Browne Jacobson has donated more than £36,000 to 20 charities across its office network over the past year.
The UK and Ireland law firm has supported causes across health, education, youth support and social inclusion via its Browne Jacobson Charitable Trust (BJCT).
Its 2024/25 fundraising total of £36,805 was split between charities located near its six UK offices in Cardiff, Birmingham, Exeter, London, Manchester and Nottingham.
The BJCT is funded by a contribution from the Browne Jacobson partnership to provide small donations to local charities in the communities near to its offices. It prioritises supporting causes that are important to Browne Jacobson employees, who must be involved with or have a strong connection to the charity.
Since 2018, the BJCT has donated £171,537 to 129 charities.
Richard Medd, Managing Partner at Browne Jacobson, is a BJCT trustee and the senior leader sponsor of the firm’s community action strategy.
He said:
“As a firm with an ambition to be at the forefront of society’s biggest issues, we want to make a meaningful, positive impact within our communities by supporting a diverse range of charities.
“By developing a community action plan to manage our charitable activities, we are able to target charities with shared values and purpose, while putting our people at the heart of this strategy means those who put the effort into fundraising feel even more incentivised to support these great causes.”
BJCT trustees meet three times per year to consider applications received from Browne Jacobson employees and typically award grants of up to £3,000.
Charities to have received donations in the 2024/25 financial year included:
- Child Brain Injury Trust, which was awarded £2,000 towards its Give a Child a Chance fund, providing equipment and emotional support to those affected by childhood acquired brain injury – and their families – in Birmingham and the West Midlands.
- Velindre, a cancer charity based in Cardiff that funds a wide range of roles, resources and services that support cancer patients and their families, was awarded £2,000 towards the cost of organising an orchestra concert to raise funds for the Velindre Cancer Centre.
- Jay’s Aim – Helping Young Hearts, an Exeter charity set up to try and reduce the number of young people who die of sudden cardiac arrests in the South West of England, was awarded £3,000 to help fund a defibrillator scheme that will provide six defibrillators plus training to places in need such as sports clubs and community spaces.
- Inside Out Wellbeing, a London-based provider of culturally informed wellbeing support, was awarded £2,470 to help fund sessions for the Inside Out Wellbeing Programme, a personal development initiative designed for 30 young beneficiaries aged 18 to 25 from racialised communities.
- Dementia Disco, a charity based in Stockport and Greater Manchester whose mission is to use music to inspire memories, conversation and friendships in and between people living with dementia, received £2,000 to help fund a large fundraiser to trial mobile discos in care homes.
- Ignite Futures, an education charity in Nottingham, was awarded £3,000 to fund Primary Parliament, a termly opportunity for pupil representatives from primary schools to come together and have their voices heard.
Browne Jacobson also supports its local communities via its office community action groups, which partner with charities focused on addressing social inequality. Each office supports a local charity for at least two years, chosen by staff votes. These partnerships involve comprehensive support including fundraising, volunteering, and pro bono work.
Partnerships for 2024/25 raised an additional £23,374 for five charity partners, which were chosen because they aim to address unique local needs, such as homelessness, youth violence and social exclusion.
These were Inspire & Achieve in Nottingham (£8,983), Lifeshare in Manchester (£5,150), First Class Foundation in Birmingham (£3,270), The Wallich in Cardiff (£3,130), and St Petrock's in Exeter (£2,860).
Fundraising activities throughout the past year included bake sales, half marathons, pet photograph competitions, quiz nights and Euro 2024-themed football contests.
The BJCT recently selected Broxtowe Youth Homelessness as its Nottingham office charity partner and Bow Foodbank as its London office charity partner for summer 2025 onwards. The vote for its other office charity partners will take place later this year.
