2020 Archives – Page 2 of 3 – Anthony Collins Solicitors

A safe space for the LGBT+ community

Helping the The Proud Trust manage donations and objections for an empowering new hub for young LGBT+ people.

For young LGBT+ people, the world can be a difficult place. Often isolated, anxious or simply unaware of any support, a safe space to meet and share experiences with their community is a crucial resource.

Since 1988, The Proud Trust centre in Manchester has been that space. Over three decades they’ve built a 20,000 strong community, empowering young people with activities and advice in their building on Sidney Street.

But the building was showing its age. The Proud Trust wanted to create a space better suited to the needs of their young LGTB+ community. They were in the process of raising £2.4 million for a new centre when they talked to us about helping with the legal challenges involved in developing a new site.

Managing risk and reputation

Major donors such as the Big Lottery Fund, who made a substantial contribution, expect the highest standards to make sure funds are spent responsibly. The Proud Trust approached us to help manage any risk and protect their reputation.

“We definitely weren’t aware when we first started about just how much legal input would be needed – although we had been advised to put some money aside from fundraising to cover contracts and legal issues. I had an idea we needed to do something, but I wasn’t sure what that something was!”
Amelia Lee, strategic director at The Proud Trust

As well as donors to satisfy, trustees can be held to account by the Charity Commission who demand good governance and transparency. They need to show a higher threshold of responsibility because they are custodians of money that has been donated by others.

There were also the neighbours to consider. The centre in central Manchester is surrounded by other businesses, bars, restaurants and different faith groups. These neighbours have rights, enshrined in their title deeds, that could impose restrictions on the new build.

Any inner-city development is going to be under close scrutiny, especially where young people are involved – heightened in this case by stigma towards the LGBT+ community.

Always on hand to offer advice

The Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) team was led by Laura Mynott, a specialist in commercial and residential property for faith organisations and social businesses. With experience of the charity sector, Laura was able to put the legal checks in place to reassure principal donors such as the Big Lottery Fund that, once the money was secured, it was being spent correctly – and within the Trust’s own constitution. As Laura says;

“For the Trust, it’s having a professional advisor on board to reassure them that everything has been checked and done correctly. And that, at the end of an email or a phone call, there’s always someone there to explain the next steps and any risks to watch out for.”
Laura Mynott, associate at ACS

An incredibly rewarding project

The team also carried out an extensive title search on surrounding properties to make sure no restrictions would conflict with the centre’s goals. Up to 20 properties were thoroughly researched in the process. Any potential objections could be identified and resolved before they might endanger the development plans.

From Laura’s perspective, working with organisations such as The Proud Trust is why she joined Anthony Collins Solicitors;

“We were really proud to work on this project, to be involved in projects like this is incredibly rewarding. For us it’s more than just a purchase or a sale, it’s making a difference to a community.”
Laura Mynott, associate at ACS

“I want to say thank you to the team at Anthony Collins Solicitors. It’s been all possible thanks to your support. And we appreciate everything you’ve done with us.”
Amelia Lee, strategic director at The Proud Trust

For the young LGBT community in Manchester, progressing the development as quickly as possible is vital. To be able to open the doors to a new space in 2021, when hopefully social distancing will be a thing of the past, will be incredibly important to a community of young people who need support at a crucial time in their lives.

Raising awareness and funds as part of our purpose

Glow Day shows the practical side of our social purpose, raising funds for children with serious brain injury.

The Child Brain Injury Trust (CBIT) supports families caring for children with serious brain injury. By pushing for early intervention in diagnosis and treatment, they help children enjoy a better quality of life and achieve their true potential. This commitment is a perfect fit with our own purpose of ‘improving lives for individuals’.

For nearly 15 years we’ve been supporting and partnering with CBIT in helping families pick up the pieces and deal with the consequences of catastrophic brain injury. Over that time, we’ve become the official provider of legal services for the West Midlands region for such families. But we wanted to do more.

The charity makes a real impact and effectively saves the NHS a significant amount of money but sadly lacks substantial funding to further its aims and objectives. So, aside from other smaller fundraisers peppered throughout the year, for the last six years we’ve been taking the opportunity to raise money for their annual Glow Day campaign in autumn. This event highlights the need for ‘children to be seen, not hurt’ when using roads and footpaths. It was a day we felt we could get behind CBIT, raise much-needed funds and make a difference. We are proud to consistently be their leading fundraiser for Glow Day nationally.

