SOCIAL
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
SOCIAL
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
SOCIAL
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Our approach to community engagement is rooted in supporting the communities in which we live and work through sustained, meaningful, and collaborative action. It’s also how we bring our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to life: from supporting the homeless and vulnerable with our charity partner in Newcastle, as part of the SDG 1 ambition to end poverty in all its forms everywhere; to putting employment back on the menu with our charity partner in London, whatever challenges an individual may have faced (trauma, addiction, poor mental health or simply feeling excluded), as part of the SDG 10 goal of reduced inequalities; and much more.
In conjunction with the Womble Bond Dickinson Foundation, our Community Engagement Committees (made up of over 100 members in total from each of our offices across the firm) lead the work with our local charity partners, empowering colleagues to get involved and make a lasting impact. Our Foundation also supports the delivery of wider charitable giving through our match funding scheme, our humanitarian disaster relief support, and our collaborative work with clients.
Key statistics
Fundraising and donations
Fundraising and donation highlights
Volunteering
Volunteering highlights
Other community engagement activities
Our priority UN Sustainable Development Goals
Key statistics
Donated to support humanitarian disasters
donated to our charity partners
hours volunteered by our colleagues across the firm
Fundraising and donations
Over financial year (FY) 2025/26, we continued our partnerships with eight local charities, with a focus on social inclusion. These charities were chosen by colleagues in our regional offices with an intentional focus on partnering with a single smaller charity to ensure that the support we provide makes a more meaningful difference.
- In Bristol, we continued our work with Alive Activities, a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for older people and their carers.
- The Edinburgh office supported Canongate Youth, who help children and young people aged 5 to 18 in Edinburgh thrive in safe and supportive spaces.
- The Leeds office continued its work with Children's Heart Surgery Fund, supporting the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit by providing the funding and resources needed to care for patients' heart, mind, family and future. Find out more in our story here.
- Our London office partnered with Beyond Food Foundation, a charity that provides kitchen-based programmes, bringing people a sense of purpose and putting employment back on the menu.
- The Newcastle team continued its partnership with The People's Kitchen, providing a safe haven for the homeless and vulnerable people in the city.
- In Plymouth, the team worked with Hugs Children's Cancer Charity, which helps families and children in Devon and Cornwall affected by rare childhood cancers.
- In Southampton, the office continued to support Abby's Heroes, a charity supporting children, teenagers, young adults and their families when diagnosed with cancer.
- And in Teesside, we partnered with The Hope Foundation (which ceased operating in December 2025), supporting their provision of practical support to help people find their way through challenges.
Over the course of the year, our employees used their 'Responsible Business Hours' to give their time in fundraising (such as the Static Cycle Challenge - pictured right) and volunteering for various charities, including those outside our charity partnerships, as well as coordinating donations of a wide range of items (such as iPhones, laptops, computers, sleeping bags, books, and toys), delivering positive impact across our communities.
In addition, our Grant Funding Scheme (launched in January 2025 through our WBD Foundation) continues to make a difference to charitable organisations, with donations made to 19 charities over the course of FY 2025/26, enabling them to roll out new projects and expand or continue existing local projects.
To read more about the work of our WBD Foundation, please visit our website.
The bar chart to the right shows a summary of the charitable giving support provided over FY 2025/26, through donations from the WBD Foundation totalling £175,394 and a further £24,269 from the LLP, as well as the generosity of our colleagues.
Our commitment to our communities goes beyond words – it’s about creating lasting impact in the places where we live and work. Through strong partnerships and collaboration, we can drive positive change. We’re proud to support our charity partners by fundraising, sharing our knowledge, delivering high-impact volunteering initiatives, and championing the valuable work they do across our communities.
Stephen Baker
Trustee of the WBD Foundation
Fundraising and donation highlights
Donating 36 refurbished laptops to schools and charities in need; a great way to both increase the lifecycle of our devices and improve access to technology to help tackle the digital divide.
