Legal charity wins silver in European Association Awards

The Lawscot Foundation won the silver award in the ‘Most Innovative Development by an Association’ category in the 2018 European Association Awards on Friday.

The Law Society of Scotland also reached the final in the ‘Best National Association’ category.

The Lawscot Foundation - which competed with initiatives from countries including Belgium, Switzerland and Liechtenstein - was set up by the Law Society of Scotland in 2016 to remove financial barriers which prevent gifted students from less advantaged backgrounds from accessing the legal profession.

The charity awarded its first bursaries in autumn of last year after a panel of experts had the difficult task of sifting through 51 applications to identify the eight most deserving candidates. Those eight students started their legal studies in October, with the Foundation’s financial and mentoring support in place.

Heather McKendrick, head of careers and outreach at the Law Society, said: “We were thrilled that the Lawscot Foundation was shortlisted in the Most Innovative Development by an Association category and to take a silver award home when we were up against such stiff competition, is just fantastic.

“We are so proud of the Lawscot Foundation and all that has been achieved in less than two years. But in particular, we are proud of the gifted young people, whose talents and inspirational stories are what drives the Foundation’s work and makes it all worthwhile.”

Hosted by comedian Andrew Maxwell, the ceremony was held in Brussels to recognise and reward excellence and exceptional quality delivered by associations across Europe.

The Law Society’s Street Law programme was the winner in the Best Training Initiative category in last year’s awards.