UK wealth management and professional services group, Tilney Smith & Williamson, has announced its first ever corporate charity partnership – with Impetus – committing to a £100,000 annual donation for three years and providing pro bono and volunteering opportunities for staff.
Impetus focuses on transforming the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring they get support to succeed in school, in work and in life. The organisation finds, funds and builds a portfolio of charities - currently 17 - working hard to narrow the gaps in education and employment for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The firm’s partnership with Impetus opens the door for staff to make a difference in their local communities and act as ambassadors for the financial and professional services sectors to attract a broader spectrum of people. There will be opportunities for Tilney Smith & Williamson staff to volunteer, take up pro bono work, attend or run knowledge sharing events and of course, fundraise.
Nicola Mitford-Slade, group executive committee lead on charities and communities at Tilney Smith & Williamson, commented: “We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Impetus. The charity finds, funds and builds the best programmes that transform the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. By doing so, they very much follow the ethos of our own recently launched statement of purpose to ‘place the power of good advice into more hands’ and their work also aligns to our values of personal, partnership and performance.
“Our search for a charity partner was a robust one, led by three clear objectives. Firstly, we wanted to continue supporting those impacted most by the COVID-19 pandemic, following the support Smith & Williamson gave to FlatShare and Food Cloud and Tilney gave to Critical NHS in 2020. Impetus supports education and routes into employment for young people, two areas significantly disrupted by the pandemic.
“Secondly, we sought a charity that can benefit from our wealth of technical expertise through pro-bono and volunteering work. From specialist tax advice right through to our teams of HR and marketing professionals, we believe our people can make a huge difference to Impetus’ charity partners.
“Finally, it was important that our partner has a similar geographical footprint to us. Impetus’s 17 charity partners are spread across the UK, meaning the majority of our staff will live and work within a stone’s throw of one of their projects.”
Harriet Gugenheim, director of philanthropy and partnerships at Impetus, added: "We are delighted to be chosen as Tilney Smith & Williamson’s first charity partner. The firm’s support comes at a crucial time for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds as we emerge from the pandemic.
“School closures, with the reliance on technology and learning from home, caused significant disruptions to education. Learning loss was around 50 percent higher in schools with a high proportion of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. And young people in work were hit hard by shutdowns, being 2.5 times more likely to work in the hospitality and retail sectors.
“We look forward to working with Tilney Smith & Williamson and harnessing their expertise, as we support our charity partners and further invest in interventions that really make an impact on young people’s lives.”