"Everybody deserves access to legal representation and advice, and at the moment many of those who need it most are not receiving it, often with terrible consequences"
Sally Penni
Women in the Law UK will tomorrow field a team of walkers at an event raising money to provide legal services to some of the most vulnerable members of society. Five members of Women in the Law UK, led by the organisation’s founder Sally Penni, will take on the ten-kilometre Manchester Legal Walk in aid of The North West Legal Support Trust.
Sally Penni is one of the lead walkers for the event, alongside Michael Hayton QC, Leader of the Northern Circuit, and Michelle Garlick, President of the Great Manchester Law Society. Approximately 500 legal professionals and advisers are expected to take part.
The walk commences at 5.30pm on Wednesday 25 September 2019 and takes in a ten-kilometre route beginning at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre on Bridge Street and ending at the offices of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce on Deansgate.
The North West Legal Support Trust (NWLST), which has organised the event, raises and distributes funds to organisations that deliver free legal advice across the region. Funds raised by the NWLST support the provision of advice on issues that affect the poorest and most vulnerable in society including employment, debt, housing, immigration and benefits.
The NWLST has provided funds to a number of advice services in Great Manchester, including Rochdale Law Centre and the Cheetham Hill Advice Centre. It is one of a network of nine charities across England and Wales that operate with the Access to Justice Foundation.
Sally Penni, founder and chair of Women in the Law UK, said, “We are proud to be taking part in the Manchester Legal Walk and supporting the work of the North West Legal Support Trust. At a personal level I am also excited to be one of the lead walkers.
“Social justice lies at the very heart of Women in the Law UK’s message, and as an organisation we try to raise as much money as possible for good causes at our own events. Access to justice should be a cause close to the heart of anyone who works in the law: everybody deserves access to legal representation and advice, and at the moment many of those who need it most are not receiving it, often with terrible consequences.”
Women in the Law UK is a national organisation headquartered in Manchester that exists to support and encourage gender diversity in the legal profession. It has more than 700 members and has over the past 12 months launched regular events programmes in London, Leeds, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and Cardiff.
