Anthony Collins Solicitors' social purpose volunteering scheme

SIFA Fireside is a charity that works with adults over the age of 25 who are homeless, in poor physical or mental health or are otherwise disadvantaged. SIFA Fireside’s aim is to improve their clients’ physical, mental and social well-being and empower them to move to a settled and stable life.

Some of their services include:

• Providing food, drinks and a hot shower;
• Offering access to clean clothes and a laundry service;
• Mental health services;
• Nurse-led clinics;
• Clinics from Vision Care;
• Chiropody sessions;
• Advice about benefits, debt and finding accommodation; and
• Supporting people to prevent re-offending, build confidence and increase skills.

Our team found themselves divided in half – one section donned hairnets and rolled up their sleeves to prepare and serve lunch, while the other half were digging through the donations and sorting them accordingly.

Along with the extra hands our team provided, they also took with them a cheque for £167.40, which was raised in a firm-wide cake and samosa sale.

Of the day, one of our solicitors, Natalie Moustache, commented “The two people who run the kitchen every day are volunteers, and it was incredible to see how committed they were to the work that the charity does. An issue that was very apparent was the level of homelessness in the city. We served 90 people lunch – apparently that was a quiet day! All of us found the experience very humbling and rewarding to be part of a team who are working to make a difference to peoples' lives.”

At Anthony Collins Solicitors, we pride ourselves on our strong set of values, and our purpose to "improve lives, communities and society". We don’t just strive to achieve this through the legal work we do and the advice we provide to clients; we also aim to make a wider contribution.

We offer our staff 250 days (up to three days per person) to volunteer and give something back to the community. These days can be taken to volunteer for causes that people already support, or this can provide the opportunity to support a new one. As an organisation, we also help to arrange group volunteering activities that staff can get involved with.

Further information

If you would like more information about the work that we do at Anthony Collins Solicitors, please visit our website. If you would like to support the cause discussed, please visit the SIFA Fireside website.