'I did not need to do this, but felt it was the right thing to do'

As Keith Richards, the former chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, who now heads up the Consumer Duty Alliance pro bono, has recently told FT Adviser, advisers give "millions of hours of free guidance every year, sometimes they just don't realise it".

He had done some research into the topic after launching pro bono initiatives with advisers at the PFS himself.

We spoke to five advisers and business consultants about why they provide pro bono work, what they get out of it and why they think every adviser should consider it.

Ben Lancaster, associate financial planning director at Depledge Strategic Wealth Management

A female former client once contacted me to sadly inform me that her husband had passed away.

She wanted to understand what needed to be done in terms of next steps and also wanted to ensure that any matters relating to his pensions were sorted out.

I gathered some information in my spare time and wrote to the client with a summary of what needed to happen and the things to consider (without giving advice or any formal recommendations).

No fees were charged.

I did not need to do this, but felt it was the right thing to do. The client was extremely grateful.

I could see that the individual was worried about what to do and needed a helping hand. This was a difficult time following the loss of her husband.

I am a good person and naturally want to help people, but there is also the benefit of enhancing the public opinion of our profession (as I expect the former client told several people she knew about what I had done).

Further, if anyone in her circle ever needed advice, I suspect there is a good chance that the client would recommend my services.

I also got a lovely letter from her thanking me for my support and wishing me well for the future.

Two of the largest barriers to winning clients are trust and cost. Having as many people who can vouch for you (either directly or indirectly via resources such as VouchedFor, Linkedin, website testimonials etc) can really support in overcoming the first point.

Gary Bush, financial adviser at MortgageShop.com

We regularly provide advice and assistance to our clients on a pro bono basis, we see it as a part of our offering.

Competitor brokers often ask us why we do this but if you can help clients in tricky circumstances the payback soon comes, we find, in the form of repeat actual business and referrals to friends, family, etc.

Examples that we have recently carried out are assisting clients with their mortgage account that was in arrears and the lender was looking at repossessing the property.

We offered mediation work with the lender, guidance to the clients on legal technicalities, and ways to present their evidence and what a district judge expects to see you do under such circumstances.