Sarah is a Senior Associate in our Charity Law and Governance team.
Sarah acts for a wide range of organisations in the charity sector, advising on legal and regulatory matters, with a particular interest in charity governance. Her expertise includes reviewing and advising on structural arrangements, advising on compliance with charity law, regulation and trustee duties. Sarah also specialises in drafting and implementing policies and procedures to support effective governance and regulatory compliance, engaging with the Charity Commission including providing advice on reporting serious incidents and regulatory engagement with the Charity Commission.
She is passionate about safeguarding and has a particular expertise in supporting and advising charities on safeguarding children and other vulnerable people. With experience of advising on sensitive safeguarding issues, Sarah ensures robust protections are in place for beneficiaries, staff and volunteers including advising on creating a healthy organisational safeguarding culture, legal compliance & best practice, good safeguarding governance, policies & procedures, and managing allegations or incidents.
She provides training for charities on a range of safeguarding areas including an introduction to safeguarding for trustees, the importance of good governance in relation to safeguarding and safe recruitment practices and how to manage a safeguarding incident.
Sarah is based in the Bristol office, but can support you nationally.
What you might like to know
Sarah loves being outdoors in nature, whether in the countryside around where she lives in Dorset or exploring further afield. She has done many walks for charity including raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support by taking part in the 'Mighty Hike' on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.
She has written articles for external publications including the Civil Society, Governance Magazine and LexisNexis.
Until recently she was Chair of a Local Governing body at a school which is part of a Multi Academy Trust and has the role of governor with responsibility for safeguarding, which she has done for the last 6 years. During this time, she has trained as a Designated Safeguarding Lead and represented the school at two OFSTED inspections.
She volunteers for the Anaphylaxis Campaign in both a professional and personal capacity, and is a qualified Mental Health First Aider.
Sarah is also a member of the Charity Law Association.
Other teams Sarah works with
Through her work in the Charity Law and Governance team, Sarah also works with our Education, Corporate, Commercial Property, Compliance and Employment teams.
