Big Lottery Fund

Summary of the programme

Advice Plus aims to help people in need access good quality advice on their legal rights and responsibilities, so that they can avoid or overcome disadvantage.

Round 2 of Advice Plus closed to applications on 1 April 2008. No further rounds of this programme are planned at present.

Earlier this year, in Round One we awarded £30 million to 71 advice agencies across England. Advice Plus Round Two launched on the 12 November 2007, with a budget of £20 million across the nine England regions.

Round Two funded third sector legal advice services that collaborate with other advice services in their local area. Advice Plus only funded projects focusing on legal rights and responsibilities.

Funded projects delivered all of the following outcomes:

• People in greatest need have better access to legal advice services that help them to avoid or overcome disadvantage and improve their lives.
• People in greatest need receive timely, accurate and effective legal advice that is quality assured and joined up with other services, so they are better equipped to deal with their problems and improve their lives.
• People in greatest need avoid disadvantage because commonly encountered legal problems are identified and prevented.

Funding would only be open to those groups who were eligible to apply and could answer YES to ALL these questions:

• Are you a voluntary and community sector organisation?
• Do you have an idea for a project that will improve people’s access to legal advice on their rights and responsibilities?
• Does your project involve working in partnership with all or most of the voluntary and community organisations that deliver legal advice services in your area, as well as other relevant statutory and commercial advice organisations?
• Can you explain the need for the project in detail and who will benefit from it?
• Do you need between £10,000 and £500,000 for a project lasting from one to five years?
• Will your project raise the quality of legal advice services?
• Can you sustain the benefits of the project when our funding ends?

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