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Improving Lives Through Advice 2026
Guidance for Applicants
Improving Lives Through Advice 2026 is a three-year unrestricted funding programme from the Access to Justice Foundation. There is a total of £3.9 million available in funding to support the delivery of free legal advice to communities most in need.
This funding is for organisations delivering services in one or more of the following geographical locations:
- London
- The Southeast of England
- Scotland
- Wales
We will open for applications at 12pm (midday) on 16 February 2026 and the deadline is 12pm (midday) on 16 March 2026, with grants due to start 1 June 2026.
If you require this in an alternative format please email grants@atjf.org.uk
The guidance and application form are available in Welsh below and should be completed and submitted via email by the deadline:
Information Session
Please find the video recording of the webinar which took place on the 20 February below:
For those unable to attend the event a recording will be made available on our website shortly after. However, please feel free to send in any queries you may have to grants@atjf.org.uk
Application Process and Next Steps
All applications must be submitted using the online form except those completed using the Welsh application form.
For information only, an offline version of the English language Application Form can be found below:
How to Apply
Please complete and submit the application form online using the link. The deadline for applications is 12pm on 16 March 2026.
You’re eligible if your organisation:
- is registered with the Charity Commission or Scottish Charity Regulator (OCSR),
- delivers services in one or more of the following locations: London, the Southeast of England, Scotland, and/or Wales,
- has a track record of delivering free legal advice in one or more of the following areas of law: asylum, community care, consumer, debt, disability, discrimination, education, employment, family, housing, immigration, mental health, public and administrative law, welfare benefits, AND
- has experience working with communities to raise awareness of legal rights and help people identify and resolve legal issues.
The aim is to improve access to legal advice for the people who need it most. We will make unrestricted 3‑year grants to organisations who can help us achieve the following outcomes:
Advice to people from marginalised communities is sustained and improved.
We recognise that certain communities have poorer access to legal advice than others. We want to make grants to organisations working to improve access to legal advice for people, places and communities that experience the greatest need due to poverty, disadvantage, or discrimination.
More people from marginalised communities are empowered to identify, understand, and resolve their legal problems.
We want to make grants so that legal advice organisations can connect with communities through greater sharing and advice coordination, so that people are empowered in their legal matters and supported through the process.
Organisations have more capacity to engage in influencing, partnerships, and fundraising work, which helps them meet the needs of their communities.
We want to make grants that enable organisations to have the capacity and resource to engage with their communities and continue to offer vital services and support where it’s needed most. We recognise that longer term funding means that organisations can develop partnerships, work to leverage further funding and influence policy and/or practice.
Organisations are better able to demonstrate the difference they make to people’s lives.
We understand that organisations that sit at the heart of their communities (and communities of interest) and which have been developed by and for those communities are often better placed to understand the difference they make to people’s lives. We want to make grants to organisations with a track record and commitment to learning, evaluation and using advice as a tool for community wide impact.
The total funding available through this programme is £3.9 million. Grants will run for 3 years from 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2029.
The amount you can apply for will depend on the size of your organisation. When you apply, tell us how much funding you’re requesting based on your annual income:
- Annual income above £250k: Can apply for funding up to £100k per annum – maximum of £300,000 over 3 years.
- Annual income between £150 – £250k: Can apply for funding up to £75K per annum – maximum of £225,000 over 3 years.
- Annual income below £150k: Can apply for funding up to £50k per annum – maximum of £150,000 over 3 years.
We will be assessing applications against the following priorities:
1. You can demonstrate a commitment to the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
We will prioritise organisations that can demonstrate they recognise and are actively working to dismantle the multiple barriers to accessing justice that exist for many in their communities. This means organisations that can clearly demonstrate a commitment to EDI at all levels of their organisation and its activities. Organisations who listen to the people they support about their needs and experiences and make any necessary changes.
2. You have strong connections with people, places, and communities
We want to work with organisations that have existing partnerships they want to develop or sustain that build trust and connection with communities. This includes organisations led by and for those with lived experience of the issues they seek to support.
3. You challenge yourselves to ensure your services meet need, deliver high quality, and represent value for money
We are keen to work with organisations that:
- have systems in place to identify and prioritise those most in need, adapting services accordingly.
- are reflective about the quality of their services and have adopted a positive learning culture to make changes where needed and
- ensure that their limited resources are used in the most impactful way.
4. You’re committed to learning and evidence, and willing to collaborate with us to demonstrate impact
This programme will have a strong emphasis on learning and impact from the outset, so it is important we work with organisations that are committed to sharing insight and working collaboratively with us to develop the evidence base.
5. Your organisation is well run and follows best practice
This includes in areas such as governance, financial management, safeguarding and investing in staff development and well-being demonstrating they are supportive, inclusive places to work.
All organisations will be notified of the outcome of their application once the process has been completed. We anticipate notifying organisations in May 2026.
