Long term funding programme supports communities to thrive

Improving Lives Through Advice is a five-year grant programme that funds the core costs of 59 frontline organisations. Its aim is simple: to strengthen free legal advice for people and communities across England who face the greatest barriers to justice and support funded partners to meet rising demand at a time of growing social and economic pressures. Read the findings from our first learning report here:

Organisations like Citizens Advice Bury & Bolton have used the funding to expand services to underserved communities in their area by establishing a Community Engagement team delivering 614 outreach sessions across 34 different locations: 

Together with our partners, we are showing how multi-year core funding can do more than keep services open. It helps advice organisations plan for the future, invest in resilience, and continue meeting community needs. RCJ Advice credited the funding with enabling the CEO to lead strategic developments, including the setup of a new London-wide Citizens Advice partnership and securing a three-year, £500K contract to deliver second-tier immigration advice. 

Beyond core costs funding, Funder Plus support is also central to the programme, provided by the LAPG Management and Leadership Hub. After a successful first year of effective management and leadership training for mid-managers and supporting organisations to build resilience, they are building on feedback to strengthen peer learning and training opportunities for funded partners over the next year. Read the first report from LAPG:

Challenges remain with funding uncertainty to the current economic and political environment, but Improving Lives Through Advice is helping advice organisations build a stronger base to respond to these issues. 

Year 1 has laid strong foundations for learning. Year 2 is about building on them. Strengthening what works, learning from what doesn’t, and keeping our support relevant to those we fund and their beneficiaries.

Our relationships with funded partners remain central to this work and we’re committed to listening and learning. We will be sharing insights openly through our website, events, and social media. 

For information on who we are funding:

Thanks to National Lottery players, Improving Lives Through Advice is supported by £30 million from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK.