A charity is defending itself against a legal claim that its flagship intern programme for Black students discriminates against white applicants.
Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell, chief executive of the 10,000 Interns Foundation, told Civil Society that her charity had filed a legal defence against a suit brought by commentator Sophie Corcoran.
Corcoran, also an influencer who has appeared on GB News, took legal action against the charity and the Bar Council after claiming she was rejected from a programme for aspiring lawyers aimed at Black people.
Her suit asserts that she faced a loss of employment opportunity since she is white, and was subject to discrimination under the Equality Act, the Guardian reported this week.
Ajulu-Bushell said her charity would defend itself against the claim but was concerned about the impact of the case on her organisation, formerly called the 10,000 Black Interns Foundation.
“The weight of defending claims like this and trying to sustain an organisation that has to fundraise for the future, from a capacity perspective, is hugely taxing financially and emotionally,” she said.
“This comes in the broader framework of the DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] rollback which has a cooling effect on corporate engagement and therefore corporate funding.”
Ajulu-Bushell, the first Black woman to swim for Great Britain internationally, said her charity had been on the receiving end of this “cooling effect”.
In 2024, the 10,000 Interns Foundation recorded an income of £815,000 and expenditure of £1.26m, employing 13 people.
The Bar Council also said in a statement that it would “vigorously contest” Corcoran’s claim.
“We have filed our defence which denies all of the claimant’s allegations,” it said.
The Bar Council stated that the tribunal proceedings would not impact the delivery of its 2026 internship programme this summer, nor its intake.
Crowdfunder
Corcoran has raised more than £3,000 in her crowdfunder entitled “Help me end the Bar Council’s anti-white scheme”.
On the page, she said she applied for a legal internship paying £14.80 an hour, but was deemed ineligible.
“I was shocked to discover that the scheme is restricted to applicants of a particular racial background,” she said.
“I found it difficult to believe that in modern Britain a professional opportunity connected to the legal profession could be limited in this way.”
Corcoran added that she faced her own barriers including dyslexia and ADHD and felt she should not be further limited.
Sector response
Shabna Begum, CEO of race equality think tank Runnymede Trust, said Corcoran’s claim was “deliberately inflammatory” and such suits have repercussions for charities.
“Attacks of this nature risk creating a chilling effect,” Begum told Civil Society. “Even when claims lack strong legal grounding, their visibility can deter organisations from pursuing EDI initiatives for fear of reputational or legal consequences.”
Timi Okuwa, chief executive of civil rights charity the Black Equity Organisation, said: “Challenges like this are becoming more visible, but they often overlook the reality that Black and underrepresented groups do not start from the same position.
“Access to professions such as law remains unequal. Across the judiciary, only around 1% of judges are Black.
“Treating everyone the same in an unequal system does not create fairness – it entrenches it.”
Corcoran did not respond to requests for comment.
