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 CRS 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.

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

Volunteering and Fundraising

All our people are encouraged to get involved in supporting our community investment programme and have an allowance of 21 hours of paid volunteering time per year.

Since the launch of the CRS Foundation we have been concentrating our firm led initiatives and programmes on supporting the charity partners, through skills sharing opportunities that help to build their capacity and ability to deliver services to their beneficiaries.

Our people have also been getting behind the Foundation by organising fundraising initiatives and activities throughout the year.

Social Mobility

A key focus of our community investment programme is on increasing social mobility, 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.