Mills & Reeve Charitable Trust donates £20,000 to eight UK charities

Mills & Reeve had £20,000 of distributable funds available in the central pot of the Mills & Reeve Charitable Trust at year end; eight charities doing important work during the coronavirus pandemic were selected and a firm-wide vote chose the three that would receive £5,000 whilst the five other charities received £1,000 each.

The charities that received £5,000 each were Action for Children who have thousands of key workers across the UK working on the frontline helping the most vulnerable children and families, now in further need due to the coronavirus pandemic, Centrepoint which helps 16-25 year-olds who are sleeping rough or ‘sofa surfing’ (last year it helped 15,000 young people across the country) and SafeLives whose aim is to end domestic abuse once and for all. The lockdown has been a terrible time for adults and children living with abuse – victims have literally been locked in with their abusers and getting help is now particularly difficult. 

There were a further five charities that received £1,000 each. These were Refugees at Home which connects those with a spare room willing to take in a vulnerable refugee or asylum seeker, Stem4 which promotes positive mental health in teenagers and those who support them, including their families, carers and education professionals; during the coronavirus pandemic, the charity has produced a series of online resources on topics and Shaw Trust providing employment services to help people from a diverse range of backgrounds to find and stay in work.

Asthma UK also received £1,000 as the coronavirus pandemic has seen record numbers needing their support, as did IntoUniversity which the Charitable Trust regularly supports through donations and which some staff help by providing business insight sessions in our offices for their young people and through members of staff acting as volunteer mentors. During the pandemic, the charity has been providing vital out of school virtual support for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in key areas of need around the UK with the provision of Wi-Fi or computers in their homes.

Justin Ripman, Mills & Reeve senior partner, said: "It felt particularly important to support charities that have been working extra hard and are providing vital support during the coronavirus pandemic. We are confident that the money donated will go towards great causes and are pleased to be able to support them at a time when many charities have seen significant reductions in their income.”