Community Investment

We have a long history of involvement with the communities in which we live and work and in 2020 this commitment was reinforced with the establishment of the independent Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation.

Working with the charity partners of the Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation has allowed us to take a strategic approach – channelling pro bono support, skilled volunteering, mentoring and other in-kind support to them to add real value. The Firm makes an annual donation to the CRS Foundation, based on UK turnover to support it’s work and the work of the its charity partners.

Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation's key figures for 2024 – 2025

• £569,629 funding received from Charles Russell Speechlys
• £521,156 total donations made 2024 - 2025

Please note that the Charles Russell Speechlys Foundation is unable to accept unsolicited applications from charitable organisations or individuals.

Engaging our people

We have committees in each of our UK offices that support with organising and communicating fundraising and engagement activities throughout the year.

We also organise ‘hands on’ volunteer days with the Foundation’s charity partners when they need support with particular projects that requite some ‘people power’. These activities are a great way of bringing our people together to collaborate and we have been pleased to be joined by clients for a number of them.

Sharing our skills

All our people are encouraged to get involved in supporting our community investment programme and we have recently set new and stretching targets on participation in pour initiatives.

We believe it is important that we provide opportunities for our business services colleagues are able to share their skills and knowledge with the Foundaiton’s charity partners help to build their capacity and ability to deliver services to their beneficiaries. This is particularly impactful for the smaller charities we work with. Some examples of past and ongoing projects include:

• The Charles Russell Speechlys Business School has provided training and coaching to the Foundation’s charity partners.
• Our Knowledge team have helped the Foundation’s charity partners with research projects
• The IT team has worked with the Foundation’s charity partners on cyber security, video conferencing and optimising use of CRM systems
• Our Marketing and Communications team have assisted with design projects and have delivered social media training

Access to Opportunity

A key focus of our community investment programme is on increasing access to opportunity, with an emphasis on supporting young people to increase their understanding of careers in the legal profession and to build their employability skills.

Our 5 year Talent Pipeline Programme, Career Start, is a combination of work experience, mentoring, skills workshops and development opportunities for students from under represented backgrounds. Career Start aims to broaden access to the legal profession and the full range of careers available in the legal sector.

We also partner with the Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP) and our Career Start students get the opportunity to experience a day at four different high profile organisations with the fifth day provided by a professional sports club delivering the SMBP Resilience day.

In addition we collaborate with schools and social enterprises to deliver insight days which help students understand more about a career in the legal sector.