Our solicitors don’t just look after the legal needs of individuals and businesses across South Yorkshire – they provide input into charities and organisations across the region.
Many of our team here at Wake Smith have roles outside their day jobs in charitable organisations and associations ranging from the Sheffield Property Association, The Freshgate Trust Foundation and Sheffield Business Improvement District (BID) to Renew Sheffield and Yorkshire WYCA.
As part of an internal project HR Manager, Jo Barnett, looked into the additional responsibilities her colleagues take on in their own time and was very impressed with the results:
“I was expecting a few responses, as I know how little spare time many of my colleagues have outside the working day, but a steady flow of emails hit my in-box offering an insight into their personal interests and involvement.”
Seats, directorships and trustee roles on various boards in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire included:
Mark Serby – a trustee and chair of Derwent Rural Counselling Service – the biggest provider of talking therapies in Derbyshire
John Baddeley - a director of Sheffield BID and chair of its audit committee; member of the Council of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the SCC Skills and Employment forum.
Suzanne Porter - Deputy Steward for the Wirksworth & High Peak Barmote Court.
Duncan Shepherd - Director at Sheffield TWCA trading as Yorkshire WYCA – supporting women, children and families through a range of accommodation, support, empowerment and advocacy services.
Alison Gaddes - chairperson of children’s charity, Playmates - responsibilities include, financial accounting, governance and compliance of charity activities.
Holly Dobson - trustee director of The Freshgate Foundation - a grant making charity based on the will trust of Harry Brearley, the inventor of Stainless Steel.
Terry Regan - board member and deputy chair of the Sensoria Festival – an annual festival in Sheffield celebrating music and film.
Lisa Davison – a board member of Renew Sheffield – a project aiming to enable start-up, temporary, meanwhile and pop up businesses to take up vacant units in Sheffield city centre.
Neil Salter – executive member of Sheffield Property Association – a substantial group of individuals and organisations with property interests in Sheffield, formed in 2017 as the collective voice of property in Sheffield promoting investment and driving economic prosperity into and throughout the city
Jo added: “Whether they are trustees, directors, board members, governors or committee members, they all offer their time to give direction to these diverse causes, which benefit from the time and skills they bring.
“These positions are some of the most important roles in the voluntary sector. Trustees give direction to a charity and are ultimately responsible for its activities.
“Lots of small charities working for diverse causes really benefit from the time and skills that trustees offer.
“Being a trustee means making decisions that will impact on people’s lives and make a difference to the local community or to society as a whole.
“And it seems that trustees also often learn new skills during their time on these boards whilst they are ensuring the charity carries out its purposes for the public benefit.
“It is fantastic to see our solicitors using their skills and experience to support the wider community, helping a host of organisations to achieve their aims.”
in addition to these individual roles, Wake Smith Solicitors offers legal advice to charities, voluntary organisations, social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations on a wide range of legal issues, to support the continuation and expansion of their services to people in need.
These can include charitable set up, drafting contracts, reviewing leases, updating constitution/articles, or clarifying rights in a commercial dispute.