Grants will then begin in June 2026.
Funding decisions will be made by our Grants Committee and all decisions are final.
Please note: If you have applied for City Bridge Foundation’s Access to Justice programme (Round One), then you do not need to complete a full application form for this programme. Please send your completed City Bridge application to us at grants@atjf.org.uk referencing Improving Lives Through Advice 2026 Grants Programme in the subject line. We will then provide you with a condensed version of this application form to supplement your City Bridge application. This must be returned to us via email by the application deadline.
What will we fund?
This is unrestricted funding which means that organisations can use the funding for any activity which falls within their charitable objects. The only requirement is that all the funding be spent in London, the Southeast of England, Scotland, or Wales.
Some examples of how the funding might be used are below:
- direct costs associated with delivering services.
- organisational development such as business planning, testing new ways of working, staff training and development, developing governance and leadership, developing, and sharing impact and learning, and increasing capacity to support collaboration and partnership working.
- running costs such as salaries, rent, utilities.
You can apply even if you currently receive a grant from us. However, there must be no duplication of costs between any grant (from us or other sources) and this funding. Organisations will be asked to demonstrate how they are ensuring this.
What won’t we fund?
We will not accept applications from:
- Universities
- Private law firms
- Individuals
- Partnerships or consortiums
- Organisations looking to redistribute funding through onward granting.
Frequently Asked Questions
We define legal advice as advice provided to beneficiaries related to a legal problem or the resolution of a legal problem (i.e. progressing the case for a beneficiary, acting for a client in a homelessness or eviction case, appealing a refusal of benefits (after the initial application), applying for debt relief orders/insolvency, advising on immigration and asylum applications and appeals or employment rights or disputes).
Our definition of legal advice does not include, making initial applications for benefits, assisting with general money management or debt management programmes (except where they arise as a result from threats from creditors), nor providing general advice on rights and obligations (i.e. advice on data access or leave entitlements etc.)
Whilst we haven’t specified a level of legal advice provision, we ask that organisations demonstrate their track record and experience of delivering legal advice and where applicable are registered with the relevant regulatory body.
We are looking to fund organisations delivering legal advice in one or more of these areas of social welfare law: asylum, community care, consumer, debt, disability, discrimination, education, employment, family, housing, immigration, mental health, public and administrative law, and welfare benefits.
This funding programme must support activities in London & the Southeast of England, Scotland, and Wales only. Organisations that can demarcate how funding is used in the regions they work in may complete an application form for the work that is carried out in these areas.
The Office for National Statistics defines the Southeast of England as the following counties: Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey.
All the funding must be spent in London, the Southeast of England, Scotland, or Wales.
Welsh guidance is available below and Welsh application forms are available upon request by emailing us and will then need to be submitted via email before the deadline.
Yes, if you have applied for City Bridge Foundation’s Access to Justice programme (Round One), then you do not need to complete a full application form for this programme. Please send your completed City Bridge application to us at grants@atjf.org.uk referencing Improving Lives Through Advice 2026 Grants Programme in the subject line. We will then provide you with a condensed version of this application form to supplement your City Bridge application. This must be returned to us via email by the application deadline.
For the purposes of this grant programme, we are defining marginalised communities as communities of place, people or interest most underserved, experiencing exclusion and at risk of facing barriers to accessing legal advice. This could include those facing poverty and financial hardship, at risk of homelessness, survivors or those fleeing domestic abuse.
We define ‘led by and for’ as when more than 75% of an organisation’s trustees and more than 50% of staff members (including senior staff) are people from the community or communities that an organisation seeks to serve with lived experience of the issues the organisation is tackling.
It is not a requirement for organisations to be ‘led by and for’ however we recognise that organisations with lived experience in their make up are often well placed within communities as trusted spaces for those experiencing inequality. Please tell us how this helps you to deliver on each of the 4 key outcomes for this funding.
No, but we have set funding bands that outline how much organisations can apply for, depending on their annual income. When you apply, tell us how much funding you’re requesting based on your annual income:
- Annual income above £250k: Can apply for funding up to £100k per annum – maximum of £300,000 over 3 years.
- Annual income between £150 – £250k: Can apply for funding up to £75K per annum – maximum of £225,000 over 3 years.
- Annual income below £150k: Can apply for funding up to £50k per annum – maximum of £150,000 over 3 years.
No, only charities registered with the Charity Commission or Scottish Charity Regulator may make an application.
We won’t accept applications from consortiums or partnerships. However, organisations can apply separately.
Yes, you can apply even if you currently receive a grant from us. However, there must be no duplication of costs between any grant (from us or other sources) and this funding. Organisations will be asked to demonstrate how they are ensuring this.
We are expecting a high number of applications, and we will offer general feedback via email to organisations which are unsuccessful.
How to Apply
Please complete and submit the application form online using the link. The deadline for applications is 12pm on 16 March 2026.
