The Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation
The Foundation was launched in September 2020 with the mission of advancing justice. We have since hosted two Foundation Weeks—first in November 2022 and later in October 2023—to raise awareness of the charity partners and as a platform for our fundraising activities across our UK offices.
As part of Foundation Week in 2023, we held a well-attended panel event with anti-poverty organisation Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K) and London charity partner Food Bank Aid. The discussion focused on how they are being impacted by and are responding to the cost of living crisis. It also highlighted the work the Firm is doing to help charities and individuals facing these challenges, for example, through our Disability Benefit Appeals project with Z2K, supporting our social housing clinic run in partnership with Bethnal Green Legal Advice Centre, and sharing our professional skills and volunteer time with Food Bank Aid. Other activities during Foundation Week included bake sales, quiz nights, a raffle, a partner art competition, and a Strictly Come Dancing-style performance led by Steven Carey, a Partner in our Construction, Engineering and Projects team.
Supporting Buglife
In October 2023, The Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation selected a new charity partner—Buglife, which is devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. The Firm is working to develop this partnership, helping our people understand more about the charity’s vital work and what they can do on an individual level to save the world’s smallest animals.
Supporting Buglife
In October 2023, The Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation selected a new charity partner—Buglife, which is devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. The Firm is working to develop this partnership, helping our people understand more about the charity’s vital work and what they can do on an individual level to save the world’s smallest animals.
Spotlight on: Skills-sharing with charity partners
Since the launch of the Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation in 2020, a key focus of the Firm’s social impact programme has been to develop multi-layered partnerships with its charity partners. This includes sharing our professional resources and expertise to strengthen their capacity to better deliver for their beneficiaries.
Over the course of 2022 and 2023, our business services teams have worked with our charity partners on a wide range of professional skills-sharing projects, including:
Training, coaching and mentoring
Our Business School delivered a one-day ‘Leading Change’ workshop to 15 leaders from four of our key charity partners. The School is also providing coaching to four individuals at our charity partners to help them adapt to the changing landscape and address their current challenges effectively.
We supported two of our charity partners with marketing and design. Our Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Stephen Fairweather, worked with family charity Home-Start Guildford to develop its social media strategy, creating top tips and enabling the organisation to save money on social media training. We are planning to build this out into a masterclass to share with all of our charity partners. Meanwhile, our Senior Designer, Lucy Johnston, helped to redesign assets and promotional material for Khulisa, a mental health charity dedicated to supporting marginalised and excluded young people. In mid-September, 15 members of our London team also joined a two-hour workshop to share their opinions and insights with Khulisa about their Christmas fundraising campaign—a key source of income for the organisation.
Our own IT team has worked with a number of charity partners to assess their tech needs, identify problem areas and address them to function more efficiently. Initial scoping calls were followed by advice and assistance on key projects, including cyber security, video conferencing, learning platforms and optimising the use of CRM systems.
We have more skills-sharing projects underway and look forward to growing this aspect of our support in the coming years.
Since the launch of the Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation in 2020, a key focus of the Firm’s social impact programme has been to develop multi-layered partnerships with its charity partners. This includes sharing our professional resources and expertise to strengthen their capacity to better deliver for their beneficiaries.
Over the course of 2022 and 2023, our business services teams have worked with our charity partners on a wide range of professional skills-sharing projects, including:
Training, coaching and mentoring
Our Business School delivered a one-day ‘Leading Change’ workshop to 15 leaders from four of our key charity partners. The School is also providing coaching to four individuals at our charity partners to help them adapt to the changing landscape and address their current challenges effectively.
We supported two of our charity partners with marketing and design. Our Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Stephen Fairweather, worked with family charity Home-Start Guildford to develop its social media strategy, creating top tips and enabling the organisation to save money on social media training. We are planning to build this out into a masterclass to share with all of our charity partners. Meanwhile, our Senior Designer, Lucy Johnston, helped to redesign assets and promotional material for Khulisa, a mental health charity dedicated to supporting marginalised and excluded young people. In mid-September, 15 members of our London team also joined a two-hour workshop to share their opinions and insights with Khulisa about their Christmas fundraising campaign—a key source of income for the organisation.
Our own IT team has worked with a number of charity partners to assess their tech needs, identify problem areas and address them to function more efficiently. Initial scoping calls were followed by advice and assistance on key projects, including cyber security, video conferencing, learning platforms and optimising the use of CRM systems.
We have more skills-sharing projects underway and look forward to growing this aspect of our support in the coming years.
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