Victoria-Jayne founded Legally Powered in May 2020 upon embarking on a foundation course with the Academy of Disabled Journalists. As part of her course, she had to set up a blog page where her work would be showcased. Victoria already had an idea of the type of journalism she wanted to report on, so the idea grew from there. Whilst the name began in 2020, the journey of legally powered started a few years before.
Victoria-Jayne’s background is a vast one from Walt Disney World Expert at Virgin Holidays to owning her own business to performing on the stage at Richmond and Theatre Royal Windsor. Credits include: Sound of Music, Fame, Billy Elliot, Disney's Beauty and The Beast, Best of British, Summer Holiday, The King and I and Annie.
In 2012 Victoria-Jayne embarked on a new journey of a law degree with the open university part time. During this time Victoria-Jayne’s health declined and she found herself swapping her dancing feet for the wheels of her pink power chair.
Not sure which route to take when the degree finished, Victoria-Jayne set about researching the different options. Going prepared she set off for a pupillage fair at the beginning of 2018. 14 sets in total she had her sights set upon. However, it was not all she expected when over half shut her down as their buildings could not accommodate her wheelchair and they did not have to make alternative arrangments as the buildings were listed. The treatment Victoria-Jayne felt by some, not all, made her think that the justice system was not as accessible as it made out to be.
She wanted to make sure that no-one else felt like this again, so she joined the OU Law Society so she could get her voice heard. First as a news reporter then later as the News Editor where she has stayed for the last 4 years.
Victoria-Jayne graduated from the OU in 2018 with a 2:1 and went on to obtain the Daniel Turnbull Memorial Scholarship from Stewarts Solicitors to commence her LPC LLM at the University of Law. Victoria-Jayne has recently passed the LPC LLM in December 2021 with commendation.
Victoria-Jayne has a passion for disability rights and now wants to push the boundaries into making not only the legal pathway more accessible but also the criminal Justice System. Getting in and out of court buildings, solicitors and even holding cells is not an easy feat and nothing can be changed if it is not challenged.
Since Victoria-Jayne's quest to challenge accessibility to the legal system, it has come to her attention that accessibility issues go much deeper and the world we live in is not as accessible as it should be for this day and age. Places such as some shops, offices, houses, and trains, planes and automobiles are still inadequately equipped for the 21st Century.
Victoria-Jayne's latest quest is with the UK Supreme Court who have approached her to sit on the committee to help adapt their procedures for Disability users.
Victoria-Jayne hopes this is just the start and that other organisations will come forward that she can work with to make a difference.
Victoria-Jayne is now combining her journalism with her passion for the law to push for changes with her new website Legally Powered!
Victoria-Jayne’s passion comes from the saying ‘Carpe Diem’ and that is exactly what she is hoping to do. She hopes that with your help, she can show people just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t shoot for the stars.