We take our responsibility towards the community in which we live, seriously.
We play an active role in our regions, not only in business but also in community life.
We encourage staff to engage in community support work and projects both during office hours and outside. The firm does this by granting extra holidays for days spent on worthwhile causes whilst at work and advertising widely their activities. We also match-fund any amounts they produce as a result. nvolvement in community projects also provides us with a valuable source of personal learning and development as well as enabling us to deliver important professional advice and support.
Examples of community groups and projects in which members of our staff perform active roles include:
- Bristol Pro-Help - an organisation providing legal and professional assistance to those who otherwise cannot afford it
- Avon and Bristol Law Centre - an organisation providing legal assistance to those who cannot otherwise afford it
- London Committee of Human Rights Watch International - one of the world's leading international non-governmental organisations that conduct research and advocacy on human rights
- The Children's High Level Group (CHLG) - founded in 2005 by author J K Rowling and Emma, Lady Nicholson of Winterbourne, MEP to help the 1 million children across Europe still living in large residential institutions
- BRAVE Enterprise Agency - supporting small businesses
- Bristol Junior Chamber of Commerce - a professional support group with a focus on support for young people in education
- Roy Kinnear Charitable Foundation - caring for and maximising the life experiences of profoundly disabled young people
- Redbridge Night Shelter - supporting the homeless in running the shelter, providing counselling and training
- school governorships and charity trustees - many members of staff hold such positions in organisations unconnected with the firm
- Young Enterprise - assisting young people in developing leadership, business and entrepreneurial skills
- numerous and various individual and team fundraising events, ranging from marathon running and sky diving to teams renovating local and community gardens.
We have our own charitable trust, the Veale Wasbrough Vizards Charitable Trust, which makes regular grants to regionally based charities and which provides substantial financial support to one regional charity, each year. Such charities have included within recent years The Rainbow Centre, Avon Outward Bound, MusicSpace, Windmill Hill City Farm, Sailability and St Peter's Hospice.
In addition to financially and directly supporting local charities, the Trust also donates funds to Quartet. Set up in 1987, Quartet is an independent registered charity which manages and distributes funds on behalf of individuals, companies, charitable trusts and statutory agencies primarily to meet needs in the West of England. Their aims are therefore very much in tune with our emphasis in supporting local charitable causes.
“We all feel that the professionalism and knowledge of Quartet in relation to local need, and the projects and charities around to meet that need, will add hugely to the effectiveness of our giving, and the sense of involvement of staff – and I am sure on a personal level it will be good fun as well.”
David Emanuel, Chair of Veale Wasbrough Vizards's charity committee.
