Some 699 teams signed up for this year's annual event organised by the London Legal Support Trust charity which last year saw 10,000 walkers help raise £740,000. Society president Robert Bourns explained that money used would support charoties which provide legal advice ‘helping a hugely diverse range of people, many of them vulnerable and facing frightening legal situations'. Money will help those charities which provide free advice for people ain all kinds of situations, for example, families facing homelessness, older people requiring community care, trafficked women and children, people with disabilities, refugees, and those facing unemployment or mental health problems.

Need has grown

Sir Terence Etherton, Master of the Rolls, said: 'We will be walking to raise funds for free legal advice supported by the London Legal Support Trust. The need for these charities has grown over the past few years while resources for their work have diminished. That makes the funds raised by the London Legal Walk more important than ever.'

Ireland's Calcutta Run

Meanwhile, more than 1,150 runners and 100 cyclists took part in the Law Society of Ireland’s Calcutta Run, now in its 19th year - the legal profession’s annual charity fundraiser aimed to raise €200,000 to combat homelessness in Ireland and abroad. The run was sponsored by Bank of Ireland and DX Ireland, and supported by the Institute of Legal Cost Accountants, Icon Health Group, Pearl Group, and the Panel Search and Selection.