Justice Together Initiative 2024 highlights

Dear all, 

As 2024 comes to a close, we reflect with gratitude and pride on the progress made together in what has been an absolute rollercoaster of a year. We want to thank all our funders and grant partners for their commitment to upholding justice. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve achieved together in 2024. 

1. News from grant partners  

This year we had some good news on positive changes to government policy as a result of our grant partners and many others working together for change: 

• The government announced they would not go ahead with the Rwanda removals. This came after months of intense collaborative work from our grant partners to campaign and strategically litigate against the policy.  

• The government announced a 33% rise in immigration legal aid fees, after years of campaigning and influencing work from our grant partners and the wider sector. Grant partners have achieved so much this year amid a challenging environment. Here are just some of the highlights:  

• Two grant partners have successfully got immigration legal aid contracts and a further four are planning to apply next year.  

• Grant partners running traineeship programmes for OISC caseworkers have seen people trained up and getting jobs across the sector.  

• So many fantastic partnerships working across the UK, providing peer support and collective influencing. The legal aid organising group set up by Migrants Organise now has over 150 members co-ordinating around a manifesto for change on access to justice. 

2. Funding access to justice   

This year we focussed on renewing existing grants and renewed £3,353,760 in funding through 17 grants to 44 organisations. You can see our map of grant partners here.  

We launched a new infrastructure support programme for grant partners and funded £305,000 to 21 organisations for one-off grants up to £20k to strengthen organisations' infrastructure with a focus on grassroots, migrant-led organisations.   

3. Coming together and supporting the sector 

• We ran 13 events to share learning around access to justice with 453 people attending in total. Topics included influencing the government, fundraising, getting a legal aid contract, wellbeing and racial justice. We also ran an in-person event in York over two days for 130 + grant partners and organisations.  

• We funded the The Black Wellbeing Collective to run a second Taking Care of You programme, working with racialised people in the migration sector. 

• We launched peer-to-peer trauma-informed reflective spaces in partnership with Refugee Action run by a psychologist and psychotherapist, and in collaboration with Unbound, WRKWLL were commissioned to deliver action learning sets for the sector on topics including lived experience, racial justice, casework, and leadership.  

• We launched a racial justice programme of support for grant partners, commissioning JMB Consulting , Racial Justice Network and Do it Now Now to deliver a varied programme to support and strengthen organisations' contribution towards racial justice.  

• We referred a number of our grant partners to Civic Power Fund 's emergency fund following the far-right violence, we also worked with CPF, Migration Exchange (MEX) and FREA to lobby for increased funding for wellbeing support.  

“It was a great mixture of thought-provoking workshops and time to reflect, relax and focus on caring for ourselves.”(attendee at York event 2024) 

4. Learning, developing and influencing  

• We worked with our learning partner Terri Beswick who generated lots of insight for us around our work and anti-oppressive practices, and recruited Natalie Armitage as our learning partner for the Racial Justice programme.  

• We refreshed and relaunched our strategy and theory of change.  

• We commissioned a consultant to work with Local Authorities to share learning following Jo Wilding 's research into Local Authority funding for immigration advice.   

• We set up a funder peer learning group exploring anti-oppressive funder practices. 

• We coordinated with our funder partners to sign a joint letter to the Head of OISC and Angela Eagle, highlighting the terrible effects of charging non-profits for OISC registration. 

• With the support of Safe Passage, the Migrants’ Law Project (MLP) (based at Asylum Aid), Islington Law Centre and the European Legal Support Center we produced a briefing on the legal needs of Palestinians travelling to the UK and hosted a funder briefing with MEX. 

5. Our people and funders 

• We wished a very fond farewell to Farah AlHaddad , who went to work at funder partners Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. 

• We welcomed Dami Gbadamosi as our new Senior Influencing and Grants Manager.  

• We welcomed new Grants Committee members Zain Hafeez and Isata Kanneh. 

• We welcomed new funder partner The Indigo Trust .  

As we look to the future, our priorities include expanding access to funding, fostering deeper collaboration, and driving systemic change in access to justice. We wish you all a restful festive and New Year's period and look forward to working with you all in 2025 and continuing the fight for access to justice.