“We’ve been able to increase our capacity to support families by working with Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS). And increasing our capacity has had a big impact. But strategically as well, we’ve also been able to develop our organisation and our objectives on how we’re going to deliver our services in the future.”
Lisa Turan, chief executive, Child Brain Injury Trust

It all started with samosas

We started small, selling samosas in the office and wearing bright clothing. Every year since, Glow Day has just become a bigger and bigger event for the firm. Curry-in-a-hurry, retro-themed school dinners, Bollywood, Halloween and more. Now the whole firm looks forward to the event with increasing anticipation. The challenge for the personal injury and clinical negligence team who lead the event, is how to make it different and engaging each year!

This year obviously presented a huge social distancing challenge. But we knew that CBIT’s clients were vulnerable and shielding from the impact of Covid-19 – so had even less contact than most. We decided we would go to them and provide a socially distanced bit of company and hand out gifts.

We divided the local area into regions and various teams took to the streets, walking, running or cycling to see families, some of whom hadn’t had much human contact. In raising much-needed funds, we covered 78 miles between us, brought a much-needed smile to their faces, and made a huge difference during a very difficult time for them.

We raised £2,705 for CBIT, which will help the charity continue to deliver their life-changing services and alleviate some of the burden on the NHS (particularly at this very difficult time for our doctors and nurses).

Behind all the fun, frolics and bright colours, we’re delighted we managed to live out the ACS belief in social purpose in a very practical way for our clients, CBIT and as a team. In a year when CBIT had its government funding cut from £200,000 to £15,000 – the money raised went some way to helping them continue providing such vital support to those individuals who needed it most.

Supporting a colleague through challenging times

When a colleague’s little boy was diagnosed with a brain tumour, the ACS team fundraised and helped his family.

We spend more waking time with our colleagues than our family. So, a big question for us is – how do we create a supportive environment? The answer is simple – we celebrate the good times, and we support each other through the bad times. Just like any other family.

Throughout 2019 and 2020, we supported one of our colleagues, a legal executive in our property team, who was facing the most challenging situation. Their 11-year-old son, Ben, was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour.

Ben and his mum were experiencing long stays at hospital while receiving extensive treatment. Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) supported his mum by giving her time off from work so she could be at Ben’s side and support his brother.

And then the ACS family stepped in. Numerous colleagues decided to find ways to fundraise. Everyone wanted to give Ben and his family treats and fun experiences in between his gruelling hospital stays.

From samosas to a sponsored bike ride

Our fundraising activities kicked off with the sales of an array food, from samosas through to cakes. Five people in the ACS team completed our inaugural Manchester to Birmingham 95-mile sponsored bike ride in October 2019. As we had only just opened our office in central Manchester, it seemed a fitting way to bring everyone at ACS together to support a very sick boy who we were close to.

Celebrations at the finish line

As the intrepid team posted photos of their journey travelling south, the support built up until they arrived at the Birmingham office. There they were met by 60 ACS people applauding for them – and more importantly, showing support for our colleague in such challenging circumstances.

Ben’s mum was with us at the end of the bike ride. She was touched that we were all there to stand with her and support her on her uncertain journey.

A life of love, joy and fun

While we raised the funds so Ben could enjoy his time outside of hospital and supported his mum, he sadly died just before Christmas 2019. But as a family, we remember the fun he had in his life and the joy he brought to others.

“Sadly, Jack, Ben’s brother, was diagnosed with leukaemia two weeks after us saying our final goodbye to Ben. The firm continues to support me by allowing me to reduce my hours so that I am able to attend hospital with Jack.”
Julie Parton, executive at ACS

Our journey as a family continues and we’ll support each other whatever challenges we might face along the way.

Running cook-a-long sessions for a brilliant cause

During March 2021, Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) partner, Rankeshwar Batta decided he wanted to support the One Million Steps for CES challenge run by ACS charity partner The Cauda Equina Champions Charity.

The charity describes cauda equina syndrome as ‘a set of symptoms that are experienced when the spinal nerves are compressed in the lower back’. Symptoms range from back pain and sciatica, to bladder and bowel dysfunction. The charity work relentlessly to raise awareness around diagnosis and help people who suffer from the syndrome adapt.

Like many charities, The Cauda Equina Champions Charity has had limited funding from the Government due to the pandemic. Rankeshwar knew any money raised would make a difference and would allow them to turn their ambitious plans into action. ‘One Million Steps for CES’ was all about getting people up and moving to raise awareness. But Rankey decided to interpret it a bit differently – he would encourage the ACS team to take steps to broaden their horizons.

Cooking together

Rankeshwar has a passion for homemade Indian cooking. He fondly remembers eating his mum’s pakoras straight out the frier paired with tangy tamarind chutney. Over the years, he’s picked up other recipes from family members, adapting them to his own lifestyle. Not many people have time to spend hours heating milk to infuse cardamom – especially busy solicitors!

