Members of Chambers continue to support the Social Mobility Foundation

12 December, 2017

The members of Essex Court Chambers are delighted to have renewed their commitment as official supporters of the Social Mobility Foundation (“SMF”) for a further three years.

The SMF is a charity that aims to make a practical improvement in social mobility for young people from low-income backgrounds. The students it supports are selected on the basis of high academic achievement, as well as background. The SMF offers a wide-range of programmes to students throughout the UK, from Year 12 through to graduation. Full details can be found at www.socialmobility.org.uk.

In 2015, the barristers at Essex Court Chambers become the first barristers’ chambers to become official supporters of the SMF, committing to run sessions throughout each year aimed at assisting its students in developing their analytical, reasoning and advocacy skills. Regular sessions run by the members of Chambers together with the SMF include public speaking workshops, introductions to and practising mooting and other legal exercises, as well as assistance on personal statements for University applications and providing mock University law admissions interviews.

The aim is to take practical steps to further equality and diversity and enable and encourage more students to gain an understanding of their potential opportunities in the legal profession and at the bar.

Claire Blanchard QC, head of the Pupillage Committee at Essex Court Chambers, states:

Essex Court Chambers is proud to have supported and worked with the SMF for the last three years and it is with great pleasure that we have renewed that relationship for another three years. Social mobility and widening access to the bar matter. Our support for and work with the SMF is a tangible expression of our commitment to the same. The SMF is a fantastic organisation, which produces actual results. Through the SMF we have access to a pool of talented, young people who might not otherwise consider a career at the commercial bar and our work with them is to our considerable advantage. We welcome the opportunity to continue supporting and working with the SMF for another three years and very much look forward to doing so.”

Emily Hodgson of the SMF states:

“The Social Mobility Foundation is delighted that the barristers at Essex Court Chambers have renewed their support for a further three years. Since 2015, they have shared their wealth of experience and knowledge through events, workshops and tailored guidance to support the young people we work with who have aspirations of a career in the legal profession.

The members of Essex Court Chambers continue to demonstrate their commitment to social mobility and widening access to the bar. We very much look forward to continuing to work with them and helping more young people fulfill their potential.”

Other initiatives by members of Essex Court Chambers have included being amongst the first chambers to offer, in addition to mini-pupillages, an annual Open Day designed to offer an insight into life at the Bar and applying for pupillage. For full details please see the Social Responsibility page.