The Law School Challenge brings together students from all four years of our degree courses and allows them to develop their enterprise skills to show off on their CV, as well as teaching them the importance of pro bono legal work.”
The final leaderboard saw Huddersfield’s Law School Team in first place, followed by the University of Sunderland and the University of York as runners-up. Other teams came from the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham Trent, Birmingham City, City of London, Manchester and Leicester.
The trophy was presented to the team at the LawWorks and Attorney General’s Student Pro Bono Awards held at the House of Lords on 9 May.
As winners the team will also be invited to other events held by LawWorks and Advocate throughout the year, as well as be provided with unique opportunities to meet with representatives from the legal professions.
LawWorks and Advocate are free legal advice charities in the UK which both aim to connect volunteer lawyers with people in need of legal advice, who are not eligible for legal aid and cannot afford to pay.
The University of Huddersfield’s Law School has an experienced and professional staff team, offering a range of undergraduate, professional and postgraduate courses which equip students for a wide range of potential employment, including the legal profession.