National Pro Bono Centre

A UK charity founded in 2010 by three national pro bono bodies to coordinate free legal-help charities from a shared London workspace, and publisher of a case study documenting a Free Representation Unit tribunal case.

Researched by Muhammad Abdullah Al Yasin · 14 September 2026

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Established: 2010
Location: London, United Kingdom
Country: United Kingdom
Founded: Incorporated as a company on 16 April 2010; formally launched on 19 October 2010
Founding organisations: Established jointly by the Bar Pro Bono Unit, LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group) and the ILEX Pro Bono Forum
Legal structure: Registered charity No. 1137708 and a private company limited by guarantee, No. 07226359
Stated purpose: Describes itself as a coordinating hub for pro bono legal charities operating across England and Wales, including a shared workspace and the Pro Bono Connect referral schemestated by the subject
Current base: The Justice Hub, a shared workspace at the International Dispute Resolution Centre, 1 Paternoster Lane, London, which it co-founded with the charities JUSTICE and Advocatestated by the subject
Finances (2022): Charity Commission register records income of £142,780 for the year, with 7 trustees and 8 volunteers
Chief Executive: Esther McConnell, per the organisation's own websitestated by the subject

Overview

The National Pro Bono Centre (NPBC) is a UK charity and company limited by guarantee that coordinates free legal-help charities operating in England and Wales. It was jointly established by three existing national pro bono bodies — the Bar Pro Bono Unit (now known as Advocate), LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group) and the ILEX Pro Bono Forum — and formally opened on 19 October 2010 at 48 Chancery Lane in London’s legal district (Counsel). An earlier Counsel report from 30 June 2010 previewed the planned summer opening at the same Chancery Lane address, describing it as a shared home for the three organisations’ “clearing houses” (Counsel). Companies House records the underlying company as incorporated on 16 April 2010 (Companies House).

Founding and purpose

Covering the launch, Counsel magazine quoted the Law Society’s then chief executive describing the Centre as “unique in this country and…a world first,” on the basis that it brought together, for the first time, coordinating bodies from all three branches of the legal profession — barristers, solicitors and legal executives — working in the public interest under one roof (Counsel). The stated aim was “a more joined-up service to members of the public and to community groups in need of legal help” who could not access legal aid or afford private representation.

Structure and current activities

The Centre is a registered charity, number 1137708, according to the Charity Commission’s own register, which also records its income for 2022 at £142,780, with seven trustees and eight volunteers (The Charity Commission). By the Centre’s own account, its original Chancery Lane office lease expired during the pandemic in 2020, after which it moved to supporting pro bono initiatives across the sector remotely rather than from a single fixed office (National Pro Bono Centre). It now describes its base as the Justice Hub, a shared workspace at the International Dispute Resolution Centre on Paternoster Lane in London, which it says it co-founded with the charities JUSTICE and Advocate as a collaborative space for organisations working on access to justice (National Pro Bono Centre). Its current Chief Executive is named on its own website as Esther McConnell (National Pro Bono Centre).

Relationship to the Free Representation Unit

The Centre publishes case studies documenting the work of pro bono charities in England and Wales, including one describing a Free Representation Unit volunteer’s tribunal win while working at FRU’s partner Legal Advice Centre at Nottingham Law School, now branded NLS Legal (National Pro Bono Centre). That same case study is cited independently, as a description of FRU’s volunteer model in practice, in FactsLedger’s own profile of the Free Representation Unit.

What this profile does not claim

This profile verifies the Centre’s 2010 founding, launch date and founding organisations against two Counsel magazine reports from that year, and its charity number, 2022 income and governance figures against the Charity Commission’s own register, but it does not independently verify the Centre’s current (2026) finances, staffing or full activity beyond what its own website states. The claim that its Chancery Lane office closed in 2020 because the pandemic-era lease expired, and the date the Justice Hub itself was established, rest on the Centre’s own account and were not corroborated in an independent source. It does not attempt a full history of the Centre’s activities between its 2010 founding and the present.

Timeline

2010: Incorporated on 16 April 2010 as a private company limited by guarantee, per Companies House records.
2010: Formally opened on 19 October 2010 at 48 Chancery Lane in London, jointly established by the Bar Pro Bono Unit, LawWorks and the ILEX Pro Bono Forum to coordinate pro bono legal work across England and Wales; Counsel magazine quoted the Law Society's then chief executive describing it as "unique in this country and...a world first."
2020: According to the Centre's own account, its Chancery Lane office lease expired during the pandemic and it moved to supporting cross-sector pro bono initiatives remotely rather than from a single office.
2022: The Charity Commission's register recorded the charity's income for the year at £142,780, with seven trustees and eight volunteers.
2020s: Published a case study on its own website describing a Free Representation Unit volunteer's tribunal win at FRU's partner Legal Advice Centre at Nottingham Law School (now branded NLS Legal); that same case study is independently cited in FactsLedger's Free Representation Unit profile.

What we could not verify

These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.

The date the Justice Hub itself was established, and when the Centre began operating from 1 Paternoster Lane specifically, could not be confirmed from the sources checked.
The Centre's own account that its Chancery Lane office closed in 2020 because the pandemic-era lease expired was not independently corroborated in a non-first-party source.

Sources

8 sources (2 tier 1, 2 tier 2, 4 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.

Two Counsel magazine articles (2010) covering the Centre's launch, its Charity Commission register entry and its Companies House filing record were fetched and read in full and are independent of the Centre. Wikipedia was not used at all for this profile — none of the candidate leads for it originated there. The Centre's own website (about-us, Justice Hub and team pages, and its published case study) was used only for uncontested structural, staffing and activity facts, flagged as first-party throughout.

Charity overview: THE NATIONAL PRO BONO CENTRE, charity number 1137708 — The Charity Commission for England and Wales · Tier 1 Supports: The charity's registered number, its 2022 recorded income of £142,780, and its trustee and volunteer counts.
THE NATIONAL PRO BONO CENTRE overview — Companies House (UK Government) · Tier 1 Supports: The company's incorporation date (16 April 2010), company number, status and registered legal form.
First ever national Legal Pro Bono Centre launched — Counsel (magazine of the Bar of England and Wales) · Tier 2 Supports: The Centre's formal launch date (19 October 2010), its address at 48 Chancery Lane, the three founding organisations, and the Law Society chief executive's on-the-record description of it.
New headquarters for pro bono — Counsel (magazine of the Bar of England and Wales), 30 June 2010 · Tier 2 Supports: A pre-launch account (30 June 2010) confirming the planned summer 2010 opening at 48 Chancery Lane and the three legal-profession clearing houses it was built to house.
About us — National Pro Bono Centre · First-party Supports: The Centre's own account of its post-2020 move away from a fixed Chancery Lane office to remote, cross-sector support.
The Justice Hub — National Pro Bono Centre · First-party Supports: The Justice Hub's location and its co-founding by the Centre alongside the charities JUSTICE and Advocate.
Our team — National Pro Bono Centre · First-party Supports: The name and title of the Centre's current Chief Executive.
FRU student volunteer wins £25,000 for client in employment claim: Anita's story — National Pro Bono Centre · First-party Supports: Confirming the Centre publishes case studies on pro bono charities' work, including the one documenting a Free Representation Unit volunteer case, as also cited independently in FactsLedger's Free Representation Unit profile.

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