So, when it came to thinking of a way to raise money, he had the idea of running Zoom cook-a-long sessions. He’d show other ACS employees and their families how to make an authentic Indian meal. Stuck at home during lockdown, the ACS family and friends jumped at the opportunity to try something new. Initially, Rankeshwar only mentioned it to a few people, but then as word spread, more people wanted to get involved.

Exceeding his ambitions

The positive comments came flooding in. Some people told him that it was the first time they’d cooked, ate and washed up together as a family during lockdown, while others said it lifted their spirits during this difficult time.

Rankeshwar knew every penny would make a difference to the charity, so he set a modest goal of raising £300. But the sessions went down better than he ever imagined, resulting in him raising an impressive £1,400.

“It was particularly pleasing to receive comments from people who had never tried to make Indian food at home before but said they really enjoyed doing so – from selecting unusual ingredients that they would never usually put on their weekly shopping list, to doing an actual shop in hope of finding what was needed, to actually cooking it the following week.”
Rankeshwar Batta, partner at ACS

Top 5% of fundraisers

To thank everyone that took part in the cook-a-long sessions, Rankeshwar also created an eBook packed with traditional Indian recipes, from cocktails and mocktails, to chilli chicken and gajrela with stem ginger ice-cream.

ACS were also awarded the accolade of being in the top 5% of fundraisers across the UK with JustGiving for March 2021. This wouldn’t have been possible without the ACS family and friends coming together to support great causes like raising awareness of cauda equina syndrome.

Greener contracts for a sustainable future

As part of the Chancery Lane project, we’re addressing the lack of environmental safeguards in most contracts.

Given how fundamental protecting the environment is to future generations, there is a real lack of environmental safeguards in most contracts.

While lawyers or organisations have access to legal precedent banks like Lexis Nexis and Practical Law when it comes to drafting contracts, nothing exists for those that want to create more sustainable agreements that help society meet targets like Net Zero.

An international initiative

The Chancery Lane Project is an initiative to put that right. The project vision is: ‘A world where every contract and law enable solutions to climate change. A world in which legal frameworks enable and encourage businesses and communities to have a positive impact on the environment.’

The project entails a collaboration between lawyers and law firms working pro bono to draft legal precedents that will help to ‘rewire laws and contracts to create new market norms for lawyers and lawmakers to use.’

So far, over 120 UK firms have been involved in the project. And the initiative is now international.

Free for anyone to use

Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) have been involved in the work as peer reviewers for the “Climate Contract Playbook”, a collection of precedent clauses that are free to use for anyone drafting environmentally aware contracts.

Each clause or contract has been given the name of a child to help stress the significance of the initiative for future generations.

More environmentally aware contracts that shape behaviour by suppliers, partners or beneficiaries are vital to a sustainable future. We’ve started to publish ebriefings on their importance and what our clients can do to take on board these precedents and clauses.

As Natalie Barbosa, one of our contributors to the project says;

“Every client needs to have their climate glasses on. This isn’t something that can be dealt with in a silo, it should be in everything we’re interacting with.”
Natalie Barbosa, senior associate at ACS

Helping a mother be part of her daughter’s future

We acted for a client who wanted a dissolution of civil partnership – without losing contact with her child.

When relationships breakdown, it can lead to extremely stressful circumstances. Especially when there is a child involved. In this case, we acted for a client who wanted a dissolution of a civil partnership. Our job was to make this happen as quickly as possible, in the most amicable way.

During the relationship, the couple had a child together. Our client’s civil partner was the child’s biological mother, and the client was the non-biological parent. However, both parties had played a large role in the upbringing of the child.

The relationship between the parties was extremely acrimonious – the couple couldn’t agree who was at fault and both had filed for dissolution. The care of the child and finances were interlinked. The couple couldn’t decide how to split family finances, who the child was going to live with or how much time each parent would spend with the child.

Challenging our client’s role as a parent

Our client’s role as a non-biological parent was being undervalued. The biological mother argued she should be the child’s main carer and wanted to limit our client’s time with the child. But our client sought to share the care of the child.

To add to the situation, there were also safeguarding allegations made both ways. As a result, an independent social worker was instructed – and we challenged the outcome of the report on behalf of our client.

A fair settlement

The hearing ended well, and our client can continue to play an important role in her child’s life. We secured a fair settlement allowing both parties to spend time with the child and have a place to live. Not only is this outcome fair but will give the child stability moving forward.

