Garden Court Chambers is delighted to congratulate Abdeldjalile Bouamrane, Indiana Thompson, and Shilon Anderson, participants in our Access to the Bar for All scheme.
Yesterday, Abdeldjalile Bouamrane, Indiana Thompson, and Shilon Anderson all received offers from their first-choice of university: City University, Essex University, and Lancaster University, respectively, to study Law.
Abdeldjalile, Indiana and Shilon will receive the Garden Court Chambers’ Access to the Bar for All Scholarship during their undergraduate study to the extent of £7,000 per academic year.
Barristers from Garden Court have kindly agreed to provide mentoring to students over the course of five years. They are mentored by our Joint Head of Chambers, Grace Brown, and members Sadat Sayeed and Shahida Begum.
Currently, the three participating schools are Walworth Academy, Sedgehill Academy and Haberdashers’ Academies Trust South.
Our mentoring scheme alumni are Ibrahim Mbai and Minahil Waheed who have graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London and University of Kent in 2025.
About the Access to the Bar for All Scheme
Our pioneering and award-winning mentoring scheme, ‘Access to the Bar for All’, encourages students from minority and disadvantaged groups to consider a career as a barrister. 16-year-old students, girls and/or those from ethnic minority and disadvantaged groups are offered mentoring for five years and paid internships at Garden Court.
In 2024, the scheme was awarded Outstanding in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the Social Mobility Award at the Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards. In 2020 and 2019, the scheme was awarded Outstanding Contribution to Diversity & Inclusion at the Chambers Bar Awards. In 2017, the scheme was awarded Diversity Initiative of the Year at the UK Diversity Legal Awards. The scheme was also shortlisted for Diversity Project of the Year at the Women in Law Awards 2020.
All students on the scheme undertake paid work experience. In addition, they have the opportunity to be awarded a £7000 per year scholarship to assist with living expenses at university if they go on to study a law degree.
This scheme has been pioneered by Mia Hakl-Law, Chief Operating Officer at Garden Court Chambers, in conjunction with Leslie Thomas KC. To find out more about the scheme, contact Mia Hakl-Law by emailing miah@gclaw.co.uk.
