Two charities that promote access to legal services have called off plans to merge after finding that the process was more complex than they had expected.
LawWorks and Advocates for International Development (A4ID) decided to merge in 2022, hoping to create “a stronger, more resilient, efficient and effective organisation that is better able to meet the increasing demand we are seeing”.
In May this year, the charities said in a statement that they hoped to complete the merger by mid-summer, with the combined organisation to act as a brokerage for the provision of free domestic and international legal assistance for charities and individuals.
But last week they published a new statement announcing that the merger had been called off as “practically, the process was more complex than we had envisaged”.
“Since agreeing in principle to merge earlier in the year, it has become apparent that being able to complete the merger remains some way off and continuing with this process whilst maintaining the delivery of our unique services within the domestic and international legal pro-bono fields, were a step too far,” reads the statement by LawWorks chair Alasdair Douglas and A4ID chair Roger Leese.
“Restructuring, integration and reframing our joint offering were distracting both the boards and, more importantly, our colleagues who are working hard to deliver for each charity to those who so desperately need our services.
“As a result, last week both boards reluctantly agreed to stop the process and focus on our purposes and missions independently.”
LawWorks, also known as the Solicitors Pro Bono Group, has an annual income of just over £1m and a staff of 19 people, according to the Charity Commission website.
Meanwhile, A4ID most recently recorded an income of £2.72m in the year to August 2023 and employed 21 people.
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