Ultimately, despite the early court involvement, there was a willingness by both parents to mediate matters that subsequently arose. This allowed the parents to discuss matters directly and make informed and mutual decisions for their daughter. This was a favourable outcome for all – especially the child. Chris Lloyd-Smith, Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) partner, says,

“There were lots of factors in this case that took the focus away from the child. But, despite everything, at the end of the case, she still had two mothers.”
Chris Lloyd-Smith, partner at ACS

Giving faith charities a hassle-free start in life

Our support for Stewardship’s charity services helps them focus on good work rather than paperwork.

When you’re a charity, every penny you save counts towards helping those you serve. Resources are often stretched managing administrative work. The very act of registering as a charity can be an expensive business.

Stewardship supports Christian charities with their finances, funding and administration. They’re effectively a back office for their partners and help them prioritise funding where it’s needed most.

A wide range of support

Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) have partnered with Stewardship to help them offer a range of support including webinar training for trustees, free legal advice for members of Stewardship’s consultancy helpline and a cost-effective route to registration.

“Charity registration is a particularly complex legal process. The work we do with ACS gives our clients peace of mind as they know they’ve had professional help every step of the way. They know when their charity is formed that it’s the right type and the constitution allows them to do everything they want to do.”
Jackie Fletcher, head of treasurer services at Stewardship

The registration package, which includes a governing document that reflects their Christian foundation, helps start-up charities get going and more traditional charities to modernise. What, for non-lawyers in small charities, is a daunting, resource-draining task, we’ve turned into a highly professional service that represents incredibly good value. Stewardship help by liaising with clients in the initial stages and collating the paperwork and we apply the legal oversight.

Creating over 40 charities each year

Each year, together we enable around 40 – 50 new charities to register with the Charity Commission (who’ve told us that our volume of registrations makes us one of the top organisations in the country for new registrations!). Since we started working with Stewardship in 2011, we’ve helped register over 500 new charities.

As part of the registration package, we draft a constitution that is relevant to Christian charities. One of the issues with the constitution offered by the Charity Commission is that it doesn’t reference spiritual leadership. For faith charities this is an enormously important aspect of their existence. Without the right constitution, they are left with a structure that does not accurately reflect how they operate and can expose their trustees to risks and potential liability.

A modern, effective structure

Edwina Turner specialises in governance and structure advice for charities at ACS. She helps charities develop a modern, effective structure which allows them to grow and offers greater protection from liability – making it easier to recruit new trustees in the future.

She says;

“My job is to create a skeleton no one notices: a structure that empowers them to operate and reflects their terminology and way of operating rather than getting in the way. Because it’s bespoke and reflects their needs and spiritual leadership, the right structure means they’re protected and can get on with the work they do.”
Edwina Turner, legal director at ACS

In addition to the registration package, we provide a monthly trustee training webinar. One of the more positive stories from the recent year has been moving this online as this has boosted numbers and we now have 50 attendees every month!

“When we went into lockdown, the charity sector stepped up and tried to meet the needs they saw. As a result of the charities being well-formed, with a good constitution drafted by Anthony Collins Solicitors, they could broaden the scope of what they do. They’ve been able to set up hardship funds, combat loneliness and contribute to foodbanks.”
Jackie Fletcher, head of treasurer services at Stewardship

To be a charity, the organisation must exist for the public benefit. In other words, it must improve the lives of individuals, communities or society. Each charity we help come into being, fulfils our mission as an organisation and so in helping to establish these organisations with good foundations we are extending our own social impact.

Making homes greener and families warmer

We helped local authority and housing association clients unlock £3.5m of funds to boost energy efficiency.

The Government’s decarbonisation fund is helping local authorities and housing associations boost energy efficiency in homes. As a result, thousands of properties are becoming greener and tenants are paying significantly less to heat their homes.

Through supporting applications, the Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) team have helped several clients collectively unlock £3.5 million of public funds. And, with match funding, this has resulted in £7m of funding being invested in improvements.

Undoubtedly, this will have a huge impact for both people and the environment. All of this wouldn’t have been possible for our clients without the ACS team charting a way through public procurement rules, construction contracts and the new subsidies scheme recently introduced due to Brexit.

Small changes, big impact

Our clients are focusing on ways to improve their least efficient houses. Work will begin with contractors assessing energy efficiency of properties and making recommendations for how to retrofit tenants’ houses.

Whether it’s putting insulation in walls or installing windows with triple glazing, all of these changes will significantly reduce carbon emissions and contribute towards reducing the use of fossil fuels.

Warm homes for thousands

Thousands of people and their families will benefit from the improvements. Historically, tenants living in social housing have experienced draughty conditions and other consequences of living in an inefficient house. Now they will have warm, comfortable homes, as well as saving money spending less on gas bills.

