Tell us about your Pride Beats Prejudice, King’s Community Fund project.

Pride Beats Prejudice is a legal clinic addressing LGBTQ+ discrimination and ensuring access to justice. LGBTQ+ people who are facing employment discrimination will meet with our student volunteers for an initial conversation before being referred to a lawyer who they will receive free legal advice from.

The project involves both law and non-law King’s students who will meet with the clients to find out more about their situation, greet them at King’s for their meeting with the lawyer and act as a friendly face throughout. Typically, legal clinics do not include non-law students, but I was determined to find a way for all students to be involved which was generally unheard of.

I reached out to the Student Union for support in setting up my project and found setting up a legal clinic is quite a long but rewarding process. Since beginning designing this project in 2023, I have partnered with Tower Hamlets Law Centre, LawWorks who have provided volunteers with amazing training, and three law firms. At our panel discussion we had over 40 students sign up to be a volunteer which shows how much interest there is for student-led projects.

Tell us about one of best parts of your project thus far.

I really look forward to my meetings with the Volunteering team at KCLSU and the projects partners – working with all of them has made the journey enjoyable. Everyone is so invested in the project’s success, and it feels like I’ve built work and volunteering friendships.

I enjoy hitting project milestones, for example chairing a meeting with all the stakeholders that I brought together. I was also very happy to see over 40 students express interest in being involved in the project as I have put a lot of time into ensuring they have a fulfilling volunteering experience.

What top 3 skills have you developed?? 

I have developed my leadership, organisation, and communication skills.

It was daunting as a second-year University student to chair meetings with lawyers who are at the top of their game. I had to overcome imposter syndrome and gain confidence in order to direct and lead these professionals. I now recognise that they have invested their time into this project because it is important and worthy.

I have developed my organisation skills by conducting thorough research on how to set-up a legal clinic, find the right connections and co-ordinate it all.

I now recognize when to use different forms of communication, for example I used to think that meetings were always needed but now understand how to strike that balance between meetings and communicating over email. The law firms have commented on how my communication has improved since this project began.

What advice would you give to other King's students who are interested in volunteering? 

If you want to create your own volunteer project, I would suggest making a rough framework of what you want to do and the reasons you want to do it. You can then take your ideas to the Volunteering Team at KCLSU who can help you bring those ideas to life.