The Advising Londoners Awards are presented by the Advice Services Alliance in partnership with University House, hosted by Clifford Chance LLP
About the awards
The Advising Londoners Awards are back for 2026! Join us in celebrating high-quality advice services and help shine a spotlight on the organisations, partnerships and advisors making a vital difference to the lives of Londoners.
We were delighted by the response to the inaugural awards last autumn. From the wealth of outstanding nominations to the joy and positivity of the awards ceremony, there was so much to celebrate. Meet the winners of the Advising Londoners Awards 2025.
It is free to enter the awards and, if shortlisted, to attend the ceremony, thanks to the support of University House and ASA.
Celebrating high-quality advice in 2026
We’ve had an incredible response so far, with nominations from across the sector and in every category! To make sure everyone who wants to take part has the chance to, we’re giving you one extra week, and nominations will now close at midday on Tuesday 29 September.
Finalists will be notified in late October and invited to the awards ceremony. The ceremony is kindly being hosted by Clifford Chance, on Tuesday 24 November.
Categories
There are eight categories:
1) Best pan-London advice service
2) Best community advice service
3) Best contribution to advice by a team
4) Best contribution to advice by an individual
5) Best use of innovation by an advice service
6) Best advice service promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
7) Best partnership project
8) Best use of casework to achieve wider change.
In addition, the special ‘Bennett Award’ is an award decided by the judges. It is given to an individual, team or organisation who has made an outstanding contribution in the London advice sector.
What services can be nominated?
The awards are open for any ‘not for profit’ organisation that provides free legal advice services to people living within the 32 London borough area. This includes voluntary sector organisations, community groups, social enterprises, statutory partners as well as partnerships.
Any advice service can be nominated for any award whether it is provided by one organisation or by a partnership of different providers.
This includes:
those giving generalist advice or specialist legal services
organisations running a dedicated advice service or providing advice alongside other services
local community-based organisations and pan-London services
long-established services or a short-term funded project.
Advice providers may apply on behalf of different services and may apply to more than one category. However, only one nomination can be per category.
Who can nominate?
Nominations can be made by anyone with good knowledge of an advice service including staff, trustees, funders, local councillors, partners or service users. You are welcome to nominate yourself, a colleague, or your team or organisation.
Nominations must include information required to judge the service against the category.
How to make a nomination
To make a nomination, you will need to complete the nomination form before the deadline at midday on 29 September. You will need to share your details, the details of the nominee, and a statement of up to 7,000 characters (approximately 1000 to 1250 words). The statement should describe the key factors which make the service outstanding, and include any evidence of the impact of the service.
How are the awards judged?
Judging is based on the evidence provided. This should demonstrate the contribution the organisation or project makes to the delivery of good quality advice for Londoners.
Each nomination is judged only on the evidence provided in the application. Even if the judges know the service, they will only take into account the evidence provided. The judges will be paying attention to the description of the key factors which make the service outstanding as well as the evidence of the impact of the service.
The judges are particularly interested in the quality of the reasoning for the nomination (why is this service/person better than other similar ones?) and a range of appropriate evidence to back up the nomination should be provided.
The judges will select a shortlist of three nominations for each category. Those shortlisted will be guaranteed to receive a commendation certificate and an invitation to the award ceremony.
If you have any questions, please email info@asauk.org.uk
We look forward to celebrating the great work of the sector in London, through these awards.
Could you sponsor the awards?
The Advising Londoners Awards are a celebration of the advice sector, and a recognition of the life-changing impact of free legal advice in the capital. If you want to join the celebration by sponsoring an award or contributing to the ceremony, please get in touch with us at info@asauk.org.uk.
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