Corporate Social Responsibility

BCL has an established Corporate Social Responsibility programme which is a key part of our business strategy. The aim of the programme is to assist in providing a positive working environment for our staff by helping our local and the wider legal communities.

Charity of the Year

We are delighted to announce that Big Voice London (BVL) has been selected as our Charity of the Year for 2024.

About BVL: In 2011 a group of law students worked together to design an outreach project called ‘Big Voice London’. The project helped students from non-fee-paying schools in and around London to explore the UK legal system. Since then, BVL has worked with over 2000 young people and grown into a social mobility charity operating across England and Wales.

BVL aims to:

Engage students in law and legal policy
Inspire them to pursue legal careers
Improve diversity in the legal profession

They believe that a person’s background should not be a barrier to entering the legal profession and that the legal system can only benefit from the profession better reflecting the society we live in.

Each year at BCL, we ask our members of staff to nominate a charity that they would like us to support. Our Charity of the Year aims to support a cause that could be local to our firm or one with a personal connection to our members of staff, and as our Charity of the Year, BCL will give a financial donation and hold fundraising events to raise further funds and awareness throughout the year.

To find out more about the fantastic work this charity does please visit their website here.

Charity

As a central part of our programme, the firm donates a percentage of its annual turnover to charitable causes. Through these donations we support charities based in, or serving, our local community as well as those who work in the legal sector.

The charities we support are nominated by members of the firm and over the last few years have included:

The firm also encourages all staff to participate in fundraising and supports those who are taking part in sporting challenges and other charitable activities. We hold annual Macmillan coffee mornings and Comic/Sport Relief bake-offs.

Justice

Many of our fee earners participate in projects giving pro bono advice. In particular, we are involved in Amicus (www.amicus-alj.org). Amicus assists lawyers and legal charities in the US who represent those on death row, as well as some individuals who are without representation, in the preparation of cases for appeal against conviction and/or sentence.

We also provide ad hoc pro bono advice.

Environmental Impact

We have increased our re-cycling, introduced low voltage lighting and try to ensure that any old (but functioning) IT equipment is donated to local charities & schools. We also provide second hand legal textbooks to the International Law Book Facility who then distribute them to not for profit organisations in need.

Employer Supported Volunteering Policy

Volunteering gives people the opportunity to gain fulfilment by working on issues they feel passionate about and it can also help build connections with our local communities.

Community and voluntary sector organisations often have low budgets and greatly value enthusiastic volunteers with specialist skills, expertise and knowledge. Life can be hectic though, and it is not always easy to take time away from our busy work, personal and family lives.

To demonstrate BCL’s commitment to volunteering, 1 day’s paid ‘Employer Supported Volunteering Day’ per annum is available to all staff and partners in addition to their normal annual leave. Participation is encouraged to support local causes, take part in team challenges to support our chosen charities, or to support one off events in the community.