Access to Justice

The A B Charitable Trust provides funding to UK charities working in the area of access to justice and human rights. The Trust works with organisations that provide specialist legal advice and representation, defined as relating to the resolution of legal problems where advice is tailored to individual circumstances, typically including end-to-end casework through to representation. The Trust particularly focuses on organisations that are experts in a particular area of law and those that provide specialist advice to the most marginalised groups. ABCT also funds organisations which carry out more systemic work, supporting campaigning, policy, narrative change, and strategic legal action that focuses on defending and improving the system in which people can obtain justice and strengthening the rule of law. This includes supporting an independent judiciary, a robust legal profession, and practical and effective access to the courts. The Trust provides grants primarily on an unrestricted basis to UK registered charities with annual incomes between £150,000 and £1.5 million. Eligible organisations must have been operating for at least a year with full audited or independently examined accounts. Grant amounts in 2024/25 ranged from £20,000 to £30,000 per annum, with an average grant of £27,059. The Grants Committee meets four times per year to assess applications, with decisions typically made within 3 months of application deadlines. The Trust considers a range of factors including the organisation as a whole, its approach, operations, and the activities being delivered.