Three new charity partners have been chosen by the Bristol office of transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson. FareShare South West, One25 and 16-25 Independent People will be supported through fundraising, volunteering and pro-bono activity.
FareShare South West is part of the UK’s largest food charity, FareShare, which works to tackle food poverty, hunger and food waste in the community, while One25 is a women’s charity helping vulnerable and marginalised women in Bristol and supporting them to move from crisis and trauma towards independence and safety. 
Youth charity 16-25 Independent People works in the community to prevent homelessness, keep young people safe and empower them to become their best self. It runs a range of specialist projects and services relating to housing, education and mentoring across Bristol.
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) is already heavily involved in a responsible business programme in Bristol, supporting a number of charities, community projects and initiatives.
The firm’s office in the city is the second largest of its seven UK bases and employs more than 230 people.
Last year the firm joined Bristol’s Covid-19 emergency response and pledged thousands of pounds to support a number of charities across the city and also worked with local schools to bridge the digital divide, donating laptops to support pupils home schooling with no access to technology.
The office also donated £30,000 to foodbanks and other food charities across the country in an effort to tackle food poverty throughout the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns.
WBD also signed up to FareShare’s emergency winter operation FoodStock 2020, which aimed to build a stockpile of emergency food with the infrastructure to deliver it across the region.
WBD Bristol office partner and head of responsible business Jon Bower, pictured, said: “Developing and nurturing long-lasting relationships is core to our philosophy. 
“When it comes to our responsible business strategy, this translates into true collaboration and partnership working to achieve maximum social impact.
“We’re thrilled to be working with all our new charity partners, to raise awareness of the inspiring work they do for our communities and to support them through high-impact fundraising, volunteering and mentoring initiatives.”
He said the firm’s new charity new partners fitted in perfectly with what its responsible business objectives hoped to achieve in the areas of the 3Es – education, employment and entrepreneurship – as well as social inclusion.
“We look forward to working with them to make systemic and sustainable change in our communities,” he added.
“Hunger in the community continues to be a big issue in Bristol and has wider negative impacts in relation to employability and education for young people.
“The problem has only been exacerbated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and so it was very important for us to join forces with FareShare SouthWest and work together to tackle the very real problem that is food poverty in this country.”
