The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is a small organisation working from a small office tucked away in Islington, North London. But the work it handles extends far beyond the four walls of its base, thanks largely to its energetic legal officer Stewart Wright.

Wright, backed up by the CPAG's other lawyer Sarah Clarke, leads the organisation's fight on behalf of poorer families who face a daily battle against bureaucracy. Each year Wright picks up around a dozen new cases to lead through the courts, referred on from advice agencies such as Citizens Advice Bureaux. The cases highlight crucial problems such as child benefit, the administration of tax credits and social security issues.

And Wright is not content in simply fighting and winning the cases: he aims to set legal precedent, whether the issue is being heard before a social security commissioner or in the European Court of Justice.