Tees marks £100,000 in local grant-making

Building stronger communities has been at the heart of Tees‘ work for more than a century – through the legal support it provides to local people, as well through fundraising, volunteering and charitable giving.

In 2022, the organisation launched the Tees Better Future Fund to build on that long-standing commitment. Working in partnership with Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, the fund provides grants of up to £5,000 to projects that promote learning and education and improve health and wellbeing.

The fund has now awarded more than £100,000 in grants to local community initiatives across Cambridgeshire, Essex and Hertfordshire where their offices are based.

We spoke to Janine Collier – Tees Partner in the Medical Negligence team and Co-Head of ESG – to find out more about the fund and what it means to Tees as a business and to their employees.

Building on what was already there

For Tees, the development of the Better Futures Fund was a natural progression from their established approach to local philanthropy.

Janine tells us, “For more than a century, we have supported the communities where we live and work through fundraising, volunteering and charitable giving. As our ESG strategy developed, we wanted to create a lasting way of supporting local people and organisations.”

“
Partnering with Cambridgeshire Community Foundation was the obvious choice because of its deep understanding of local need and trusted grant-making expertise.
”
Janine Collier
Tees

Priorities that mirror the day job

The fund reflects Tees’ purpose of creating better futures, not only through legal and financial advice, but by helping build stronger, healthier communities.

That purpose shapes where the money goes. The fund’s priorities – education, opportunity and mental wellbeing – mirror the everyday work of a firm that helps people through significant moments in their lives, so backing projects that help young people and families thrive is a natural extension of that work.

Tees has also chosen to focus support close to its offices, on the principle that responsible business starts locally: colleagues and clients are part of these communities, and when local charities flourish, everyone benefits.

Support that goes beyond the grant

Janine tells us, “From the beginning, we wanted this to be much more than a corporate donation programme.”

“We encourage funded organisations to build relationships with our colleagues through volunteering, visits and sharing their stories.”

This gives Tees staff a genuine sense of pride. Janine tells us that colleagues “see the real difference the fund is making and feel connected to something bigger than their day-to-day work. It reinforces the culture we want at Tees – one where our values are lived, not just written down.”

One example of this close connection is Flutter, a charity supporting people diagnosed with kidney cancer by providing care bags and comfort cushions for patients undergoing treatment.

Tees colleagues joined Flutter’s packing days, helping prepare care bags and seeing first-hand the comfort that small, thoughtful gestures can bring during a difficult time.

A milestone, not a destination

Reaching £100,000 in grants is a milestone Tees is rightly proud of, but not one it sees as an end point.

“What matters most is not the figure – it is the lives behind it”, says Janine.

“Every grant represents children gaining opportunities, families receiving support and charities becoming more sustainable. Reaching £100,000 feels like an important milestone, but it is certainly not the destination. We hope it is just the beginning.”

Looking ahead

Janine tells us that Tees wants to grow the fund to support even more local organisations, and to deepen the partnerships already forming between the firm and the charities it backs, through shared skills, volunteering and mutual learning.

As Janine puts it:

“If, in another five or ten years, we can look back and see stronger charities, healthier communities and more people given the chance to fulfil their potential, then we will know the Better Future Fund has achieved exactly what it set out to do.”

Case study of a supported project

A grant from the Tees Better Future Fund has helped East Anglia Youth Rowing continue its mission to make rowing more accessible to young people. The funding has enabled a year-long rowing programme for students at North Cambridge Academy, benefiting young people from one of Cambridge’s most disadvantaged communities.

East Anglia Youth Rowing: Building confidence on the water and beyond