AN EAST Hampshire mother has made a strong case for funding as she bids to help her caring daughter to achieve a legal dream.
Elli Brooks isn’t your average law school candidate as the 24-year-old faced a difficult childhood in Froxfield, according to her mother, Marianne.
Her daughter has received an unconditional offer from The City Law School to train as a barrister but needs to raise £18,500 to cover the fees.
Elli has launched a fundraising page but her mother has pleaded with well-wishers to help out, as it doesn’t say what obstacles she has overcome to get within touching distance of achieving her dream.
The former The Petersfield School (TPS) student juggled revision with caring for her seriously ill mother during the late 2000s and put herself forward for numerous odd jobs when her father was made redundant.
Homework was often completed in hospital waiting rooms while she and her sister did all the cooking and caring when their father was working long shifts.
Her mother said: “I was in and out of hospital, sometimes for two months at a time, for a serious ongoing lung problem called lipoid pneumonia.
“By the time she was at TPS and old enough to be left with her sister, it meant she did all the cooking and caring when her dad was working.
“When he was made redundant she did odd jobs for a year to make ends meet.”
Marianne added: “I think, as in cases where there is actual and real hardship, she finds it difficult to admit that her life is a bit different from your average Law School candidate as there were no extra classes, no scholarships because her family were so concentrated on the survival of mum.”
Elli now works full time as a clerk in Isleworth Crown Court after achieving a 2:1 law degree at the University of Sussex.
She is “passionate about justice” and wants to widen the diversity of the Bar. She said: “I have saved enough from working full time since I graduated to just about support myself in rent, food and travel to live in London for the year while I study, and cannot get another student loan to cover them.
“If you would like to support me, I would be immensely grateful for anything you can give.”
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.gofundme.com/ help-elli-brooks-become-a-barrister