The NSPCC will benefit from free legal advice for a year following a tender invitation to 21 legal firms to provide the charity with pro-bono support.

Last year, NSPCC invited 21 firms to tender for pro-bono legal advice, with eleven firms submitting proposals.

Clifford Chance, Baker & McKenzie, Wragge & Co and Walker Morris were appointed by the charity. 

The four firms will provide legal support in areas including employment, intellectual property, commercial and IT issues, as well as providing legal training.

NSPCC says it is the first charity to implement this kind of legal tender process.

Deborah Zandstra, a partner at Clifford Chance said: "Clifford Chance is excited about working with the NSPCC on their UK legal panel. The formal panel process introduced procurement techniques into the voluntary sector that are more typically found in the public, corporate and banking sectors.

"Participating in the panel process enabled us to get to know the NSPCC as a charity better from the outset and made us think about what we could contribute to the relationship and how we would go about it which was in itself very helpful."

Gwendoline Davies, partner at Walker Morris said:

"We are enormously proud of our association with the NSPCC and want to support them in the phenomenal work that they do, providing vulnerable children with protection and support to help overcome their problems. We hope to form a strategic partnership with the NSPCC that will deliver benefits for us in developing our own contribution to support children in our society as part of our corporate and social responsibility goals."