BAR PRO BONO UNIT

Registered charity 1057620 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as ADVOCATE

The Bar Pro Bono Unit is a charity which helps to find pro bono (free) legal assistance from volunteer barristers throughout England and Wales.

Objects

TO PROVIDE LEGAL ADVICE AND REPRESENTATION IN RELATION TO THE PROSECUTION OR DEFENCE OF ACTIONS BEFORE THE COURTS AND TRIBUNALS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OR THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OR THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY PERSONS WHO BY REASON OF THEIR INADEQUATE MEANS ARE UNABLE TO OBTAIN SUCH ADVICE AND REPRESENTATION FROM THEIR OWN RESOURCES.

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Other Charitable Purposes · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity remains in good financial health with slow and steady income growth. Free unrestricted reserves of £638,871 are held, which the trustees confirm are within the agreed policy target of maintaining reserves equal to at least 25% of forecast annual expenditure plus a 20% contingency. The independent auditor confirmed that the use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Sayer Vincent LLP. Discloses 3 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 30/06/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~6.8 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (99% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 12.2% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.3%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Sharif Asim Shivjichair · trustee of 1 other charity
• Conall Patton QC
• Eleanor Holland · trustee of 1 other charity
• Judith Elizabeth Ogden
• Lisa Debora Watts
• Malvika Jaganmohan
• Natasha Jane Bellinger
• Paul Joseph Wilson
• Rajinder Singh Gataora
• Richard George Wheeler
• Richard Hazim Khaldi · trustee of 1 other charity
• Sarah Katherine Abram-Lloyd

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with PRO BONO COMMUNITY.

• PRO BONO COMMUNITY income £188k
• THE NATIONAL PRO BONO CENTRE income £300k
• BRIDGING THE BAR income £208k
• SOLICITORS PRO BONO GROUP income £987k
• THE ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOUNDATION income £16.7m
• PRO BONO ECONOMICS income £1.4m

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.