Martin Brown, ACS solicitor, says;

“Here at Anthony Collins Solicitors, we believe everyone is entitled to a good standard of living. And we’re very aware of the ongoing climate emergency and the problems that need to be addressed. We believe in the work our clients do and know it will make a difference to many people’s lives, as well as helping to protect the environment.”
Martin Brown, solicitor at ACS

Cementing partnerships for better mental health wellbeing

Mind have been a client for several years, but this was their biggest ever fundraising contract to date.

Corporate partnerships for charities like Mind are extremely valuable both in raising money and awareness. In this case, being chosen as Co-op’s charity partner will result in £6 million of fundraising over the next three years. Mind, along with their partners Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and Inspire in Northern Ireland will benefit from the partnership which aims to bring communities together to support mental wellbeing.

Working in partnership with Co-op is Mind’s biggest ever corporate relationship. Our role was to make sure the legal process between the two cemented their joint commitment to a collaborative partnership into a contract that both parties were happy with.

This is the latest in a series of successful corporate partnerships for Mind. Last year, they were supported by McVitie’s biscuits who ran a high profile ‘Let’s Talk’ campaign to raise money for their Time to Change hubs and champions. Having the support of high-profile corporates and brands has helped raise Mind’s profile to becoming a household name.

From charity buckets to community support

Co-op colleagues have thrown themselves into fundraising for the partnership with bake sales, fancy dress challenges, taking part in running events and much more. The money being raised will fund the delivery of vital community services to support people’s mental wellbeing, and to help them cope with the ups and downs of life.

Senior associate, Natalie Barbosa, who specialises in advising charities on fundraising regulation, says;

“I see myself as stepping in for the client and supporting Mind in their work, the same way I would if I actually worked for Mind. If I know Mind has security when setting up contracts with their partners, then I know they’ll be able to spend the money raised with confidence. Even while you’re drafting the contract, you’re aware that the work is destined to help those most in need.”
Natalie Barbosa, senior associate at ACS

Challenging official guidance to improve welfare

Working for Care England, we shaped advice so care providers were better able to look after staff and clients.

Care providers were at the epicentre of the Covid-19 storm in 2020. From dealing with outbreaks of infection due to ill-advised policy to sourcing enough PPE, their challenges were immense. Not least navigating the fast-changing, and often conflicting, guidance from government for both their clients and staff.

“It was very important for us to have legal support as the agenda was moving extremely fast. People in their haste were doing things that weren’t necessarily compliant with the law. Having Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) colleagues in meetings helped us identify what the legal position was and craft solutions. The team’s support was critical for us to do things well, quickly and legally.”
Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive at Care England

As advisors to Care England, the body representing independent care providers, we’ve been helping the sector with legal advice on a wide range of issues. Such was the pressure on members, they stepped up the forum meetings we attend from quarterly to weekly during the pandemic. Much of the work consisted of helping them define frameworks and push back on blanket guidance which was inappropriate for their vulnerable clients or their staff.

We’ve worked with Care England for several years, particularly in support of clients with learning disabilities. One of the issues we were asked to tackle early on concerned the mandatory wearing of masks in care settings. While being a crucial factor in tackling the pandemic, face masks can be counterproductive in supporting those with significant learning disabilities. Not being able to see the care worker’s face can provoke an aggressive or frightened reaction. They are also a barrier for those who lip read.

We were able to give advice explaining the risk of civil liability, inquests or enforcement action if members departed from the guidance. More importantly, working with the Care England, we were able to prepare an alternative risk-based approach – which is now incorporated in updated guidance issued by Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England.

As well as looking after their clients, care providers have a duty of care to their staff. The pandemic created many new hurdles for members to navigate. For instance, the furlough scheme initially needed clarifying for clinically vulnerable employees who were being asked to take sick leave rather than benefit from the scheme (particularly where public funding was involved). We helped members push back on this so they were able to reassure their staff they would be looked after financially.

The best care for the most vulnerable

Matthew Wort who led the ACS team working for Care England says;

“The delivery of high-quality social care is a key measure for how we treat the most vulnerable in our society. It’s something that, as a society, we don’t value enough. At ACS, we’re keen to put our voice behind a sector that needs to be taken more seriously by government and have more money put into it.”
Matthew Wort, partner at ACS

In hugely difficult times, our pro bono work gave Care England members the confidence they were operating in an appropriate legal framework. We were delighted to be able to advise them in this area. Ultimately, this means vulnerable people are getting the best possible care and their staff are able to work safely.

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