Background

Launched in June 2021, the Shoosmiths Foundation is a grant-making body working to help address societal issues, to empower sustainable change and to improve the lives of the people and the environment in the UK.

Objectives of Fund

The Foundation offers grants in the following categories:

• Advance social mobility in the legal sector, and across the UK, in line with the Shoosmiths social mobility action plan. Focus is given to charitable organisations that share the Foundation's belief that 'talent can come from anywhere' and align their interventions with local socio-economic analysis and need.
• Advance a carbon net-zero UK.
• Advance access to justice in the UK.

A specific theme is prioritised in each funding round. The current funding round is for projects that focus on creating pathways into the legal profession, strengthening support networks and tackling barriers to opportunity.

Grants of up to £50,000 are available.

Who Can Apply

National and local UK-registered charities can apply. Smaller charities are encouraged.

Applicants must:

• Be able to report measurable improvements in access to the legal profession, including the social impact of the actions taken through the delivery of the project.
• Relate to areas with lower social mobility prospects, such as the English indices of deprivation and the Scottish index of multiple deprivation.

Restrictions

The following are not eligible for funding:

• Unrestricted funding requests.
• The direct funding of legal cases.
• Personal appeals by, or on behalf of individuals.
• Out-of-scope projects will generally not be considered, including:
• Projects that are more generically social mobility focussed.
• Projects that do not impact communities in UK locations.
• Projects that cannot measure the social impact that Shoosmiths funding would achieve if part of a larger project.

Eligible Expenditure

The current application round is for projects that:

• Improve access to higher education and careers in the legal profession for underrepresented groups.
• Strengthen support systems for underrepresented groups.
• Reduce systemic barriers to legal careers.

Projects must address underrepresentation and support intersectionality more broadly. For example, these would be projects that not only support access to legal profession prospects but also address other factor(s) of underrepresentation such as:

• Characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010.
• Ex-military personnel.
• People with convictions.
• People experiencing homelessness.
• Long-term unemployed.
• Care-experienced individuals

How To Apply

The next deadline for applications is 30 September 2026 (16:00).

However, this fund may close early if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Guidance notes and an application form are available from the Shoosmiths Foundation website:

 https://www.shoosmiths.com/impact/responsible-business/community-impact

Completed applications should be submitted by email.