Raising well over £6,000 during our firmwide static cycle challenge, with colleagues collectively cycling 1,349.41 miles over the day, almost more than double the distance between all our offices.
Supporting colleagues to donate £8,520 to causes they are passionate about through payroll giving; a 5.9% increase from last financial year.
Recognising the role that we play as world citizens in humanitarian disaster relief, by donating £24,000 to the British Red Cross to support the Ukraine Crisis Appeal, the Myanmar Earthquake Appeal, the Gaza Crisis Appeal and the people impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
Supporting BelEve with a £5,000 grant as one of 19 successful applicants to our Grant Funding Scheme. Through this funding, BelEve ran their 12-week ‘Be Empowered Programme’ for 40 girls aged 11 to 13 from low-income and ethnically diverse backgrounds in Lewisham. Celebrating their grant success, BelEve said:
Your funding played a vital role in helping us unlock the potential of young girls at a critical stage in their education, aligning strongly with your priorities of improving social inclusion, supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and creating positive opportunities for disadvantaged young people.'
Your funding played a vital role in helping us unlock the potential of young girls at a critical stage in their education, aligning strongly with your priorities of improving social inclusion, supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and creating positive opportunities for disadvantaged young people.'
Volunteering
Over the course of the financial year, colleagues have given their time to volunteer in a variety of ways, as: trustees of local and national organisations; gardening and maintenance assistants at city farms; children's reading helpers in a primary school; charity shop and event helpers in the local community; coaches to unemployed women; and more. The bar chart to the right gives a summary of the volunteering hours contributed across the business.
The flexibility of our volunteering policy, alongside the introduction of our 'Responsible Business Hours' initiative, means that volunteering at Womble Bond Dickinson is more accessible than ever. Colleagues can volunteer at a time that suits themselves and agree with their line manager the time commitment and frequency. For Bolanle Afusat Omotosho, Data, Content & Insights Executive, this has enabled her to spend a few hours each month volunteering for Debra UK; a national medical research charity and patient support organisation for anyone in the UK living with an inherited form of epidermolysis bullosa (EB), their family members, carers, plus healthcare professionals and researchers. Bolanle has carried out a range of tasks whilst volunteering in the charity shop.
It is so fulfilling to know that my volunteering hours with the Debra UK shop meaningfully contribute to improving the quality of life of people with epidermolysis bullosa (EB).
Bolanle Afusat Omotosho
Data, Content & Insights Executive
It is so fulfilling to know that my volunteering hours with the Debra UK shop meaningfully contribute to improving the quality of life of people with epidermolysis bullosa (EB).
Bolanle Afusat Omotosho
Data, Content & Insights Executive
Volunteering highlights
colleagues across the firm volunteered
different organisations were supported through our colleagues volunteering efforts
hours of volunteering was the average per volunteer across the year
volunteering sessions were held with our clients and business connections
Other community engagement activities
As we mentioned previously, for ease of navigation this middle section of our report is structured around the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) pillars and our areas of focus. However, we take a holistic view and there is an intentional overlap in all our responsible business activities and all our work to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to maximise opportunities to make impact and create value.
This is relevant to community engagement, which also covers our pro bono work with charities and community organisations who would not otherwise have access to legal advice. As this work aligns strongly with SDG 16 - Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions, we cover it in the ‘Governance’ section of our report, where we explore how we leverage our legal expertise, operational policies, and unique position in society to promote the rule of law and expand access to justice.
Another important element of the work we carry out in our communities is school engagement. This supports SDG 4 - Quality Education and the ambition to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all, also recognising that education will allow many other SDGs to be achieved. We report on this valuable work in the ‘Social Mobility’ section of this report.
Our priority UN Sustainable Development Goal
Goal alignment
1.1 Eradicate extreme poverty
By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $2.15 a day
1.2 Reduce poverty by at least 50%
By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
1.4 Equal rights to ownership, basic services, technology, and economic resources
By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
