Transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson has selected Alive Activities, the Bristol organisation dedicated to improving the quality of life of older people and their carers, as the charity partner of its office in the city.
Alive Activities will be supported through fundraising and volunteering as well as raising awareness of the charity itself as part of the office’s responsible business programme.
It is one of 10 charities chosen by the firm’s eight regional offices. All have a focus on social inclusion, aligned to the firm’s charitable giving theme.
The offices will drive local fundraising and volunteering initiatives with support from the firm’s charitable the WBD Foundation, an incorporated organisation that manages funds aimed at supporting responsible business activity.
Womble Bond Dickinson partner and chair of the WBD Foundation, Sally Dallow, said: “A key pillar of our purpose and vision is supporting communities and we are committed to delivering on this pledge by making a tangible and long-lasting impact in the places we live and work.
“Through partnership and collaborative working, we know we can make a real positive impact and we’re looking forward to working with our charity partners to raise funds, share our expertise, provide high-impact volunteering and mentoring initiatives and raise awareness of the work they do in – and for – our communities.” 
Womble Bond Dickinson, the WBD Foundation and staff last year collectively gave £166,362 to charities working to support social inclusion, with people across the firm volunteering more than 1,100 hours.
Alive Activities, which is based at the Create Centre on Smeaton Road, runs a wide range of groups and activities, including supporting the Elders Project, which consists of three social clubs attended predominantly by the Afro-Caribbean community, and dementia meeting centres offering support for people with a recent diagnosis of a dementia and people living with a mild to moderate dementia and their carers, social along with therapeutic horticulture sessions in care homes and community gardens, pictured above.
In April it received funding to run an intergenerational social action project across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset linking older people living in care homes with younger people aged five to 16.
It also runs two initiatives geared toward supporting older people access opportunities and services offered by today’s technology.
Womble Bond Dickinson has more than 120 partners and around 450 lawyers in the UK, with its Bristol base the second largest of its eight UK offices. It also has 23 offices across the US.
