Hastings team take part in big charity bake to help people get access to justice

A team of woman pulled out all the stops to take part in the Great Legal Bake on Valentine’s Day.
Hastings Legal Bake SUS-200219-102312001Hastings Legal Bake SUS-200219-102312001
Hastings Legal Bake SUS-200219-102312001

The national event aims to raise money for the Access to Justice Foundation which helps provide access to justice for our country’s most vulnerable.

Taking part were Zofia Ludwig, Shyann Weekes, Lucy Robson and Sophie Sharp, who work for local company Expert in Mind.

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Bake sales have been taking place in legal firms all over the country as part of legal bake week (February 10 - 14) – ‘Cakes for a cause – raising dough for access to justice week’.

Expert in Mind, an award winning medico-legal company based at Sedlescombe Road South in Hastings, provides the legal sector with leading experts in psychiatry and psychology.

The team works closely with their panel of 60 mental health experts, managing their cases and working with the many solicitors, barristers and local authorities that instruct them on cases where mental health assessments are required.

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Their experts operate throughout the UK and provide mental health reports in many areas of law such as clinical negligence, personal injury, family law and immigration.

The team love being involved with fundraising events and following the success of their bake sale last year for the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity which raised £400, decided to put their baking talents to the test again this year.

The team visited legal firms in Hastings, Battle and Bexhill to promote the Legal Bake and offer delivery on Valentine’s Day of freshly baked cream teas, savoury scones and cakes.

This idea was well received locally and orders flooded in with requests for the delivery area to be expanded as far as Eastbourne, Hailsham and Newhaven. All in the name of charity,

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Expert in Mind jumped at the chance to raise more money, and to meet more of their clients and colleagues.

Zofia Ludwig, Company Director, Sophie Sharp and Lucy Robson took on the baking and their colleagues, Shyann Weekes and Tammy Phillis were on hand to help with ensuring the goodies were beautifully packaged and delivered in time for morning tea. The team were delighted to raise just over £300.

The Access to Justice Foundation is supported by a network of seven Legal Support Trusts across England and Wales which provide funds to support pro bono and advice agencies, ensuring funds can be distributed where needed most.

In 2019, over 250 Great Legal Bake sales raised £36,500 nationally.

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As Lady Hale, the UK’s most senior Judge said “Everyone deserves access to justice whether or not they can afford a lawyer. That is why legal aid is vital to a fair society ensuring that people who can’t afford to pay for justice still have access to it.”

The various legal support trusts throughout the country raise money for free legal advice centres through various fundraising initiatives, helping to combat cuts to legal aid and support all manner of vulnerable members of our community.

Free legal advice changes people’s lives and the Great Legal Bake is one step to baking the world a better place.

A spokesperson for the Great Legal Bake, said: Together people have raised over £14,000 so far this year for free frontline legal advice services, which will go towards helping some of the most vulnerable people across the South East. The Access to Justice Foundation say two thirds of the UK population don’t know how to get legal advice and 14 million people in poverty can’t afford it.

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