News from the Annual Fellowship Conference and Dinner

The fourth Justice First Fellowship conference was held last week (5/6/7 February) together with the Annual Dinner. This brought together Cohort 3 for a 2-day event and Cohort 4 for a half-day event.

Fellows are brought together four times during the two years to share experiences and receive additional support and training on issues including:

• Evaluation
• Leadership
• Communications
• Business Planning
• Fundraising
• Organisational Development

Day 1

Cohort 3 enjoyed an externally run event at Social Media Exchange on improving Fellows media know how.

Day 2

Held at Allen & Overy LLP (who kindly provide their premises free of charge) and involved assistance on Project Development. The session was run as a part open space/part mini-incubator event. This event allowed participants to discuss issues relating to their projects that are most important to them. Fellows put forward topics and questions that they most urgently want to explore. Fellows then split into groups to examine those issues, develop solutions and push thinking forward. Participants can move freely between discussions and suggest new ones as the day develops. In the room we had expert consultants to supplement Fellows’ discussions, provide insights and give hands on support.

Annual Dinner

The JFF Dinner was held for all those involved in the Scheme, the event took place at the Law Society on 6th February. Over 100 guests joined us, including Fellows from all Cohorts 1,2,3 and 4, Hosts and Sponsors.

The guest speaker was Kaweh Beheshtizadeh (seen here delivering his address) who specialises in asylum and immigration law at the law firm Barnes Harrild and Dyer.

At the dinner Guy Beringer, the Chairman of Governors, presented the graduating second round Fellows (shown below) with certificates, recognising the completion of their two-year Fellowship.

The individual presentation photos can be seen here.

Day 3

A half day conference for the newly appointed Cohort 4 Fellows (20 in total). This involved:

1. each Fellow delivering a short presentation to:
   • introduce themselves;
   • share what brought them to focus on law and social justice; and
   • share their early thinking on their project

   (photos of the Fellows making their presentations can be seen here)

2. a session on Theory of Change which is an increasingly popular tool for planning and evaluating projects. By mapping a process of change from beginning to end, a theory of change establishes a framework for work ahead, from the assumptions that guide its design to the long-term goals it seeks to achieve. This session introduced Fellows to the approach, based around their project ideas. It will be a tool that will be returned to at later conferences.
3. a presentation from Roger Smith OBE on Digital Technology and the delivery of legal services to people on low incomes.