We are so grateful to law firm Mills & Reeve, whose Oxford office sponsored an event at Ditchley Park last week to engage local philanthropists, building on the pro bono support and donations they have already provided to Oxfordshire Community Foundation.
Mills & Reeve opened its Oxford office in 2022, and soon contacted OCF to ask about possible ways they could support us, having successfully built partnerships with community foundations in other parts of the UK.
We have since worked with the team on various initiatives. Partner at the firm Tim Whitney volunteers as one of our trustee board, bringing his professional understanding of good governance. Mills & Reeve’s charity law specialist Adam Williams has run workshops for our staff and trustees that have enabled us to hone our due diligence processes. And Head of Business Development Matt Skipper has provided a series of communications workshops to our staff team, helping us to increase our reach in the county, and bring more awareness and funding to tackle key local issues such as homelessness, mental ill health and lack of opportunity.
The company’s charitable trust also makes donations to directly fund more amazing grassroots organisations working so hard to support communities with the increased cost of living, totalling nearly £10k to date. In this they have joined a collective of other businesses, individuals, trusts and statutory funders to get £560k in vital funding out to 77 grassroots local charities.
Most recently, Mills & Reeve sponsored an event at Ditchley Park to recognise the crucial role that OCF’s Patrons play in committing substantial unrestricted gifts to OCF for three years or more. This support is essential in providing OCF with the stability and flexibility to keep providing grants to Oxfordshire’s smallest charities and community groups wherever they are most needed.
At this event, OCF’s President The Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire Marjorie Glasgow and local philanthropist Sir Dominic Cadbury spoke to offer their insight into the importance of local philanthropy. They emphasised the central role of community foundations in bringing much-needed funds to small grassroots organisations, which often go under the radar of donors because they lack the comms and fundraising staff to reach them.
We are thankful to have Mills & Reeve as part of the OCF community, as well as our other corporate donors, Patrons, Friends, fundholders, other individual donors, local trusts and statutory funders. It is through this collective power that we can make a positive impact on communities across Oxfordshire.
Read more about what we’ve achieved with the support of our community